If you’ve been following the podcast religiously (which you should if you haven’t been!), you’ll know that this episode is a little bit different. This week is my first episode without any guests, and this is something I am hoping to make a regular thing. I am aiming to release a shorter episode on the last Monday of each month that is just me, talking about some of the topics I’ve been exploring in my own life and on my blog. Enjoy!
This week’s episode is a big one… “what does it mean to be good at yoga?”
Do you ever wonder if you’re “good enough” at yoga to be teaching? Do you ever wonder what it means to be good at yoga?
A couple weeks ago, someone asked me how good I was at yoga, and when I thought about it, I immediately thought of my asana practice. There are a lot of advanced asanas I can’t do, so I must not be that good… right? And if I’m not that good, should I really be teaching?
After taking some time to consider what it means to be good at yoga, I decided to put out this solo episode sharing my thoughts. In this episode of the podcast, I discuss the grey area that is defining what it means to be good at yoga, whether or not being good at yoga is actually a thing, and if it is, what does it actually mean? Does it mean doing complicated, advanced asanas? Does it mean just showing up on your mat? Is it different for everyone?
I’m curious about your thoughts… What do you think it means to be good at yoga? Reach out to me at info@mbomyoga.com.
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Currently in my practice “bring good at yoga” is not going to a class and measuring the physical difficulty, or not having my main focus being, “how good of a work out am I getting?” I used to pick my yoga classes by how tough the teacher was, the level of difficulty, and what style was being offered. If a class didn’t tick those boxes, it wasn’t worth my time going. For me, “being good at yoga” is being completely open to what that teacher and class has to offer and letting go of the physical pratice. If I can bind my wrist in prayer pose, awesome. If I can’t touch my toes, oh well. If you ask me to meditate for 5 minutes, then you are truly challenging me. I have found that in adapting this mind set I am able to break the mental cycle of “I need to be better,” and I appreciate my yoga community, and my yoga teachers as human beings on a whole new level. And I am way more relaxed.
Thanks for sharing this! I love hearing the progression in your practice, and how yoga has shifted for you <3
That’s a really funny question, if being good in yoga is having an advance practice then the best yogis are people from carnivals, gymnasts or some contortionists 😀 Would I go to a gymnastic yoga teacher for a class? Uhmm… no. I go to a teacher for her teachings and her style even if the asanas we do are basics. I myself is not an advance practitioner because I chose to pay attention to other modalities of yoga. It’s not just asana. I’m confident enough to believe in my skills to teach and take on a class after initial jitters because I know how much I’ve grown in my yoga and spiritual path and that alone is something I could share energetically with my students. Some students that are advance are only advance in their asanas and that’s about it, some you can tell so much efforting and showing off. That to me is not advance. Meeting yourself where you’re at and not get caught up with the hype of Instagram vanity is advance practice in itself.
Thanks for your podcasts.