The practice and over-achievement of asanas in yoga seems to be synonymous with the face of modern yoga, which is evident in social media posts of practitioners. Some posts are borderline acrobatics and gymnastics routines. There is even a sense of self-pity and degrading of oneself when we fail a pose. This actually paints a very misleading picture of yoga to the public, the portrayal of achieving physical postures perfectly. And pulling the focus away, forgetting that asanas are merely one aspect of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga.
I am not obsessed with nailing every single pose perfectly, and that was never my intent when I signed up for YTT. I wanted to see and feel what yoga could do to me and in turn offer to others around me. Yoga did strengthen my body, no doubt about it. With each practice and effort that I put in, my body reciprocated and allowed me to do all kinds of amazing poses that I never thought was possible for myself. But I felt that the sense of euphoria from achieving new poses fleeting. Rather, I found solace in the practice of yoga itself. A sense of peace and balance in my mind, body and soul. The development of self-observation and awareness, and the qualitative improvement of physical and mental health.
Alvin
200 Hour YTT Feb-May’21
