Internal strength and flexibility

Over the years of yoga teaching, one of the most common worries that my students convey, especially when they first join a class, is how inflexible, or stiff they are. I always use the quote from Geeta Iyengar that "it is more important to have a flexible mind, than a flexible body". In yoga, flexibility is more of an attitude and through that attitude we transform the mind as well as the body.  

One of the prominent techniques we use in yoga is Asana (poses). Asana is the most prominent technique because it is the first aspect of yoga many of us are introduced to when we begin a practice. Yoga is fundamentally about stilling the mind, but we start indirectly with the body, to get to the mind through the back door. Through Asana practice, we learn gradually about development, evolution and we learn mindfulness in action. Through this evolution, we gain not only physical strength and flexibility, but also mental and internal strength and flexibility.

As I was reading over the weekend I found this wonderful quote from Guruji, B.K.S. Iyengar:

“You must purge yourself before finding faults in others.
When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.
This is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement.
Do not look at others' bodies with envy or with superiority.
All people are born with different constitutions.
Never compare with others.
Each one's capacities are a function of his or her internal strength.
Know your capacities and continually improve upon them.” 
 B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life

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