How Do You Meet Challenge?

I recently had an interesting chat with someone about ‘challenges’ (specific to yoga and movement).

This person told me that they find it so frustrating when they ‘can’t do something' (a pose or transition) that they’d rather not even make an attempt…that they simply shut off to it.

I found this intriguing because it’s the diametric opposite of the way in which I’ve tended to approach movement challenges myself. My frustration at not being able to do something has usually ended up with me focusing on it obsessively until I either work it out, or concede that it’s definitely beyond my capabilities.

Admittedly this has not always ended well. I’ve certainly suffered injuries in the past as a result of this headlong approach but I like to believe that these days I’m somewhat more considered in my practice (at least most of the time…samskaras will be samskaras!).

But I do believe that it’s important for us to mindfully embrace challenge - to gently probe our boundaries and preconceptions about what we believe is possible (not only in terms of movement, but in life too). Often (though admittedly not always) the movement will come in its own good time and we end up surprising ourselves.

Of course I’m conscious of what is realistically possible - I’m in my 40s now so am unlikely to learn how to do a triple back somersault with pike. But there are certainly still movement challenges and poses that I’m exploring and working towards. I don’t know if I’ll ever ‘get’ them but I’m genuinely finding enjoyment, and a lot of value, in the journey of exploration.

It’s also good to bring to mind that many of things we can do now may once have felt ‘impossible’. It sounds ridiculous but before I started practising yoga I literally could not cross my legs in a seated position…at least not without using my hands to forcibly lift one thigh over the other. 

In comparison to that admittedly low bar my current movement capacity seems pretty good…and ultimately, cultivating a sense of contentment and gratitude for the things we do have, rather than frustration about those we don’t, is a much more valuable gift of practice than the ability to take full lotus.

So my advice would be to set your movement goals, but to hold them lightly - try to enjoy that journey and see where it takes you, knowing that we all have a different starting point and that the end point may be somewhere very different than you’d first intended. 

Why Do We Call It 'Practice'?

Why do we call yoga practice ‘practice’?

We ‘do’ Pilates, we ‘go’ to the gym, we run, swim or cycle - so why do we ‘practice’ yoga?

As with so many things, the answer lies with intention. With all of the activities listed above, the goal is an overtly physical one - to improve our physical capabilities and capacities in one respect or another.

The goal of yoga is very different. Although it’s often presented as a physical practice it’s actually anything but. In fact Patanjali (who’s system did NOT include practice of postures beyond meditative seated poses) explicitly tells us to cultivate ‘disgust for our bodies and the bodies of others’.

Even in the non-dualistic school of Tantra in which the body was considered as sacred and indistinguishable from spirit, the physical form was simply used as a tool to achieve transcendence.

And though it might sound a strange admission for a yoga teacher to make - yoga really isn’t a great ‘movement’ discipline. Think about it...we move in mostly linear and basic ways on a small rectangle of rubber. Of course there ARE physical benefits to doing this - but if you want to be a great ‘mover’ you’d definitely be better served with dance, gymnastics or martial arts.

But that’s ok - because yoga postures weren’t intended to help us move better, they were intended (within the context of the Tantric philosophy mentioned above) to help us move towards realisation of Self.

This is why, as I’ve written before, there’s no such notion as being ‘good’ (or ‘bad’) at yoga. And this is also why we call it ‘practice’ - because we’re practising cultivating a sense presence and stillness in which we can access a truer understanding of Self.

There’s no doubt that at times in our yoga practice we will find ourselves in unfamiliar and potentially even slightly uncomfortable (but I hope not ‘painful’) places…both physically and mentally. But by grounding and centring ourselves in body and breath we have an opportunity to retain a sense of balance and presence - a connection to that underlying sense of stillness that’s with us at all times.

We also have an opportunity to recognise patterns of the mind as they arise. If discomfort is present how do we meet it? Do we immediately back away, do we grit our teeth and ‘push on’, are we able to simply be with that sense of discomfort, exploring it gently? Taking the opportunity to know ourselves better.

And most importantly - are we able to exercise discretion and care, to take the most skilful and appropriate course of action in each moment?

This is where great value in ‘practice’ lies - developing the capacity to meet the challenges and discomforts that life will throw at us without losing our centre, without losing our connection to that inner sense of stillness. Using the situations we encounter in our physical practice, or when we sit for meditation, as ‘training for life’ so that we can retain our connection to Self as we move through life’s ups and downs - responding appropriately rather than reacting instinctively.

We won’t always get it ‘right’ - nobody does - but hopefully over time, and by approaching our practice with the right intention, we’ll find that our progress through life becomes just that little more easeful as a result.

A Simple Yoga Sequence For Happy, Healthy Shoulders

If we were to rewind the clock to our hunter gatherer past, we’d find our ancestors using their arms and shoulders in a variety of interesting and exciting ways - climbing trees and rocks, scrambling across uneven terrain, throwing projectiles at prey - and many more important ways besides.

Fast forward to today, and for many of us our shoulders (as with most of the joints in our body) are chronically under used (think long hours sitting at a laptop with our arms resting on a desk).

And to coin a cliché, if we don’t use it, we’ll start to lose it. If we only take our joints through very limited ranges of movement, then our nervous system responds by literally closing off our ability to move through greater ranges (why waste precious energy and resources?)

But thankfully there’s an antidote that’s readily available - movement.

Yoga is a great start - it gets us moving our arms and shoulders through ranges that we might not be accustomed to on a daily basis. But most of the movements we take in yoga are passive stretches that rely on the application of external force (teacher adjustments, the leverage of our own body or gravity).

To complement these passive stretches it’s helpful to take active, controlled movements that cultivate the strength needed to functionally access the range of motion in our shoulders.

To get you started, I've put together a short shoulder mobility sequence that will help you cultivate more active strength and control through the range of movement in your shoulders and maintain healthy functioning of these important joints to support your yoga practice (and daily life!). And as most of them are simple movements, it’s ideal to take this sequence as a mindfulness practice, really dropping your awareness into sensations, thoughts and breath, and welcoming whatever arises. 

So enjoy the exploration, be interested in your experience of the movements and the sensations that arise, and as always, be sure to listen to the feedback from your body.

Shoulder Girdle Articulations

This first movement is called a ‘Controlled Articular Rotation’ (CAR) - we’re not simply rolling our shoulders around, we’re moving intentionally through the full range of motion available to us. At the same time we’re creating some internal tension and resistance through the rest of our body (tensing legs, belly etc.) to both isolate the movement in the shoulder girdle and to maximise the feedback that we’re sending to our nervous system.

For this movement keep the elbows locked and your palms clamped to the sides of your legs (rather than rolling your hands around to the fronts or backs of the thighs).

Begin by drawing your shoulders up towards your ears and then with the shoulders lifted, squeeze your shoulder blades back towards your spine. Maintaining that squeeze of the shoulder blades back, slide them down your body - then with the shoulders drawn down, roll them forward. Finally, with the shoulders rolled forward lift them back up towards your ears. That’s one round.

Take 3 - 5 rounds in total and then 3 - 5 rounds in the opposite direction (i.e. shoulders lift, roll forward, slide down, squeeze back and lift up again).

Upper Arm Axial Rotations

For this movement we’ll rotate the arms along their length - technically called axial rotation. Watch out for the front ribs wanting to lift and flare (keep them a little bit ‘knitted’ towards your mid line instead).

Start with your arms reaching wide of the body, palms open, and then rotate the little finger edges of your hands towards the space behind you. You might feel the muscles around the tips of your should blades engage. From there rotate the palms forwards, down and around behind you. Continue for 20 - 30 rotations.

Shoulder Joint Rotations

This is another rotational movement - joint rotations are the best way we have of moving through all ranges of motion accessible to us and letting our nervous system know that we want to keep those ranges open.

Again you’ll need to keep your elbow locked for this movement and create some internal tension throughout the body. Other things to watch out for are that pesky rib flare and the torso wanting to rotate around towards the direction of the arm that you’re moving…keep it facing directly forward instead.

Start with one arm reaching up overhead (palm facing in towards your midline) and then begin to rotate that arm back behind you, drawing a semi circle in the air with your hand. At the same time, rotate your arm along its length (just as you did in the axial rotations) first rotating the palm forward and then away from your midline…so that when your arm reaches the side of your thigh the palm is turned away from you with your thumb pointing behind you.

From there we return to the start position - drawing a semi circle in the opposite direction and rotating along the length of the arm so that the palm ends up facing back in towards your midline when you’re reaching overhead. That’s one round - take 3-5 rounds each side.

Shoulder Diamonds

Start with your arms alongside your body. As you inhale reach your arms overhead and, keeping a slight bend into the elbows, tap the tips of your index fingers and thumbs together. As you exhale, return the arms alongside the body.

Take 20 - 30 rounds moving slowly with intention, awareness and focus - imagine you were moving your arms through treacle.

Shoulder Flexion Active Stretch

Place your hands against a wall and walk them down until you can feel a gentle ‘stretch’ in the shoulders - make sure it’s not too intense, just so that you’re aware of some sensation there and make sure that the movement is coming from the shoulders, not from arching the lower back and flaring the front ribs.

Hold for one to one and a half minutes and then actively press the palms into the wall and also create the sensation of trying to pull them down the wall at the same time - gently at first and then gradually building the intensity of that sensation. Once you’ve found your strongest safest sensation, hold for 5 full breaths.

From there, try to pull the palms away from the wall - they more than likely won’t actually lift away . Again, hold for 5 full breaths and then relax. Optionally take another round.

Shoulder Extension Active Stretch

Hold a belt behind your back with your palms facing forward. Take a deep bend into your knees and fold forward to rest your abdomen on your thighs (this isn’t a hamstring stretch). Draw your arms away from the back of your body and hold for a minute and a half to two minutes, making sure that you maintain a squeeze of the shoulder blades back (rather than rolling the shoulders forwards).

When you come back up from the fold, rather than dropping your arms back towards your torso keep them lifting away from your back. Once you’re standing fully upright hold for 5 - 8 full breaths and then release. Optionally take another 1 - 2 rounds (on subsequent rounds no need to stay in the fold for a long time).

Active Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) Arms

Begin with your arms reaching wide, palms open. Reach one arm up to point to the ceiling, turning the palm to face forward. At the same time reach the opposite arm down and back behind you, turning the palm of that hand to face backwards.

From there bend both elbows, bringing the top hand towards the back of your head / neck and the bottom hand towards your lower back - there’s no need to actually make any contact between your hands and your toros (if there is contact, keep it light).

Keep the shoulder blades squeezing back towards your spine at all times and your gaze directly forward. Try to resist the impulse to round the upper back / drop your gaze, roll the shoulders forward and wriggle the hands closer…we’re not interested in interlacing the fingers here, simply moving through our active range.

Take 3 - 4 rounds moving side to side and on the final round hold for 5 breaths each side.

Active Garudasana (Eagle Pose) Arms

Hug your arms around your torso and lift your elbows. From there point your fingers up to the sky.

Keeping the elbows lifted, press the top elbow into the bottom forearm and draw the backs of the hands towards each other - DON’T worry about taking a double cross of the forearms so that the palms are together. In fact definitely don’t do this - instead simply point the fingers upwards with the wrists in a neutral position.

Hold for 5 full breaths and then feel as if  you’re trying pull the elbows apart. Again hold for 5 full breaths before relaxing, lifting the elbows and holding the position for another 5 full breaths. Switch sides, rinse and repeat.

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This post was originally written for my friends at soweflow…

Beware The Perils Of Abstract Landmarks

We stretch for the feet in folds, strain to 'take the bind' with our hands and crane our necks around to get a deeper twist...

Some of us even try hooking our legs behind our neck...or try tapping our feet and head together in back bends. 

I’ve done all of these things...and more besides.

And my experience of practice tells me that when we become overly fixated on these arbitrary goals it often comes at the expense of the quality and form of our movement…we start to quite literally pull ourselves out of alignment (physically and perhaps also mentally and energetically).

Because when we pull and push to contort ourselves into postures with force, it is rarely done with much thought to the mechanics of the body or based on an intuitive sense of how the body is feeling and what would serve it best.

Instead, we tend to lose our connection to practice as a bodily enquiry and allow the goal-oriented mind to assume the driver’s seat (and being honest…for most of us it already spends a little too long sat there). 

And when that tendency to push and strive becomes so strong that we override the body’s feedback mechanisms, then we also create a greater risk of injuring  ourselves (I’ve done this too…).

This is why I’m of the opinion that abstract bodily landmarks are false friends in our yoga practice - yes, the feet can be a convenient point of reference to move towards in a forward fold, but if stretching for the feet or holding onto them for dear life doesn’t serve the body then it becomes not only unhelpful but potentially a problem.

It’s for this reason that I prefer to take these landmarks out of the equation as much as possible - for example taking a seated fold with the hands joined at the chest, so there simply isn't an option to hold the feet - or taking 'hands free' twists so that the rotation has to be created internally rather than through the leverage of the arms. 

This approach will teach us to start owning and controlling our bodies through the ranges of movement we have, rather than constantly encouraging the pursuit of more flexibility (there comes a point when enough is enough…) - to build the capacity for moving with a greater sense of stability, autonomy and control.

It also encourages students to embrace exploration and inquiry over ‘achievement’ - to sense into their own felt experience of the practice rather than worry about attaining the ‘peak expression’ of a given pose.

This is partly why I’m not such a big fan of adjustments and why I also tend to avoid encouraging use of binds or other methods that allow students to hold a position ‘artificially’ (i.e. without internal control of their body). Instead I try to help students develop the ability to move in ways that really serve their body best (which means less extreme range, more strength and stability through the ranges that are already there). 

Admittedly for most of us this approach requires a little un-learning and re-learning - particularly when we’re used to approaching our yoga practice in the way that is often encouraged, with such a premium placed on extreme flexibility.

But I’m finding that most students are pretty responsive to it and I believe that over time they'll come to feel their bodies are thankful for it too. And if it sounds like an approach you'd like to explore for yourself then please do join my weekly all levels classes in Waterloo where we'll dive into this experientially in our practice.

It's Ok To Be Angry

A while back I was chatting with a student who was struggling with a long term niggly injury.

They’d been doing a great job of adapting their practice to accommodate this injury - and an equally great job of telling me how it had been a really valuable opportunity for learning and finding new ways of practising.

I didn’t doubt what they were telling me - injuries can indeed be great opportunities for learning and reflection, for trying new approaches to practice - but I just had a sense they were holding something back.

And so I replied “it’s ok to be angry about it”.

The sense of relief was almost palpable - I could visibly see their body relax as they gave themself permission to really open up and articulate honestly how frustrating they’d been finding the injury.

I find that sometimes in the yoga world there’s an unspoken pressure to put a ‘spiritual sheen’ on things - to impress upon others (and perhaps ourselves) that ‘everything is great’ or that our practice is ‘so nice’ when the reality is anything but (and anyway, yoga isn’t meant to be ‘nice’!). 

That to be honest and say “actually things are pretty shit right now” or to acknowledge ’negative’ emotions such as anger or sadness is somehow ‘unyogic’ or calls into question our commitment and relationship to practice (surely if we were a ‘proper yogi’ then we’d be all sweetness and light 100% of the time?)

This notion that our practice should somehow insulate us from all the unpleasantness that life flings our way is a deeply flawed misunderstanding - and deeply pernicious too because it encourages us to bypass how we actually feel and avoid facing up to reality as it is (which is in fact the diametric opposite of the purpose of yoga practice). 

Not only that, but it can cause us to compound our suffering - giving ourselves a hard time for slipping below the impossibly high standards that we set ourselves as practitioners of yoga.

But if we don’t face the reality of life, as ugly as it can be, or the reality of how we truly feel, then how can we develop appropriate strategies for managing our responses to whatever arises? 

Because whilst yoga and mindfulness are indeed powerful tools for helping us to develop these strategies and responses, they absolutely should not be used to bypass or deny what’s actually here or how we really feel.

Rather, they should be a means for allowing and connecting all the more deeply to what arises - thoughts, emotions and sensations - and the life situations that we’re presented with. A way of being able to offer some genuine care and kindness to ourselves and others as those phenomena manifest. And a way to identify the most appropriate responses to those experiences - ensuring that we’re not at the mercy of powerful emotions, but that we’re able to work with them in skilful and compassionate ways.

And so if a particular situation demands anger (and there are countless examples we could all point to) - then allow that anger to be, knowing that it’s fully justified and that it can often be a powerful catalyst for action and change.

I’m not saying that I’ve got this licked. In fact, as a teacher I often find I’m prone to putting even more pressure on myself to pretend to others that ‘everything’s fine’ when really it’s not.

But it’s something that I’m consciously working with in practice and life - and as I’ve said before, shining a light on our existing patterns of thought and behaviour tends to weaken their hold over us…and can often be the first important step in identifying new ways of moving through life that can serve us better.

Practising Without Goals

I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘goals’ in physical yoga practice this week - inspired by a mini epiphany that I don’t really have any…

Of course there are plenty of poses I ‘can’t do’ - but to access them I’d need to pull my body into places I don’t want to take it to and I don’t have any real desire to take deeper forward folds, twists or backbends (in fact I used to go a lot ‘deeper’ into poses than I do now…these days I prefer less passive range, more active control).

My appreciation for the practice has in no way diminished as a result of this shift - I still feel very inspired and committed to it and there are lots of poses and transitions that I continue to explore.

But this exploration is undertaken more with of a sense of mindful curiosity and appreciation for the process than with an overbearing concern for whether or not I can or can’t ‘do the thing’ at the end of it. 

I think this is probably the first time I’m able to say this, hand on heart, since I started practising yoga all those years ago. Honestly…it feels a little weird. And it’s a big shift from my days of ashtanga practice where ‘getting the next pose’ was a big deal.

I realise there’s a risk of sounding smug here - that I'm suggesting I’ve achieved a certain level of proficiency in asana and I’m judging those who do have goals in their physical yoga practice.

But that’s not it at all - I’m definitely not denying the value of goals or saying they shouldn’t be a feature of asana practice…there are all sorts of reasons why goals are valuable for the brain and for our mental wellbeing (as long as they’re realistically achievable). 

In other movement practices I have plenty of goals - but somehow they seem to have removed themselves from my asana practice. I’m not entirely sure when that shift happened, but actually it feels pretty good. 

We can certainly never underestimate the value of growth - of learning new skills, techniques and practices.

But can we allow ourselves to enjoy the process of learning, growth and exploration as an end in itself, rather than being overly focused on the end results? Because if we become overly focused on results they can morph into something akin to obsession - and the brain will respond by triggering all sorts of anxiety related responses. 

That’s not something I want to invite into my yoga practice - it should be an antidote to the many other stresses we encounter in life. An opportunity to rebalance mentally and energetically and practice in ways that feel nourishing, rather than piling further pressure on ourselves. 

So I'm grateful that dynamic seems to have removed itself from my asana practice (I didn’t do it consciously)...for now at least.

To practice without attachment to physical goals and find a sense of acceptance with where I’m at feels quite a blessing (and quite a novelty too)...and certainly more conducive to the explorative approach to yoga that I want to continue cultivating.

Yoga = Nervous System Training

The further I explore yoga practice, the more I'm convinced that, from a physiological perspective, it's a very sophisticated system of 'nervous system training'.

When we stretch muscles, we're not significantly altering their structure over time - we're encouraging the nervous system to 'allow' us a greater range of movement and 'reset' it's existing range.

When we load the body safely, more and better quality 'matter' gets laid down - making our bodies stronger and more resilient to whatever life throws at us.

When we actively move through ranges that we're no longer habituated to, we're stimulating mechanoreceptors and 're-awakening' muscles - helping us to improve our levels of mobility. 

When we subject the body to low levels of 'stress' (as we do in asana practice) - proteins and endorphins are released that create the 'feel good' factor many of us associate with yoga practice.

When we meditate we're not only changing the ways in which the brain functions during practice (dialling down beta waves and dialling up alpha and theta waves) - we're literally changing the shape and structure of the brain over time.

When we engage in breathing practices we're consciously overriding the 'lower' brain functions with higher brain functions in ways designed to affect our energy levels (regulated by...the nervous system!).

And when we encourage the body and mind to find a sense of calm we're creating the right environment for the 'rest and digest' branch of our nervous system to do its thing (and dialling down the 'fight, flight, freeze' branch at the same time). 

That's not to deny the original spiritual intentions of the practice - although the 'flow state' that we sometimes enter into in practice can reduce a sense of self and induce a sense of 'being at one with things'.

Could it be that this psychological response is linked to the non-dualistic philosophy that underpins hatha yoga practice…?

Perhaps - who knows for sure. Either way, the nervous system’s responses to yoga is a fascinating topic and one that I’ll enjoy exploring further as I continue to deepen my understanding of this wonderful practice.

Why I Don't Adjust in Public (Classes)

Continuing on from last week's consideration of alignment in yoga - I wanted to touch upon a related topic, which is the thorny question of hands on adjustments and assists.

I don't tend to use hands on adjustments much (if at all) in public classes these days - and I sometimes feel there's the whiff of suggestion that you're not providing the 'complete experience' if you don't provide these sorts of assists. 

But for me it's not a question of lack of skill or confidence (I taught in a Mysore room for a number of years and was well coached in the art of adjustments by my teacher at the time)...it's a conscious decision.

But why?

Well let's consider the most common justifications for a teacher placing their hands on a student in a yoga class...

1. To help a student get 'deeper' in a pose.

For me this is an inherently unsound justification.

Firstly it's based on the understanding that a 'deeper' pose is somehow better than the alternative which I fundamentally disagree with - as I've said many times before, what's important is our felt experience and personal exploration of the practice, not the depth to which we take each pose or what the practice looks like.

Furthermore, our bodies are pretty smart and generally know what's best for us (if we listen carefully).

Our nervous system is designed to stop us from taking a pose beyond the range of movement that it currently deems to be 'safe' - and we should listen to that feedback.

Granted, based on our history of movement and injury, the nervous system sometimes closes off that range prematurely which can cause issues or restrictions - but if we approach the practice skilfully, over time we can teach our nervous system that it's perhaps ok to move a little further.

But the key to doing this is patience, skill and time - we can't (or shouldn't) cheat that process by using an external force (i.e. the teacher) to simply 'crush' us into a pose (and I use the word crush intentionally).

Not only does this risk injury but any additional range that we create will be done so passively - i.e. we won't have the capacity to access that range by ourselves (I'll post more about this another time).

Furthermore the sensation of ‘stiffness’ that many of us associate with restricted ranges of movement will not necessarily be remedied by continuously pushing further in stretches…in fact that may be entirely counterproductive.

This sensation of stiffness or tightness can often be caused by weakness or instability - a response by the nervous system to create greater stability in areas of the body that are inherently unstable.

So rather than helping, continuing to stretch that area of the body is likely to exacerbate the issue - and we might be better served by working on strengthening those muscles instead (or as we do in the Functional Range Conditioning system, doing both things at the same time!).

2. To help a student stay safe in their practice.

This goes back to the question of alignment - i.e. the assumption that 'correct' alignment is going to keep a student safe in their practice. 

As I mention above, I wrote a whole post about this last week, but to recap - 'safe' alignment is often in fact idealised alignment and there's no guarantee that it is any more or less safe than alignment patterns that deviate from these often abstract ideals.

Yes there may be some cases in which a student is doing something that's probably not a good idea - but this can be addressed verbally rather than needing to use hands on adjustments. 

3. To help a student find a greater sense of ease and stability in a pose

I think there's some justification in this. When I do use hands on adjustments (mostly in private classes), it's generally to help students find a greater sense of stability in a pose that is inherently unstable (for example providing an anchor point in standing balances or spotting handstands).

However when it comes to the question of 'ease' I feel that teachers are at risk of imposing their interpretation of what easeful should look like rather than what it actually feels like for the student (again see last week's post for more on this).

Better I think to invite students to explore moving in ways that allow them to find their own sense of ease in a posture - rather than imposing that upon them externally by pulling them into a position. 

4. It facilitates a 'deeper connection' between teacher and student 

This may or may not be the case - but the prevalence and extent of physical and sexual abuse in almost every tradition and style of yoga is deeply troubling and surely acts as a strong counter point to this argument.

Students are often being told, quite literally, to override the feedback and sensations from their own body and submit to the will of their teacher instead…this is very very shaky ground and leads us to the issue of consent - which is a big one.  

For me, the difficulty in knowing whether a student truly consents (or not) to a physical adjustment is the strongest supporting argument for their exclusion from public classes.

Yes, you can ask permission first.

But in so doing we must acknowledge that it can be difficult for students to feel empowered to convey their wish not to receive a hands on adjustment given there can be a stigma associated with this choice and also given the power dynamic (perceived or real) that exists between a teacher and student...I've been there myself.

So why risk putting your students in this position?

(This last consideration is an extremely complex and important one - it's a subject I plan to return to more extensively in another post. In the meantime I would highly recommend reading Karen Rain's article and listening to her podcast interview with J Brown).

There are probably other justifications for providing hands on adjustments that I've neglected to mention here.

But ultimately I don't feel that the essence of the practice loses anything from a lack of hands on adjustments - and given the risk of upsetting, injuring* or triggering someone, I personally can't see a justification for their continued use in public group classes (private classes are perhaps a separate debate).

It's a very tricky and nuanced subject and I accept that my views won't be shared by everyone, but hopefully the above helps to clearly outline my perspective - I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts too as either a student or teacher of yoga (or both!).

*In a recent podcast interview, Jason Crandell mentioned that on every Advanced TT he asks all students to raise a hand if they’ve ever been injured by a hands on adjustment. He claims that the % of people in the room who put their hands up is consistently at the 50% - 70% range. Food for thought indeed…

Knowing is Overrated

The above quote is from Dr. Andreo Spina, founder of the Functional Range Conditioning system of mobility training...an incredibly smart approach to working with the body.

I've been exploring his techniques for developing mobility for a while now, and a few weeks ago I took a certification in the system (I'm now an officially designated FRC 'mobility specialist' :))...and this exploration has led me to question many things that I previously thought I 'knew'.

Many of us, myself included, place a lot of store in 'knowing things', in looking for concrete answers and being 'sure' about things. Sometimes we look to science to support this knowledge...without acknowledging that science (like everything else) is also not fixed, but an evolving entity.

And I have to say that yoga's pedagogy can often be particularly guilty of making statements of fact that leave little room for questions, challenge or evolution.

Personally I believe that part of the reason is due to the heritage of the 'guru culture' in yoga - that the teacher's instructions are to be accepted as fact and not questioned.

If you read the hatha yoga scriptures you'll find many descriptions of the benefits of practising poses (including eternal life!) presented as absolute certain fact...many of these assertions (and more recent ones too) have become so ingrained that they are no longer questioned.

For example I often hear it stated with confidence that practising shoulder stand 'is beneficial for thyroid problems' - but there is absolutely NO evidence to support this...the only thing we can be sure about is that practising shoulder stand makes you better at doing shoulder stand (unless you hurt your neck...). 

This is just one example but I could list countless others.

If you contrast this with the approach taken by movement scientists and trainers you will find that they often use the 'language of possibility' (e.g. the current evidence suggests that doing x MAY lead to y) - and their assertions are usually supported by considered research rather than seemingly being plucked out of thin air.

So where does this somewhat ironic attachment to accepted wisdom in yoga stem from - is it  a lack of empowerment (accepting what we're told because it comes from a 'higher authority'), dogmatism, quality of training, laziness...or because things are being taken out of the context for which they were originally intended?

I don't know, but I do feel that it's very limiting because 'knowing' limits the potential for discovery and asking questions - if everything is fixed then where is the opportunity for uncovering new possibilities? Surely yoga is first and foremost a practice of exploration, of diving into our inner experience and finding our own truth? 

It's also very liberating to be open to exploring new possibilities and revising our perspective when we discover approaches that serve us better (as long as we're clear on why we're doing something a particular way, and, to quote Dr.Spina again, we're 'confident in our current interpretation').

This is why you may occasionally notice that I'm teaching something differently to the way I was 6 months ago - because I'm always looking to evolve my teaching in ways that serve my students best

So how about rather than being satisfied with 'knowing' we embrace 'not knowing' instead - always questioning, always exploring, always discovering new possibilities and always seeking to expand our understanding?

Thanks for reading and enjoy your practice. 

OM Yoga Show London Ticket Giveaway

I have 2 free pairs of tickets to give away for this year’s OM Yoga Show London at Alexandra Palace 19 - 21 October.

If you’d like one of them simply email me on hello@mattgillyoga.co.uk by 6pm UK time on Thursday 11th October and let me know:

• what your favourite yoga pose is and why

• who you’d take to the Yoga Show with you

And that’s it - super simple…good luck!

The Tyranny of The Now...

When I was younger I was often afraid to try new things.

I was scared that I wouldn’t be any good at them and that I’d risk humiliating myself...a risk I wasn’t confident enough to want to take.

So much of my self esteem was tied up in being good at the things I excelled at that I didn’t want to chance being ‘bad’ at other things.

And so I just stayed with the things I was really good at...and my world grew smaller as a result.

I was stuck in what’s called a ‘fixed mindset’. Overly concerned with what I could do ‘in the now’ rather than taking a step back to dream big.

Too focused on ‘achieving’ to pause and ask myself:

 “What do I really WANT to do? And if I can’t do that thing YET, how can I work towards it?”.

When you’re stuck in a fixed mindset challenges can seem threatening...you run from difficulty to protect yourself. You’re subject to what psychologist Carol Dweck calls ‘the tyranny of the now’.

But if you can allow yourself to take on a ‘growth mindset ‘ then challenges start to be seen as something exciting, something that helps us to build abilities we don’t yet have.

This isn’t always easy in a culture that places a premium on achievement. In a culture in which failure is viewed as something negative and damaging...something shameful even.

But yoga and mindfulness can help us to recognise unhelpful patterns that limit our potential - and to find new, creative and compassionate ways of working with these patterns in order to grow.

To (badly) paraphrase one of the central lessons of the Bhagavad Gita - karma yoga is acting with right intention and effort; doing our best, but without attachment to the fruits of our actions (it’s definitely not cleaning yoga mats to get free classes...).

So these days I’m making a conscious effort to try new things - and to do them for the love of doing rather with the intention of being ‘good’ at them.

I’m also planning to try a few new approaches to what I offer in terms of teaching.

Obviously I very much hope they’ll work out...but if they don’t, I’m not going to give myself a hard time like I would have done in the past.

It have to say it feels very liberating.

It's the little things...

It's funny how little things can make you pause and take stock.

Last week, triyoga's weekly marketing email landed in my inbox. It included a link to my recent post about tackling jump through transitions. 

Just below that was a link to a profile of David Swenson. For those of you who don't know him, David is one of the best loved and most popular teachers out there - he's had a major influence on my own yoga practice and teaching. 

In fact it was David who first inspired me to want to teach myself. 

I very clearly remember the moment when, sat with my wife on a beach in Goa, we decided that we were going to enrol in a teacher training course on our return to London. 

This was during a 2 week retreat with David - so you can certainly say that it was one of the most transformational experiences of my life (retreats do have a way of doing that!). 

Up until that point I'd worked in media agencies for a decade and I'd never felt happy or that I belonged in that environment. In fact at times I felt quite desperate that I had to spend so much time, energy and focus on something that I had no real passion for.

And if you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd be featured in the same email as David, I'd never have believed you. 

So yes, the email was a small thing but it prompted me to reflect on how far I've come in that time - and how lucky I am to now do something that I truly love.

It's so easy to take things for granted sometimes...it's good to have these little reminders to be grateful.

The Evolution of Practice

What brings you to practice? What are your motivations and intentions?

When I was younger I played squash to a fairly decent, competitive level...so much of my motivation for moving and exercising was for competition. And up to my mid 20s aesthetics were also a big motivation for me - simply put, I wanted to look better. 

When I found yoga, the motivation moved away from aesthetics...I loved exploring the movement and flow of the practice. But without realising it, I'd come to play out a lot of my existing patterns and behaviours through my practice (in yoga these are often referred to as samskaras...all that really means is a conditioned way of doing / seeing / thinking about things). 

I'd push myself hard and really test the limits of what my body was capable of...striving to 'get the next pose' which was a big motivation in the system of yoga I was practising. It took me a long time to realise what was going on...that I was striving and pushing so hard because I didn't feel good enough as I was. 

In the last few years the focus for my practice has shifted to a more functional approach - trying to get my body to work as well as possible. I still include a lot of challenging, strength building elements in my practice because I believe in the benefits of cultivating strength, proprioception and mobility...but my contortionist days are over. I'm also increasingly exploring other movement disciplines because, well, I love movement and I think it's healthy to mix things up. 

But is it 'yoga'? For me the answer is a resounding yes - these days I believe that the form of the practice is much less important the its function. After all it doesn't really matter 'what' we do but how we're use our practice to cultivate greater awareness, presence and compassion. 

You Never Forget Your First Time...

Do you remember your first yoga class? I remember mine vividly...it was with a bona fide Indian Swami in Goa and it was quite a trial by fire. 

Just getting to the class was pretty traumatic - my girlfriend and I were accosted by a feral dog intent on savaging us as a procession of tuk tuk drivers played a fun game amongst themselves…‘let’s see how close we can drive to the tourists without actually killing them’. 

The class itself was a completely mind blowing experience for someone who had no idea what yoga was about. We began with chanting (I remember thinking ‘I wonder what my friends would think if they could see me now?’) and then into some strong breath kriyas (cleansing practices). I think it was at this point that I got the giggles but that soon stopped when we moved into the postures. 

What followed was one of the most intense and uncomfortable experiences of my life. At the time I was so inflexible I could barely reach my shins, so even the most basic poses were a serious ask for me and the teacher didn't seem inclined to modify the practice to accommodate the fact I was as supple as a plank.

But somehow I managed to make it to the end of the class, and as I lay back for savasana I clearly remember the most incredible sensation pulsating throughout my body - a sense of feeling fully alive and completely energised. I was hooked.  

When I woke the next morning I could barely walk - my body ached from top to toe. But once the pain had eased a little, off we set again (armed with a bottle of water to squirt at the scary dog) and that was the beginning of the journey that’s brought me to where I am today…there’s been a lot of yoga since, but if I’m honest none as memorable as that very first class. 

How was your first experience of yoga? Let me know in the comments below...

The day my back 'exploded'

Have you had a moment that felt like a real turning point in your practice? 

For years I would take leg behind the leg poses as part of my daily practice . They formed an integral part of the system of yoga I was practising and I also had this weird notion that I needed to become proficient at these postures in order to become an 'advanced' yogi. It sounds ridiculous reading it here in black and white but I was caught in the trap of feeling not good enough in my practice and constantly pushing myself harder. If I'd been honest with myself and really listened to the intuition of my body, I'd have accepted that these postures were causing me harm - my hamstrings felt constantly tweaky and I was suffering from low level chronic back pain. One day the inevitable happened - as I took my right leg behind my head, I felt my lower back 'explode' in searing pain. So obsessed was I with these poses that as I lay on my back in agony and panic a thought floated through my mind "maybe I should try the other side"... (WTF??!).

I often think back on this event as a turning point in my relationship to yoga. A move away from formalised 'systems' of yoga to a more intuitive and explorative approach to my practice, one in which I work within controlled ranges of motion rather than 'pulling' my body into positions it wasn't designed to take. Of course it shouldn't have required a serious injury to really come into relationship with my body and treat it with kindness and patience, but I got there in the end. 

Yoga is a wonderful practice that can help us to find greater ease and fluidity in our bodies and in our lives - but if we're simply using it to reinforce existing patterns of behaviour or to meet certain arbitrary standards of physical prowess (imposed on us by our own expectations or those of our teachers) then we're missing out on the real transformative potential of the practice.

There's much more to unpick here about how we can sensitively explore our boundaries in practice. I’ll save that for a follow up post, but in the meantime let me know if you've ever had a similar turning point in your own practice...

So what actually happens on yoga retreat (with me)?

““It isn’t at all untrue to say that being on retreat with Matt was genuinely a life changing experience for me. Being able to come away and connect with Matt’s yoga and meditation teaching, with nature, with delicious food and with a really genuine group of humans, was hugely meaningful. Tilton House is an incredible setting; warmth radiates equally from the log fires, the kitchen, and the host; and practicing in a yurt listening to the rain outside is really quite magical - you chose a great spot!””

— Retreat Participant, November 2018

Joining a yoga retreat is a wonderful opportunity to deepen your exploration of the practice...no matter what your previous level of experience

Are you curious about joining your first yoga retreat but not sure what to expect? In which case, read on...

Joining a yoga retreat can be a truly precious gift to yourself - an opportunity to immerse yourself in a sustained period of practice and a way to deepen your understanding of yoga, no matter what your previous level of experience has been. 

But if you're newer to yoga and you've not been on retreat before then I'm conscious that it can perhaps seem a little daunting to take that first step. I well remember feeling the exact same way...

Will you be surrounded by elite level 'gymnast-yogis' with the teacher exhorting them to wrap themselves into ever more exotic contortions? Do you have to be able to do a handstand? Will you be hit with a stick if you inadvertently slouch during meditation?

The answer to all of these questions is a definitive no...at least not on my retreats!

My intention for running retreats is to leave all participants feeling more centred and grounded at the end of our time together...more connected to their practice, more connected to their bodies and breath. And perhaps more connected to a sense of inner stillness.

We will of course deep-dive into the postural aspects of the practice, but with the greater time afforded to us we'll also have time to explore pranayama (breathing techniques), meditation and other elements of practice.

There will be time for open discussion about different aspects of the practice (philosophy, anatomy etc.) and time too for relaxation...to read, write, sleep or explore the surrounding countryside as you see fit - an increasing rarity in this day and age. 

Another wonderful aspect of retreats is the opportunity to spend time in a transformative space with like minded yogis and to forge new friendships. Many people who I consider to be amongst my very best friends are people who I first met on a yoga retreat.

And at the risk of over-promising, it's amazing how taking time out to pause and find stillness often opens up the space for us to connect to our sense of creativity, vision and purpose. 

In fact it was whilst on retreat with one of my own teachers that I decided I wanted to spend my life teaching yoga and meditation to others...who knows what might open up for you?

“Matt’s yoga retreat gave me the physical, mental and emotional space to practice yoga and explore meditation with ease and confidence.

A safe, warm and encouraging environment filled with friendly people”

— Retreat Participant, July 2019

Working with our Inner Critic

This post was originally posted on my Instagram feed on World Mental Health Day. 

The demon Mara who tried to tempt the Buddha on the eve of his enlightenment

Mental health issues are something that most of us will struggle with to some degree in our lives and it's really positive that these issues are beginning to be spoken of more openly and honestly. 

For me a trigger can often be the mutterings of my inner critic - that voice telling me I'm not good enough, not this enough, not that enough...blah blah blah!

The above image is of the powerful demon Mara who tried to tempt and frighten the Buddha on the eve of his enlightenment in order to prevent him from attaining liberation. Mara can be considered to be a representation of this inner critic, this sense of self-doubt or lack - something that can attack at any time leaving us feeling depleted and dejected. 

Of course Mara failed - the Buddha saw Mara's efforts for what they were and made a physical gesture, touching the earth to steady himself, at which point Mara disappeared and the Buddha attained enlightenment. 

The guidance of one of my teachers, Martin Aylward, has been immensely valuable in helping me to work with these patterns of the mind. Helping me to see critical thoughts for what they are and thus loosening their power to limit or crush. And in the same way that the Buddha touched the earth, making a physical gesture when these thought patterns arise can sometimes help to stop them in their tracks. 

It's something I need to be constantly vigilant about...Mara is a sneaky ****er and occasionally it feels like he's got the upper hand. But finding respite from the power of the inner critic helps to open up a sense of ease and spaciousness with what is, a knowing that we are indeed enough just as we are. In Martin's words "When judgement ceases, there is unconditional space to be. Space for the love and ease, spaciousness and responsiveness that are the natural resting places of the liberated heart."

My Top 5 Tips For Mastering Hand Balances

Bakasana - crane pose

Hand balances are hands down (sorry!) my favourite type of pose - for me they bring a wonderfully fun and playful quality to our yoga practice. 

They also invite us to undertake a curious exploration of our perceived boundaries, patterns and possibilities - fear, striving, exhilaration and frustration are all likely to arise at different points in the exploration…and all can be held with friendly awareness. 

In fact they're a significant reason as to why I fell in love with yoga practice in the first place - I loved the challenge that they presented, even though I was rarely able to hold the poses for long (if at all). 

Over the years of practicing yoga I have increasingly come to appreciate that hand balances are not simply (or even primarily) a question of strength. Of course a degree of strength is involved  - but the practice of balancing on our hands is really more a question of refined technique. 

So...to help you take your hand balance practice to the next level, I have outlined below 5 key principles for safely exploring these wonderful poses. 

1. Use your hands as feet

This might sound obvious…but it's critical that we build the foundations through our hands correctly (just as we set up the feet properly in standing poses) by activating 'hasta bandha' (hand lock or seal - also know as the ‘cambered hand’ position).

Hasta bandha - or the cambered hand position - creates a strong foundation for hand balances

To do this spread your fingers wide with your index fingers pointing VERY SLIGHTLY away from centre and focus on actively rooting the hands down into the mat.

Most importantly ensure that there’s a strong connection into the earth through the undersides of the knuckles - and that the weight isn’t sinking into the heels of the hands and wrists.

Once the hands are set, squeeze the floor with your fingertips to create a subtle 'cupping' action of the centre of the palm.

Setting the hands up in this way helps to provide a much greater sense of stability and foundation in hand balances - it also helps to avoid injuries that can be caused by weight collapsing into your wrists.

2. Stabilise the shoulders

Our shoulders are built primarily for mobility rather than for stability - in fact they are the most mobile joints in our bodies.  

So in order to safely engage our shoulders during hand balance practice we have create as much stability as we can through these joints.

We do this by ensuring that the head of the upper arm bone (the humerus) is properly 'plugged into' the shoulder socket by rolling your inner bicep forward and the outer arm back (external rotation)…so that the 'eye' of your elbow is in line with your thumb. 

Additionally, broaden and flatten your shoulder blades across the back and draw them forward so that they don't wing upwards and away from the body - this can strain the muscles of the rotator cuff surrounding the shoulder joint (causing further instability). 

3. Hug your elbows to your centre line

When you bend your elbows, hug them in towards your mid line so that your forearms are parallel to one another rather than bending your elbows out sideways either side of the body. 

Again this helps to stabilise your shoulders and it also creates a strong skeletal structure upon which we can 'stack' the rest of body in some hand balance poses - reducing the amount of muscular effort we need to invest.

4. Use your whole body

You will never knowingly underwork in a hand balance - so if you’re struggling then pushing harder is rarely the answer. 

Instead you have to understand the relationship between each part of the body and how these work together in combination to take a particular posture.  

Plank pose

Think about a simple plank pose (a foundational pose for all hand balances) - in order to hold your plank you need to activate muscles throughout the entire chain of the body to avoid collapsing towards the floor. 

We can apply similar principles to more challenging arm balances. 

For example in Bakasana (pictured at the top of this post) we need to activate our hip flexors to draw the knees in towards the body and the adductors to hug the knees against the upper outer arms. 

Without understanding how to access and activate these muscles, the pose is simply not possible. 

5. Don’t cheat the process 

I know how tempting it is to want to ‘get the pose’ - I often fall into that trap myself. 

But when approaching hand balance poses we really need exercise patience and be prepared to spend time working on foundational movements that help us to build towards the particular posture that we’re looking to take.

This will help us to approach our exploration safely - building strength and technique without the risk of injury. 

Cat pose

Again, thinking of Bakasana…you can see from the above picture that the position of my spine is not too dissimilar from a basic cat stretch.

So spend lots of time in cat pose actively pressing down through the hands to slightly round the spine and feel a sense of the front body ‘lifting’ towards the back body. 

And then when it comes to actually practising Bakasana, be prepared to start with the elbows bent and with the tips of the toes still resting on the floor.

From there, and over time, you can explore raising one foot at a time (maybe with the forehead resting against a wall for more support) to build the strength required to eventually take the second foot up as well.

But do make sure that you’ve really mastered each stage on the journey before progressing to the next. 

Ok, so that’s it…my Top 5 hand balance tips. I hope you’ll find them useful. 

As I mentioned at the start of this post I love hand balances for the playful quality they can bring to our yoga practice. 

Embrace this playfulness and use the above tips to safely approach your exploration of these wonderful poses - it might take a little while to get the hang of some of them but with persistence, they'll come.

And if you have any further questions or would like to work with these poses on a one to one basis then please do get in touch.

The Benefits of Yoga for Feet

Our poor feet!

Squeezed into tight, uncomfortable, smelly shoes when all they want is to be free. Forced to totter around on high heels when what they really crave is to feel the earth between their dainty little toes.

The human foot is an incredibly complex structure containing 28 bones, 33 muscles, 31 joints, and over 100 ligaments – in fact the feet contain a quarter of all bones in the body.

As a result of this complexity, our feet are incredibly adaptable, with the ability to move in a variety of different ways. They have developed in this way to provide us with stability and balance as we move across uneven terrain - useful when running away from dangerous beasties or hunting prey back in our cave dwelling days.

However, in contemporary life, when we're usually walking on evenly paved surfaces and cramming our feet into the latest in fashion footwear, the adaptability of the foot is seemingly no longer required – in fact you could say that it's somewhat over-engineered. Unfortunately, this leads to a situation where the deep musculature of the foot, which supports the 4 arches of the foot that provide our architectural strength, is not fully utilised and so becomes redundant and weakens.

This in turn creates a variety of problems such as flat feet (fallen arches), weak ankles, bunions, hammer toes and claw toes - all of which reduce the strength of our body’s foundation and lead to further misalignment in the legs, hips, spine and head. So ignore those pinkies at your peril!

Practicing yoga postures awakens the four layers of musculature in the soles of our feet and reintroduces movement into the foot, restoring the natural aliveness, strength and adaptability of the feet. Furthermore, it can help to correct a variety of conditions caused by wearing inappropriate and constrictive footwear – such as shortening of the Achilles tendon from wearing high heels (forward bends will stretch the Achilles tendon and the calf muscles attaching to it).

Spacing the toes in yoga asana practice also helps to counter the effect of wearing shoes that are too tight (a common cause of bunions), allowing more blood to flow in and out of the feet and releasing the musculature. Ahhh...happy feet.

So do your feet a favour - let them out of their straight jacket, get on the mat and get them wriggling free again. They'll be ever so grateful - and in the long run so will you.

Myths and Misconceptions: 5 Things Every Beginner Yoga Student Should Know

1.       Don’t get hung up on how inflexible you are. 

There are no prizes for people who can wrap their legs around their head twice (not recommended :)) after all, yoga is more about how you feel inside rather than how you look on the outside.  If you work mindfully within your present limitations you will enjoy all benefits that yoga has to offer.

2.       Yoga isn’t just for the ladies. 

In fact, historically yoga was exclusively taught and practised by men. Indeed, the roots of some of the very dynamic forms of yoga we enjoy today were first introduced to adolescent boys to harness their testosterone energy and give it a positive outlet.  Nowadays, men are feeling the benefits of yoga in all areas of their life from their work life to the sports field.

3.       There is more to yoga than first meets the eye. 

The yoga postures (asana) we learn in classes are only a small part of the practice of yoga. There are many other disciplines to be experienced including pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation to name a few. Asana is a good place to start as it helps to strengthen the body and begins to focus the mind.

4.       Yoga is not just about sitting around with your legs crossed and ‘Omming’ a lot. 

Of course it can be, but yoga is a very personal journey and so different things work for different people. Yoga asana can be practiced for many different reasons; as a method of exercise, stress relief, injury prevention or spiritual exploration to name a few. It’s up to you - with so many different styles of yoga available and different teachers offering different perspectives keep an open mind and have fun exploring what feels right for you.

5.       Don’t be miffed if you’re not floating around your mat with grace and finesse within a few weeks. 

First of all, don’t waste energy worrying about what you can and can’t do – just enjoy the practice for what it is. And secondly, be patient - acquiring new skills takes time and there are no short cuts. With a regular practice, everything comes in its own good time.