{"id":6353,"date":"2015-09-10T17:57:04","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T21:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/?p=6353"},"modified":"2016-10-20T23:29:17","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T03:29:17","slug":"stop-chasing-yoga-postures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theyogimovement.com\/stop-chasing-yoga-postures\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Stopped Chasing Postures, and Started Enjoying My Practice, and My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is there a posture that you constantly struggle with? Maybe you did it once, but could never do it again. Or, maybe you\u2019ve been working on it for years. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve posted about mine right here<\/a>, and right here again<\/a>. Guess what, I\u2019m still working on it!<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re probably going to different teachers or watching youtube<\/a> videos like crazy trying to figure that one thing you\u2019re not doing. What’s that one <\/em> thing to get you into the posture? Maybe you have to roll your shoulder down, or arch your back. <\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the trick?<\/strong> Someone\u2019s gotta know, right?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The trick to getting into yoga postures is to stop chasing them.<\/a><\/div>
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If you\u2019re familiar with Ashtanga yoga, then you know about being stopped at postures. If not, the way it works is that your teacher stops you at the posture you\u2019re struggling with, and you don\u2019t move on until you\u2019re instructed to.<\/span><\/p>\n

When people ask me why they are stopped at certain postures, or why we practice the same sequence over and over, I usually respond with something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the more we do the practice every day, we learn more about ourselves. What are we feeling in each posture? What are the patterns in our mind? How are we reacting? If we\u2019re hard on ourselves, then we probably feel like that off the mat. If we are breathing too fast and rushing the practice, we probably rush things in life. If we feel the need to skip or be lazy in postures, we’re probably late to every event. If we can\u2019t make it to the mat, we probably need to learn how to follow through. Most of all, we learn to observe these thoughts and feelings, and react less. It\u2019s only five breaths, and knowing everything is temporary takes the pressure off.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even though I know all of the above, I still find myself disappointed that I can\u2019t do this posture. I observe it everyday, and yes, I\u2019m way less reactive in yoga and all situations in life, but the root is still there<\/strong>. I\u2019m still chasing a posture. And, what we do on the mat, we also do off the mat. That means, I must be chasing other things. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is until I took a different approach that has changed everything.<\/strong> And, I really do mean that just a simple tweak in my thinking has helped me break through all of my current obstacles.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n