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<\/h4>\nYoga studios don\u2019t often hand out pamphlets explaining what yoga is or what you may gain from it. Yoga and its practices are often difficult to sum up quickly in words as there are many different techniques, styles, and practices to get to the yogic state. In addition, any yogi who has studied will know that promising specific benefits or setting expectations of gains for students actually negates the purpose of the practice altogether. Promising results is near impossible\u2014not to mention it would make\u00a0Patanjali\u00a0himself roll over in his grave.<\/p>\n
This difficult-to-define, expectation-less, and open-ended-results situation gives rise to many a myth about what yoga and the postures themselves can do for you. Not a day goes by that I don\u2019t crack up scrolling through social media to read the latest and greatest promise that yoga is offering. Here are a few of my favorites.<\/p>\n
I often joke that if fancy poses are the key to enlightenment then I should be sitting next to Siddartha and have rays of lights shining out of me. Alas, I do not. Complex\u00a0asanas\u00a0are first of all not even wise for every single body to attempt, nor are they the keys to transcendence. What could get you closer to what yoga has to offer is NOT doing the fancy even when you can, not clinging to them, and not focusing on what you\u2019ll get when they are accomplished. What you\u2019ll get from doing Scorpion is the shape of Scorpion. What you can learn from the process of approaching that pose and discovering whether or not it\u2019s wise for your body will teach you far, far more about yoga\u2019s true aims.<\/p>\n
I will say that being in tune with the moment does allow for some better decision-making skills and an easier daily existence. That said, these are probably only going to be skills you acquire if you become a monk and head to the hills to\u00a0meditate\u00a0for eons. Even then, if you\u2019re clinging to the idea of supernatural gains, you\u2019re missing the point of yoga. Yoga is being present, fully engrossed in the experience of the moment\u2014not magic.<\/p>\n
A yoga practice can make you kinder and more compassionate by making it easier to be less reactive and more accepting of things as they are. It can give you the ability to be compassionate toward other people\u2019s behavior and pain because you understand that they\u2019re doing the best they can in that moment. But that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll automatically be sweet as pie, all the time\u2014even to the person who cuts you off on the freeway or to the telemarketer who calls and wakes you up at 5 a.m. Yoga can make you less of a jerk, sort of. It encourages steadiness during moments of conflict or discomfort, which can help you fly off the handle less often. And it certainly can allow you to be gentler and more accepting of yourself and all of your facets. That said the idea that somehow practicing yoga makes you the definition of virtue is silly. Sure, you\u2019ll learn to make better choices about what\u2019s wise for you and you may become gentler with yourself and others, but you\u2019re not bound for sainthood (that\u2019s religion, not yoga).<\/p>\n
Keep Reading on YogaJournal’s Blog<\/a>…..<\/p>\n\n \n YES! I WANT TO LEARN.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n