When we practice physical postures, it’s easy to think that we are trying to accomplish a certain look. Even subconsciously, we practice in a way that is trying to get our body in a certain shape. We think (and have often been told) that if we are trying to find some perfect expression of the posture. However, practicing in this way means the postures are doing us.
A posture is a set of benefits. Each posture is a set of contractions and relaxations that manipulate the body in a unique way. If we use the muscles correctly, we get benefits specific to that posture. Depth and perceived “expression” have very little to do with it.
Let’s take the example of running a marathon. Would we think that we had failed and received no benefit at all because we didn’t run 5 minute miles like the winner?
Probably not.
We would still have run a tremendous distance, have used our cardiovascular system, found mental focus and accomplished a huge feat.
When we practice postures, it’s so very important to ask ourselves “Am I getting the benefits?” If we are practicing in a way that is using the body correctly, we are doing the postures.
This means of course, we must know what we are doing in each posture! This requires that we ask ourselves, What is the purpose of the posture?
That is a great way to get clear on the postures, the practice and allow for the benefits to arise.
