I’m just going to say this outright and you can thank me later: It can be difficult to enjoy yoga for the benefits it has if you are striving for perfection.

Just like one size does not fit all, no yoga pose will fit all. So pushing aside the ‘perfect’ idea of a pose is better for your yoga practise.

Yoga is hard to not judge on looks, as we learn it by mimicking images. We follow our teachers, YouTube videos or photographs in books.

The physical reality of how a pose feels, is different to how it looks.

Unless you are filming or photographing yourself, or practising in front of a mirror, how will you truly know what your pose looks like? And striving to copy a pose might not be the correct way to practise it for YOU.

I was led to my Teacher training because I wanted to know once and for all how to pose an asana. While I learned the basics, I also learned that adjustments are imperative to make a pose work best for you. It is your practise after all. Feeling good within your asana is so much more important that nailing that Instagram post.

Instagram Yoga

Instagram is Yoga’s biggest fan and enemy as it shows extremities of Yoga. If a picture speaks a thousands words, an Instagram post leaves out years of practise, and or perhaps natural flexibility.

In our busy lives we may soak up an image in a split second and not read the caption that goes with it. We might miss that a student has spent years trying to headstand, or Bakasana, Or spent years training as a dancer before finding yoga, perhaps they are in their 20’s now but started yoga at 16.

Instead of expecting to replicate what they can do with their ability, we forget that we are on a journey with our ability.

Leave the images behind and go on how you feel. Turn your focus inwards, as yoga is so much more than asana.

Yoga is more than Asana

Meditation and Mindfulness is a huge factor in Yoga. Yoga was developed so we could sit and meditate for a long time. The poses were developed to focus our minds, and stretch our bodies so we could sit comfortably for long periods of time.

The Meditation came first, asana comes last. So making a focus on asana and not meditation defeats the purpose of Yoga. But hey, we are Humans, of course we get carried away with our feats, achievements and victories.

We forget that we are already perfect.

We forget that we are important in our lives, and striving to be someone else is madness. We have a natural tendency to replicate or copy, but finding yourself, loving yourself, and being yourself is key to life. Finding the poses that work best for you is important, because you are important.

Meet yourself on a mat nearest to you now.