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(Return to
Mindfulness off the Mat list)
On occasion, I conduct workshops—be they yoga, professional ballet, or
fitness—in which the students display an exceptionally wide array of
abilities. On these same occasions, as is normally the case, I have also had
the opportunity to speak to these students afterward, to receive feedback
and field any lingering questions. More than once, I have been surprised by
the perceived difficulty of the workshop by the more advanced students, as
compared with those who had less experience and/or strength. In some
cases, guess who perceived the workshop as “more difficult” or requiring of
“more effort”? Hint: it’s not always those with less strength.
Why is this? Because they have reached the point at which they “know”
how to work their muscles to the maximum extent. Those that don’t,
won’t necessarily feel the same degree of difficulty for a given pose, not
because they’re not trying, but rather, because they have not yet reached
the point of knowing how (or being able) to deepen their muscular
contractions.
The truth is, much of yoga has to do with knowing how to effectively
train and work the muscles with intent, as opposed to merely going through
the motions on auto-pilot. Most postures, even the “low-key” or “easy”
ones, carry the potential to remain challenging long after the person has
mastered them. How much a person continues to benefit from them is
dependent on how focused that person can be on maximizing that posture’s
potential. In this regard, yoga shares common ground with many forms
of fitness or athletic pursuits: your reward for improving is the need to
work harder and….smarter. Abdominal training, for example, is more or
less extremely challenging by default….in the beginning. Once you’ve
been following a consistent program, however, your body will adapt quite
well to the movements performed, and in order to keep progressing, you will
need to hone your technique to get the most out of each repetition.
The same holds true in yoga. When do you know you’re at this point?
A strong sign is when you start to feel indifferent/bored with a certain
pose, particularly if it is a “strengthening” pose vs. a relaxing floor
stretch. Other signals might be an urge to rush through a pose, not
giving it much thought, or taking it for granted. To counteract this
thinking and re-connect with that fire fueled by challenge, think of ways to
further hone the pose. You’re welcome to approach me after class
or by e-mail to take discuss
ways to hone your technique and maximizing the challenge of a given posture.
Here's an example: if the posture at issue is a “moving” pose such as
Chaturanga Dandasana (lowered plank), slow the movement down. Double-
and triple-check your form. Check to see that your posture is held
appropriately. Is your neck in neutral posture? Are your elbows
over the wrists? Are your elbows tight? Are you contracting your
upper back, squeezing your shoulder blades towards the center of the spine?
Keep that inner body-mind dialogue going. Contract and engage your
abdominals more intensely, or better yet, incorporate abdominal or ujjayi
breathing with the pose. Feel your whole body on the alert. With
this shift of mindset, you’ll be amazed at how many poses suddenly see you
sweating buckets, and that can be a very satisfying feeling, indeed.
Better yet, it’s a great use of the mindfulness aspect we all seek in yoga!
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