In my weekly yoga classes, I give different options for the yoga poses.
Sometimes I specify if you have back injuries, if this hurts your knee, if you can’t feel the stretch, or it’s uncomfortable, etc.
Sometimes I simply say here’s the easy/gentle/less intense option and here’s the harder/stronger/more intense option.
How do you know which one to choose?
You have to make that decision yourself – based on what’s right for you. But how do you know what’s right for you? Try asking yourself these questions:
- Do you feel tired?
- Do you have a current/old injury or just a dodgy joint where the movement or stretch is focused?
- Are you already working too hard – sweating, holding your breath, or panting?
- Are you already feeling a deep/intense stretch?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you should STOP with the gentle option.
But sometimes you just want to ‘try’ the option, to see if you can do it, to find out what it feels like. That’s ok, but think about two things before you ‘try’ the harder option:
- Ask yourself is today the right day to just ‘try’ it or would it be better to ask for help one-to-one after class
- If you do try it, move slowly so you can stop before it’s too late
Ok, you already knew all of that. But it’s just really hard to make the right decision, even when you know what it is.
Ask yourself, what’s the point? No one else in the room cares or is looking at you. They are too worried about what they are doing.
In fact the harder option is making the right choice. So next time you choose the gentle option because you knew it was the right option for you, feel great pride because you knew it was a difficult decision and you still did it.
When in doubt, Simon Borg-Olivier from Yoga Synergy explains it simply:
- stress or tense less
- move less
- breath less
Didn’t somebody once say less is more….
