What To Do When Yoga No Longer Feels Good
I fell in love with yoga in 2012.
Simply put, yoga felt good. And hey, the world was supposed to end so I figured why not.
Every movement felt like it was un-doing years of damage that dance training had brought to my body.
I drank up the alignment forms and alignment actions I was taught in yoga teacher training, taking them as truth, as THE way to move. I was obsessed. I practiced every day, sometimes twice a day, for 2-3 hours. I thought that if I just kept practicing these poses I would keep feeling better and better in my body.
But something changed. Yoga stopped feeling so good for my body.
It started with “popping” my rib out. Then with new hip pain. Then with new shoulder pain. And on and on. Unfortunately, I am not the only one.
I had become victim to our sweet human tendency to believe that more is better. And to believe that there was one right way to move.
It took me a few years, but I learned that in reality, variability is better.
And there is no one right way to move.
Now if you are a diehard Ashtanga yogi and will not change that, this article may not be for you. But if you are open to finding a yoga practice and a movement lifestyle that you can do forever, this is for you.
Inspired by others who found that their dogmatic, alignment based yoga practice was no longer serving them, I began to change my physical activity patterns and to change my yoga practice.
I walked more. I learned to surf. I learned to mountain bike. I rock climbed. I tried Resistance Stretching classes, Foundation Training, and holotropic breathwork.
I continue to learn the mosaic of movement that feeds me, and I accept that on a given day, my wondrous body will need a unique concoction of movement to keep her feeling alive.
My yoga practice and teaching reflect this shift.
When I practice yoga now, it is an ecstatic exploration of the malleable state of my body. I find a new position my body has never taken in every class, and make sure to inform my yoga teacher friend at the start that I tend to move free form often!
When I teach yoga now, it is from a place of curiosity, play, and exploration. My students know they are welcome to try any movement, any muscular engagement, any alignment form that they desire… as long as it is with the intention of serving themselves.
I believe that variability of movement, curious exploration, and a dedication to playful fun are necessary on the never-ending path towards a feel-good body. I know the benefit of meeting my body each day on my mat with a beginner’s mind, not assuming that any one pose or movement that has felt right in the past will feel right today. I continue to gather a rich array of movement into my repertoire so I can feed my body what it needs from the cupboard.
There are amazing voices in this arena of movement variation, like Kathryn Bruni-Young and Jules Mitchell. I particularly love listening to the Mindful Strength Podcast for inspiration.
If you feel like yoga is not serving you the way it once was, here are some suggestions from my own experience. I’ve included some resources below as well
Explore instead of perform
Incorporate new props
Strengthen instead of lengthen for a while (find strength at your end range, like in hanumanasana or the “splits”, instead of “relaxing” passively into the pose)
Lengthen instead of strengthen for a while
Incorporate resistance stretching
Strength train
Diversify your movement — Do you practice yoga every day? Might cutting this in half and adding in something new help your body feel better? (hint: probably…)
Give your fascia some love with Yoga Tune Up or The Roll Model Method … I’ve found there are more and more classes with these methods popping up at my local yoga studios!
If you are committed to yoga as a lifelong practice, you will likely have to change things up at some point. At least I have. And I am no worse for it. In fact, I am much better. :)
Resources
The Roll Model Method / Yoga Tune Up
Resistance Stretching - Genius of Flexibility / Jules Mitchell Course