Misconceptions about yoga when you're starting out

Hi Everyone: My name is Nicoleigh, and I am one of the yoga teachers volunteering for Yogabear. I have over 5 years teaching experience in both Ashtanga & vinyasa styles of yoga, as well as two master’s degrees (statistics, neuropharmacology), and a PhD in physiology. Halle

asked if I would be willing to contribute to the Yogabear blog, specifically in the areas of yoga and the exciting scientific research that is demonstrating the myriad of mind, body, and health benefits from yoga. In particular, taking this research and translating it into a language we can all understand.

The first topic I’d like to blog about isn’t the most scientific one I’ll post, but it is important and has to do with a common misconception that people new to yoga often have, which is that the goal of each asana (pose) is to perform it perfectly. Many people new to yoga think that pictures they see of poses in publications such as Yoga Journal represent perfection. Another example of this is that a new person watching other students in class may perceive the way more advanced (or not) students performing a pose is perfection, and they think that they have to attain that in order to be doing yoga correctly, or to be doing yoga at all. Even advanced students fall into this way of thinking from time to time, e.g. “I wish my backbends looked like so and so….if only I could do such and such pose like Sarah”. I think you get the point.

Students think that the more yoga they do, the more flexible they will become, and the closer they will get to their idea of perfection which may be based on the pictures they’ve seen or the other students in class (this is a generalization). While it is true that yoga will aid in increased flexibility, flexibility is not entirely determined by the muscle stretching alone. I will be using a dancer’s “turnout” as a comparison to yoga and the hip joint, as a dancer is expected to have 90 degree external hip rotation, whereas most people have around 45 degrees.

In large part, a person’s flexibility is determined at birth, by the structure of their bones. For example, a man’s skeleton is built differently than a woman’s (the first picture is a female skeleton [ref: http://catalog.nucleusinc.com/imagescooked]; the second, a male skeleton [www.bones.com]).

Shapes and sizes of the bones differ significantly from person to person, as well, therefore no two people will ever experience the same yoga posture in exactly the same way. For example, my femur bone (thigh bone), probably looks very different from yours. The way my femur bone fits into my hip joint (see picture of different shapes, sizes of hip joints [ref: www.paulgrilley.com])

will therefore be different from yours. If I externally rotate my legs as if I were a dancer in first position (see picture below [ref: www.starbulletin.com]),

I may have a greater degree of rotation than you, therefore, yoga poses requiring external hip rotation will be easier for me than you. My warrior one will look different from yours, and as you can see from the pictures of people in warrior 1, warrior 1 varies from person to person, therefore, the idea of perfection is non-existent (this in itself is a topic for another time—the idea of perfection). Looking at the picture below of warrior one [ref: www.jbyrdyoga.com] demonstrates the similarities in hip rotation, amongst other joints (and muscles, ligaments, tendonds, etc.), of first position. The shape of the hip joint is generally formed by the age of 12 years. This means that the skeletal capacity for external rotation is fixed by about this age. However, tightness of the soft tissues (joint capsule, ligaments, tendons, muscles) which cross or surround the joint can restrict this potential range of motion. That tightness is where improving flexibility comes in.

This is also why your teacher may come up to you in class and correct your pose. This doesn't mean your pose is *wrong*; if your rotation is forced, it could compromise your hip, knees, ankle, or back. No matter how much you stretch, your Warrior 1 may
never look like the pictures you see in magazines, but that's okay! Conversely, you may have an incredibly supple and strong spine, with supple shoulders, and you may have backbends that look like the pictures you see. I have been practicing yoga for 10 years, and I can tell you, my backbends do not look like the ones in Yoga Journal, or some I see in my daily yoga class, because of the skeletal structure of my spine, and limits in spinal movement.

In summary (because I don’t want this blog post to turn into an epic novel):

1. No pose should ever be forced, or painful.
2. Your yoga pose may look different from someone else’s, but that doesn’t mean you’re doing it incorrectly, or not practicing yoga.
3. Your bones and joints, as well as connective tissue, tendons, and ligaments determine, to a large extent, your flexibility, but that doesn’t mean you cannot increase your flexibility—it will just be increased to what your body’s capabilities are.
4. There is no such thing as perfection. Your teacher correcting you doesn’t mean you’re doing it incorrectly, but is more concerned with you doing your practice safely, so you don’t hurt yourself. Yoga is not about the postures—it is about many things, and it is very individual and personal.
5. Lastly, try not to measure your practice by anyone else’s, which ties in with #4. It’s about bringing the focus back to you, among other things, even though most of us from time to time experience *pose envy*.

For more information, here are some great sites & references:

1. Paul Grilley, eSutra 9.20.04: Posted to e-Sutra January 4, 2005. In fact, anything by Paul Grilley is great.
2. http://www.georgetownyoga.com/html/faqs.htm. This has FAQs for people new to yoga.
3. http://www.archangels.com.au/biomechanics.html: turnout-hip injuries. This has great info. About the hip joint in particular.
4. Linda Sparrowe, “A Woman's Book of Yoga and Health: A Lifetime Guide to Wellness” (Boston: Shambhala). 2005 Dance Magazine, Inc.
5. Yoga Journal (www.yogajournal.com). Their website has great descriptions of various yoga postures.
6. Ashtanga.net for more information about postures specific to Ashtanga yoga.
7. http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/dance/core/performance/dance_technique/prevent_injury/hip_groin.html. More information about hip injuries, etc. from forcing external rotation.
8. http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/sacroiliac-mobility-exercise-1116.html. This is a forum run by a yoga therapist by the name of Mukunda Stiles (www.yogatherapycenter.org)