At one of the classes, we practised handstands up the wall. A lady stood right next to me and looked at me, as I jumped up. "How do you do it so easily?", she asked. " I can't jump that high!"
I smiled at her and said: "Well, you know what - I've practised this a bit."
"You've actually practised handstands? At home?!" The woman was clearly surprized. It seemed as if I had opened a whole new world just in front of her: it was actually possible to practise yoga at home.
And I was even more surprized that she was so surprized.
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I soon found out that it wasn't so easy to hide in a yoga class room. You CAN actually see on someone that he or she has done their homework. Even though I tried to stay anonymous, peolpe noticed me and my practise. When I at one point did a full split with my back leg bend up to my head, something started to rumble in the room. The teacher noticed this and obviously felt like he had to say something. "And yes, we can all be very fascinated by the beautiful, challenging poses", he said. "I also get fascinated, when I see someone doing them. But I don't care how far you can go. It's all about alignment - that's what is important. And people are just different. I did a full split only once, and I have never done it again."
"It takes time!", I said out loud. Slightly frustrated. I had so much more to say, but I held myself back. It wasn't my class, and I didn't want to seem rude. I wanted so badly to talk about how much work, self acceptance, honestly and patience it had taken me to get to the full splits. I AM NOT BENDY BY NATURE. I definitely don't do full splits because of my nature. In fact, I haven't ever met a grown up person, who just slides down to a full split, just because he or she is bendy by nature. It took me around 500 hours of practise, before I was able to do the full splits. Just saying!
"I also did a full split once - and then I pulled a muscle!" someone said from the back row with a satisfied smile, and everyone laughed. I really didn't like the spirit, and I had to hold myself strongly back from not saying something like: "Well, you didn't use 500 hours of honest work to get there, then!"
Of course you pull your muscles, if you force yourself down into a full split, when your body isn't ready. You need to work honestly with your body to experience any kind of progress - otherwise you'll just harm yourself.
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Practice does not make perfect.
Only perfect practice makes perfect.
- Vincent Lombardo
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It takes time to experience progress in bodywork - just as in every other part of life. And not only time. It takes VERY WELL USED TIME to get there. Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
I might be very influenced by my being a classical musician. In the world of classical musicians and dansers, discipline is alfa & omega. You have to word extremely hard to become a professional musician. But work isn't enough. You have to work smart.
I often meet the challenges on the yoga mat in the exact same way as I face the challenges in a piano piece. I localize my own limitations with a merciless honesty, so I know exatly what to work on - and then I start breaking down the barriers. Bit by bit. Building up the required techniques, speed, wealth of details, memory and what ever else I need. And maybe that is why I often feel different from many other yoga teachers, who doesn't focus as much on building up the strongest foundation for progress.
Please notice: Yoga isn't about being good. It's about improving yourself. It's about becoming a better person - physically as well as mentally. Personal development can only take place if you meet yourself with merciless honestly. And then it just takes time - and perfect practice.
If you ever see someone doing difficult and demanding poses easily, be sure that he or she has used A LOT of time and honest work to get there.
Please don't ever overrule how much honest work and time it takes to become better!
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