Yoga: Listen to and Honor the Body

by | Jan 9, 2025 | 0 comments

Yoga: Listen to and Honor the Body

Yoga is a personal journey. It’s an adventure of self-discovery.

One night, I looked out at the yoga students practicing tree pose.

Quick side bar… in case you don’t know what tree pose is…

Tree pose is a balancing yoga pose. You stand on one foot, grounding it into the floor. You get long and tall on the standing leg, lengthening as you stand up straight.

You take the foot that you’re not standing on and bend the knee out to the side. Let’s use right and left here, so you get what I’m saying.

So, we stand on the right foot, lengthening through the right leg. We bend the left knee out to the left side, bringing the left heel to the inside of the right ankle. Then, when we’re ready, we can either lift the toes off the floor or lift the entire left foot and place it on the inside of the right leg (on the calf or thigh, not the knee).

You can add arms and whatnot, but that’s the very basics of tree pose without getting into too much detail.

Anyway, we were all practicing tree pose in yoga class. I look out at the students. And, I notice that Nina isn’t doing anything. She’s just standing there with her hands on her hips.

I was worried she was unhappy or upset and asked what was wrong.

Nothing. Just honoring my body…”

After class, Nina went on to share with me that she has plantar fasciitis. So, balancing on one foot (on the side where it hurts the worst) aggravates her condition. I thanked Nina for sharing this with me, and went on to praise her in front of the whole class. In fact, since some people had already left for the night, I praised her again the following week so all the yoga students could hear.

Why did I harp on this? Why did I praise her to re-praise her a second week?

Nina had embodied an important yoga principle. She listened to and honored her body.

Honor the Body

I start lots of our yoga classes reminding the students that yoga is a very personal journey. In fact, I see my role as the teacher as quite minimal.

Sure, I do the homework to get ready for the class. I create the sequence and have the outlined notes with me during practice. I find quotes that fit the class flow or write discussion questions for us to reflect on. I even make music lineups each week that go along with the yoga session.

But I tell students, “Yoga is a personal journey. It’s an adventure of self-discovery. I cannot see inside of your bodies. I don’t have a microscope cluing me into every little nuance happening within your muscle groups. Honor your body. Listen to its needs. Do what you like/can. Leave the rest.”

Often, I think people in yoga classes are secretly competing. Competing with each other… thinking, “I can’t fold that far forward towards my legs… I must not be flexible enough…” Competing with themselves… “Why couldn’t I do that balance pose? I have terrible balance! I stink!!

While yoga is not about competition. With me, with others, or even with yourself.

Self-Exploration

Yoga is an adventure of self-discovery. It’s an opportunity for you to explore how you’re feeling in the moment. You can use that information you learn in a yoga class to make subtle changes out in your day-to-day living.

For example, you notice your neck is really tight during the warmup. When we sit long and tall through the spine and practice half-circle neck rotations, you feel that the right side is more cramped and tighter than the left. You think to yourself, “I wonder why the right side of my neck is so jacked up… my range of motion on this side is just terrible… it’s SO TIGHT!

Well, later in the week, you notice yourself at work. You’re holding the phone for a long time on the right side, cradling it between your ear and shoulder. In the middle of the conversation with your coworker, you think to yourself, “A-HA! THIS is why my neck is tight. And, this is why it’s tight on the RIGHT SIDE more than the left!!! Wow…”

With that knowledge, you can now make informed changes. You can choose to use the speaker phone feature or even invest in a headset or earbuds for longer conversations. (Yes, I’m aware in today’s day most people already have earbuds… but hopefully, you get the idea.)

During yoga class, you feel SOMETHING. You note that feeling, tucking it away in your mind. However, it resurfaces when you’re not actually practicing yoga. And you realize that you have to make adjustments in order to avoid feeling badly in the future.

That’s how yoga helps us. Talks to us, if you will.

Create Healthy Change

We are present, listening to and honoring our bodies, in the moment. At times, we can take that information forward and use it to create healthy shifts. Or, we can use that data to decide in the future whether or not we are going to give it our all in a pose or not.

If we know that certain yoga poses are going to cause us future pain, we leave our ego behind and don’t care that we don’t practice the pose the way everybody else is. Or, if we know a deeper expression of a posture really supports us to feel good, we might take a stretch further than the rest of the class.

That’s why it’s important to realize everyone’s yoga practice looks different. Even in the same yoga class!

You don’t have to look exactly like your yoga neighbor. You don’t even have to look exactly like the teacher. And, get this, you don’t even have to look like how you practiced the very same pose the week before!

Mind blowing.

Yoga is a personal journey. It’s a time for self-actualization and healing. It’s a chance to listen to yourself and learn about your body. So, take what you feel and enjoy your future practices even more!

About the Author: Elizabeth Scala MSN/MBA, RN, RYT (200) is a holistic nurse, registered yoga instructor, and reiki master.

Elizabeth received her dual master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is a certified coach, nature lover, and avid meditator.

Elizabeth lives in Maryland with her supportive husband and playful pups. She enjoys gardening, jigsaw puzzles, baking, music, and hiking.

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