Yoga can have incredible benefits for the body, mind, and spirit. However, the manner in which you practice yoga, and how you relate to the poses determines the benefits it will have.
Many styles of yoga tend to be hyper-focused on the specific "asanas", the shape the body is in during yoga poses. What is neglected is the movement between and within specific poses, which is where the real magic happens. Adding variations to traditional yoga poses can help deepen anyone's practice by promoting neuroplasticity- thereby improving mind-body connection, quality of movement, and can help yogis avoid repetitive stress injuries.
In some schools of yoga, asanas are taught in a way that is very stringent and prescriptive, which can have damaging impacts both physically and psychosocially. The hidden message is this- "if your body cannot get into this shape, then you should force it to". This can lead many people to steer clear of yoga classes for fear of judgment from others, as well as self-judgment, if they cannot "achieve" a certain yoga pose. Additionally, repetitively forcing the body into the same shapes over and over again to lead to repetitive stress injuries to the joints and other tissues. Yoga means union- union of your mind, body, and spirit. The purpose is to meet yourself where you are today without judgment or comparison.
The goal should be to work with your body, not ON your body, to achieve some arbitrary shape at the expense of injuring yourself.
This is where variety comes into play. Rather than trying to achieve a particular shape, try exploring the intention of a shape with different variations. Yoga should be about exploring movement, not stagnant posturing. Adding variety into your yoga practice will make it far more functional- how often in real life are we holding one exact position for a prolonged period, rather than moving in and out of different shapes? Variety can also be used as a modification to make a base pose more accessible OR more challenging. Practicing in this way will help nourish your muscles and joints in different ways to avoid injuries, and will lead to greater physical and neurological benefits.
Here is an example of adding variety onto some of my favorite yoga poses:
When in doubt, add a circle!
Written by Jacob Tyson, DPT - Physical Therapist, Yoga Instructor and The Wellness Station Team