Health & Fitness
Four Ways to Make Yoga Work for YOUR Body–-Inspired by “All Levels Yoga” with Shari Solomon
There are a few phrases that you often hear in a typical yoga class: “Feel free to modify this posture in whatever way best suits your body today,” or “you can take this pose, or simply rest in child’s pose.” Often times you might hear those reassurances, but not really believe them, right? For me at least, having encountered team sports before yoga, I still have to remind myself that yoga is not a competition—that taking, say, the “easiest” version of a pose is really okay. When a teacher gives us permission to take a pose to the extent that is right for ourselves, he or she really means it. Believe it—because as Shari Solomon, a new instructor at Sohum Yoga and Meditation Studio showed me during her All Levels Yoga class this week, doing so might be the key to establishing a yoga practice that is meaningful to you, no matter how familiar with yoga you are. Below, I outline four ways that you can make yoga work for YOUR body. They are inspired by Shari’s teachings, which allow students to truly experience a class that is for all levels.
1. Learn to use props, and to love them! Shari and I both reflected on how many yogis are hesitant to use props for fear that they seem like a sign of weakness or lack of ability. As she noted, however, props can actually help you get deeper into a pose. For example, she showed me that placing a folded blanket underneath my hip in pigeon pose would allow me to let go and sink more deeply into the intense lower body stretch without over-exerting muscles. Props—blocks, straps, blankets, and more—are essential for preventing injury and giving your body permission to experience a pose, no matter its ability or proportions. The average human body simply is not built like that of an ancient yogi—off of which most poses are based—so there is no shame in getting some help from props in order to access poses.
2. Practice whichever version of a pose is right for you. Shari took me through a sequence where we began on our sit-bones, with bent legs in front resting on a block, and hands grasping the back of our thighs. From there, there were options to stretch arms out straight; to remove the block and balance with hands holding thighs; or, finally, to balance without a block and with arms pointing straight ahead. Each version challenged my core strength more and more. Another common example is tree pose—do you press the sole of your foot to your calf, or to your inner thigh? Do you hold your hands in prayer pose, or do you stretch them up like tree branches? In both examples, each step is perfectly fine, and, furthermore, essential to developing a practice that you can modify depending on the strength, flexibility, balance, and body proportions that you personally experience.
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3. Hold poses for as few or as many breaths as you like. After going through the steps of getting into a twisting low lunge, Shari encouraged me to hold the asana for several breaths, or to return to resting in tabletop. It all depended on degree of the balance and strength that I could muster in that moment. In some yoga practices, like a vigorous vinyasa flow, teachers might lead you through a vinyasa sequence where each movement corresponds with an inhalation or exhalation. On the other hand, you can increase core and upper body strength by holding plank for several breaths.
4. Remember that yoga is one of the most fruitful ways to practice mindfulness. Are you finding it difficult to balance in tree pose today, even though yesterday you held it for ten breaths with ease? Try training yourself to think “Huh, that’s interesting!”, rather than internally criticizing yourself. Or try marveling at all that your body can do—“wow, I’m holding up my whole body weight on only one leg!” Both are a valuable way to bring mindfulness to your yoga practice, and, by extension, to bring mindfulness to daily life.
