When I was in the midst of my teacher training program in 2019, I remember attending Christie Pitko’s class with my boyfriend. She asked Kiran “What is your experience with yoga?” To this I jumped in and responded on his behalf “OOOhh he’s better at yoga than me, he can do anything”. She looked at me, and did the best thing a yoga teacher could do by challenging me saying, “What does being better at yoga mean?”. I went home to ponder this, and 2 years later I can say that was one of the best learning moments for me as a student.

Looking back at that moment almost makes me want to cringe. What did I mean by better? What is even being good at yoga? Did I think that doing a headstand or wheel meant being a yogi? Where did I learn that?

I probably can’t pin down exactly where this thought came into my mind, but scrolling on instagram today gives me some ideas. With yoga teachers pushing their bodies to the limit, it’s almost like you are watching gymnastics instead of yoga. I have to try really hard to find videos of teachers doing pranayama, meditation, or Asana with the use of props for support.

So moving forward I have decided as much as I can to avoid using words like perfect, best, worst when discussing my Asana practice. Instead, I plan to focus on how I can get my body to a certain place overtime with the use of props, ropes and skilled teachers.

Today “good” yoga has become Asana, and now gymnastics, is this a problem?

Not convinced yet, here are 6 reasons why it’s important to stop idealization in yoga:

1. Using “bad” to describe yoga proficiency is not accurate.

Yoga is a practice to still fluctuations of the mind. So when people say they are not good at practicing yoga in relation to how they can go back in wheel pose, it is not being used in the right context. Asana (yoga postures) were originally created for embodiment, so you can feel connected with the body before moving to pranayama and meditation to silence the mind. If someone is “perfect” at yoga, what they should actually be good at is tapping in the body to quiet fluctuations of the mind.

2. The idea of bodies needing to look a certain way to be a “good” yoga practitioner discourages people from becoming yoga teachers.

I have a lot of family members who love yoga, however, according to Yoga Demographics published by Zippia, in the U.S., only 3.9% of yoga teachers are identified as Asian - where is the disconnect? When I ask others with a similar cultural background as myself “What’s stopping you from doing yoga teacher training, I get the response “I’m not good enough at yoga to be a teacher”. This breaks my heart as most of these people have grown up in a culture where a yogic lifestyle (pranayama, meditation) was inherent and they can bring something so unique to the yoga community.

3. We cannot idealize one body posture when everyone has a different body type

Michelle Bouvier, my mentor, always cues standing wider in certain poses to accommodate for wider hips (often women). Her phrase “Yoga was made for young boys, but that’s not us so give your hips some room to move” is genius. What she acknowledges is that yoga looks different on every body and it really does. Being a man vs. woman, tall vs. short, etc. will inherently make some poses harder for some.

4. The best teachers I know have mastered the use of props because they struggle with certain poses.

We can work our way into a headstand, wheel, handstand, etc. with the right use of props such as ropes, bolsters and blocks. People who have had to build their way into poses, instead of it coming naturally, know how to help others find their way safely and with the use of support. So while it might seem like the best yogi on IG is the one who has known how to headstand from day 1, the person who can really help you learn something challenging is the one who built up their practice over years of practice & props.

5. Focusing on trying to get your body to get to X or Y place causes body dysphoria, eating disorders and general discomfort during the practice.

I wish I could say I didn’t spend years of my yoga practice wishing my body looked like someone else’s, but that often is the case and part of modern yoga. Comparing body types can lead to a very slippery slope. That’s why the way we practice yoga today, looking around the room at others, often leads to discomfort for both the mind and the body (literally the opposite of the purpose of yoga). As soon as you start looking around in a yoga class, remember that this practice was originally passed down from a teacher to single student ONLY using words to describe poses — they didn’t even have pictures to idolize bodies.

6. Long term injuries are more likely when you do not take advanced poses seriously.

Proper yoga education is expensive, but we often do not see this. We forget that every time you see someone pushing their bodies past a limit, that person likely had access to trained professionals who helped them safely extend their practice. Not everyone has access to this and spreading the idea that getting into a headstand is easy and does not take work can lead to some serious injuries.

So all this sounds problematic — What can we do?

Listen to your body and use props (ropes, bolsters, blocks, chair, etc.) to slowly work your way up to harder poses.

As much as you can remind yourself that the goal of yoga is to find stillness in the mind. This will naturally broaden your practice to include not only Asana, but also pranayama and meditation.
Try not to use perfect or bad when you think and speak or think of your yoga practice.
Be kind to your mind & body -> It’s there to help you.
Follow these accounts on Instagram o learn more about deeper practices in yoga & as well as accessibility:

@meeradhawan108 -> My account (shameless plug)! Has educational posts on philosophy of yoga, pranayama types, etc.
@yogaforallbodies -> Account focused on helping people with yoga variations based on their mind/body
@inflexibleyogis -> This account shows you how to work your way into more advanced poses through prep
@arundhati_baitmangalkar -> Let’s talk about yoga, this woman is outstanding and has programs for pranayama, mentorship, philosophy and a podcast.
@yogachristie -> This was my teacher that I mentioned in this article! She posts a lot of assists with props, and her classes work to advance poses slowly with the use of props.
@elemental_alchemy -> Sachi’s blog is out of this world, she has resources on Ayurveda, yoga, philosophy and much more, she’s a genius.
@neuro.namaste.nature.nourish -> general yogic lifestyle
@rabiameghani -> Posts about meditation & Ayurveda

What even is being “good” at Yoga?