You Can’t Be Bad at Yoga
“The ideal is within you, and the obstacle to reaching this ideal is also within you. You already possess all the material from which to create your ideal self.”
—Leo Tolstoy
When first I started yoga, I was incredibly inflexible and couldn’t do many of the poses. I was sharing my frustrations with a friend, and told her I was bad at yoga.
“You can’t be bad at yoga.”
I thought she misunderstood: I couldn’t touch my toes or clasp my hands behind my back. I was bad at yoga.
“If you can’t do a pose, just move in the general direction. You’ll get closer eventually. That’s what yoga is.”
Her comments completely reframed my perception of yoga and of all exercise. Showing up and moving in the right direction is all it takes to be good at anything, including yoga.
Running is going on a run and getting some miles behind you. If you do that, you can’t be bad at running.
Strength training is picking up weight that challenges your strength and improving your form. If you do that, you can’t be bad at strength training.
It’s easy to criticize your performance when you workout, but unless you’re an athlete in competition, your performance doesn’t make you good or bad at an activity. What matters is whether you do it or not. You can’t be bad at yoga, and you can’t be bad at anything else if you’re showing up.
—Erik Pavia, CEO
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