This subject comes up a lot.
People assume yoga is stretching. It is not.
Stretching is one possible outcome of a yoga asana* practice, but certainly not the end game.
Opening is a much deeper thing.
i taught structural yoga therapy - alignment based self-healing - in studios and privately for 35 years; the miracles come when we stop limiting ourselves by always first thinking “i can’t do that.” it doesn’t matter, actually.
it’s never about the pose, but the internal struggle to a quieter state of mind - something we all face, and the pose gives us something to focus on while we are going through that.
Alignment and breath make energy flow, and that flow heals.
we just hold a pure intention, and show up…
Yoga is, after all, opening to possibility - expanding beyond ones limited actions and ideas. This Yoga way of being - this Yoga consciousness of possibility instead of preconception - is a living philosophy threading its divine regenerative force through our cells and fluids and bones.
*PS: Asanas are the postures, the physical practice in Yoga of opening.
The forthcoming is from a newsletter article i first published in 1995. Over and over through all this time, these words have been shared, and people have appreciated this broader, more ancient perspective of asana. It gives them hope.
here’s the article:
As important as active asanas are to stimulate energy and combat inertia, deep openings can best be achieved through supported poses. Support allows the body to release contraction and relax, so that it can respond on deeper levels.
Opening is different than stretching. Stretching involves surface musculature, while opening is an organic process of expansion from within. Opening leads to effortless stretching, but the converse is not always true.
On a basic level, stress signals adrenaline and cortisol production to protect us from sudden danger. Stress comes in many forms: physical, mental, emotional, biochemical (synthetic hormones, environmental toxins, pharmaceutical drugs). Most people experience a steady supply of stressors in their lives, and under constant pressure, muscles contract and never relax. This drains energy and weakens immunity. In order to reverse this, it’s important to take time to open, stretch, and rest. Supported poses really help!
Areas of tightness are the result of mistaken nerve impulses. While stretching may soothe the mind and muscles, opening creates longterm changes in these imbalanced nerve patterns.
Opening also gives deepening degrees of freedom on many levels mental, emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual. When our energy flows freely, we are healthy and most alive. To open to our full potential of energy is healing.
Most people are accustomed to feeling stuck in some area of their lives; locked in an uncomfortable body, a dead-end job, or a limiting relationship. These circumstances cause contractions in the body, mind, and mood that weigh us down. Learning to open in yoga curtails the reaction to contract when confronted by the unpleasant, and keeps the body free.
In supported poses, we do less, and so feel more - physically and emotionally. Restrictions and barriers dissolve, our focus clears, and we become less reactive to the situations in our lives. We can naturally stretch further without feeling stopped. Openings appear from somewhere deep inside, and this can surprise us. In that moment, we can choose our response: joy or fear, contraction or expansion, freedom or pain.
The choice we make matters less than the fact that suddenly there are more options!
We are no longer stuck.
Yoga is not about stretching. Yoga is about opening toward full potential within ourselves. and that, dear friends, is a divine and noble goal.
…yet it’s all a mind shift, even to imagine yoga as opening rather than stretching, and in a simple change of perspective lie all the fruits we desire…in this life or later on…
Needed to read this, thanks YPH! 💗🙏🏾✨
Thanks for the Heads up . Great refresher on being here Now.