Free Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice by Ganga White Page B

cuts both ways. I have been able to assist students in moving through blocks or inabilities simply by getting them to say, “I have the energy to do it,” or “I am learning to do this pose.”
    Even positive self-images create problems. We may approach our practice with a concept of what we can or should be able to do, or of what we have done in the past. By focusing on the concept or memory instead of on our actual ability in the moment, we may push too far. I have seen this undesirable tendency not only with people trying to do today what they know they could do yesterday, but in longer cycles too. Many times someone wants to get into shape after years of neglect. Though it has been a long time since they had a physical practice, it might seem like only yesterday, so they push too hard at first. This tendency can be more serious for older people and seniors. It is difficult to accept our decline, and too often a seventy-year-old tries to his or her detriment to keep up with a twenty-five-year-old in the same class.
Start where you are and stay there
. Watch your mental projections, images, and concepts and use them wisely. Positive self-images, when tempered with reality, can bring inspiration and energy.

Fear As a Limitation
    Fear can prevent students from moving forward or from doing certain postures. Inverted poses such as Headstand or Handstand and moredifficult backbends and other poses that challenge strength and balance commonly cause some people to tense up or shy away.
    Most fear in yoga practice is created by anticipation and by projecting thought forward. In the moment of true danger there is actually no fear, only reaction or action. If you are crossing the street and suddenly a car comes at you seemingly out of nowhere, you immediately jump out of the way. The fear comes afterwards when you think about what could have happened and your heart races. Or the fear comes the next time you go to cross that street and you think about or anticipate what might happen.
    This same kind of fear reaction can occur when learning a difficult position. The deep instincts we have of fight or flight cause us to send many signals coursing through our nervous systems that tense and stimulate the muscles. Fear also comes from our unfamiliarity with how to execute a new and challenging pose. Our uncertainty results in tensing or energizing many muscle sets at once instead of only the necessary ones. This excessive effort can sap energy and even cause strain or injury. Many times when teaching more challenging postures, I see the student’s body become hard, rigid, and heavier than normal. When I explain this process, students learn to soften and relax as they explore new positions.

Competition and Comparison
    Yoga teachers often say that we should practice without competition and comparison to others. On closer examination, we see it is really neither possible nor desirable to do this. We constantly compare ourselves to more and less advanced students, to our teachers, to the “ideal” pose, and to what we can or want to be able to do. These comparisons contribute greatly to the learning process. Even if we try to practice only for our own well-being or excellence, that intention itself involves subtle forms of comparison and competition. A better connotation ofthe advice not to compete nor compare suggests we take pressure off of ourselves by releasing our thoughts of inferiority or superiority in our practice. Your practice is for you—for your growth, development, and well-being.
    Yoga is a field where everyone can win, because winning is not about who does the best asana but about learning to do the best asana for your body in each moment. The usual competition with others for a prize or recognition is not involved and so comparison has no relevance except for the purpose of learning. Watching a more advanced student can be a source of inspiration and instruction. Practice to learn and grow, not to win or defeat. Yoga