It’s been odd, getting into yoga. I started doing this because I first saw people much older than me who could still MOVE beautifully, with a level of strength and control that I didn’t understand. I realized that I was looking for something physical that I could age with, instead of giving into the idea that every ache / pain / strain was just another sign that I had to give up and accept that my body should fall apart.
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I’m glad that I started from that basis. It’s helped me avoid a lot of stupid pitfalls, a lot of ego-driven practice. I’ve been able to keep my patience with the difficulty that comes with physical adaptation.
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I’ve been able to resist being swept up with some of the more questionable aspects of yoga, too. A lot of physical / health advice that people repeat without thinking. The murky spiritualism-merged-with-activism that’s pushed socially. The weird messaging of something centered around people gathering for physical practice, that it shouldn’t be “just about the physical” — as though the focus on the body is to be able to deny the reality of the body for something superior and separate.
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I dunno. It’s all strange. There’s nothing wrong with wanting your body to feel better, to look better, to function better. That’s different than competing with others for a more perfect physique or image.
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And physical practice is hard to DO, hard to maintain over time. You can’t fake it, or talk your way around it. You have to demonstrate it, and your practice will tell you things that you won’t want to say out loud. It’ll display your strengths and weaknesses. It’ll tell everyone how serious you are, and how you confront your own shortcomings. When you practice with others, you have to meet on common ground, and suddenly the status you might hold in your world doesn’t matter so much anymore.
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Feature Photo by the author, Chris Davis.