When practicing Bikram Yoga you will inevitably find some postures easy but there may be a few that seem incredibly hard! Perhaps it’s the balancing on one leg bit that challenges you the most or maybe trying to place the head on the knee and not below the knee in the many compression postures. Often, for someone who has a busy and hectic life or is an ideas type person, the Savasana (the lying down between the floor postures) maybe the biggest hurdle of all! Everyone is different and can be challenged in different ways. The person on the left of you may do a near perfect Standing Bow Pulling Pose but find the Triangle somewhat difficult! So what causes this?
A strange phemonena!
Well one “phenomena” I have noticed happen many, many times over that when something is going to do us “good” or provide some type of freedom for example, there is a part of us that fights that or tries to push it away! You may have experienced that yourself in other parts of life too. Sometimes we hold back on allowing ourselves to experience the good stuff and will find a way to “block” it. I can categorically say from my own experience and from talking to friends, it is quite common.
So what is the posture actually doing?
So what does that have to do with the postures? Well each posture is placing the body in a certain position to allow it to experience certain things. Some postures for example, will stimulate organs whilst in the position, bringing the body back into balance when lying in Savasana. Other postures will stretch the spine out as much as possible and compress the internal organs, others will do the opposite by compressing the spine and stretching out the internals. Standing Bow Pulling Pose for example will shunt blood from one side of the body to the other and then stimulate a balance of the two sides of the body when you stand still after the posture. Others assist greatly in the training of the mind and focus. And so it goes on. There is a reason (or rather many) for every posture. Yoga is holistic, the postures work on other levels too, not only on the physical but also on the mental, emotional and if you are open enough, even the spiritual too.
Don’t fight or resist the posture!
The reason why I have explained the above is that very often the posture that you or your body needs the most will be the one you dislike, or even “dread” the most or find the most challenging! It is almost like there is an internal (subconscious) fight going on. I have taught several types of energy work for many years and this is the thing that has fascinated me the most. We can often put up amazing resistance to the things that will allow us to change something for the better. It feels easier to stay in the comfort zone instead of challenging yourself to go outside of it! This is actually a very large subject and I am finding it hard to put into words but I hope you get the gist by the end of this post!
See the posture as the gift it really is!
So what to do about it? Change your feeling and focus about the posture. That actually is very easy to do as it is just a thought and feeling. It may take longer for the body to enjoy the posture but you can change what you think about it in a nano-second! So instead of seeing it as the posture to dread, or the “punishment” it may feel like at the moment, see it is the “gift” it really is for you. Have gratitude for what it is doing, even for how it is teaching you something about yourself for example.
Be aware that on some level this posture could give you a freedom that you may never have experienced before. It could give you incredible focussing ability to improve your sport for example. It could just open you up to many opportunities.
Funnily enough, once you’ve cracked this, more often than not it will then become your favourite posture and the easiest to do!
So is that Bikram Yoga posture your friend or foe?
It is whatever you choose it to be in that moment!
Bevx
