your pose is your pose

OK, so we all look different in our yoga poses. And that's OK. Really. I'm serious, don't worry about what you look like in your pose. How do you feel? Is it a good stretch, is it good work? Does it feel tight, blocked, sticky? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves. Explore.

I'm not saying that your pose should not change. And I do think alignment is very important, we need to practice our poses safely. Let's protect our knees, ankles, hips, and shoulders. We want to continue to practice another day so we should practice safely today. Find a good teacher for you, someone who gives you the basics of the poses so you can get into and out of them safely, but then let's you be. Allow yourself to feel wonderful in your yoga pose, to feel the work and change happening in your body. When you settle into the pose, embrace it. Practice your yoga for you, for the body you are in today. It is called a yoga practice, not a yoga perfect, or a yoga just like the person next to me.

Let's work towards the safest strongest pose for our body that day. As we gain experience with the poses and knowledge of how our individual bodies need to move we can begin to refine our poses.

Let the refinement of the pose come from within. Think energetically, pull in the belly and allow or encourage the energy to spiral out. The energy can lengthen the spine and strengthen the legs and arms and maybe make the pose more comfortable. When you find the place of comfort within the strength of your pose, your pose is your pose! Enjoy it, enjoy being you.

The video today is my interpretation of Paul Grilley's yang sequence The Flying Dragons. It's a somewhat challenging vinyasa, but that's OK. Watch the first round once, you'll be intrigued. Get out your mat, start back at the beginning and enjoy. You can do it, make it yours. I'm Audra, the ordinary yogi enjoying my poses.

if video doesn't play correctly, click here to go to youtube.