The Invisible Gifts of Yoga
Yoga is exercise.
Yoga can be exercise and a tool for self-discovery. Both choices are good.
When I started my 200 hour yoga teacher training 4 years ago, a Phalakasana (plank pose) was hard for me to hold. I did plank on my knees for months and I worked on my shoulder and core strength regularly. People who haven’t seen me in awhile remark that I “look so fit”. At 61, I am in the best physical shape of my life. While I value my improved physical health, my most significant achievements are the invisible ones. Yoga has gifted me patience, confidence and equanimity.
When I started working on plank, there was a lot of swearing and self-berating. After this unproductive phase, I moved on to breaking plank down and figuring out how to get stronger. forearm plank is more approachable and allowed me to work on anterior and lateral core. Vasisthasana (sideplank) was also helpful. In reality, the core is not simply the fancy six-pack up front. It is a cylinder that includes the front body (anterior core), back body (posterior core) and sides (lateral core). A healthy dose of half and full boat was also helpful for the hip flexors. The most important ingredient was patience. I learned that incremental work is work in the right spirit. I began to apply this approach to my life off the mat too; this continues to be a gift.
My patience gave way to a steady confidence. I saw that I could stick with hard things, think them through and accomplish them. My success in plank encouraged me to strart working on Bakasana (crow pose). It took a year, but now I am working on Parsva Bakasana (twisted crow) and Visvamistrasana (the sage Visvamitra’s pose). These require more agility and strength…it will take some time. I’m good with that.
Doing challenging things gave me a sense of equanimity, a calm composure, on and off the mat. When poses go my way, I rejoice. When poses don’t go well, I find it easier to shake it off. Surprisingly, now I occasionally laugh at my own failures and ego! As my teacher Jason Crandell said, “There’s not a higher place in yoga heaven if you can do the pose.”
Surprisingly, now I occasionally laugh at my own failures and ego!
In yoga and life, it is the intention and self-discovery that reveal the more profound gifts. There are as many kinds of yoga as there are people. My hope is that you give yoga a try and find a style that suits your temperment and goals. Yoga is exercise, but it is also can be a tool for self-reflection and refinement. You can find your yoga.