"I am too stiff to do yoga"

I hear that a lot. "I would love to try but I am too stiff to do yoga".

The picture is not of me before and after (unfortunately, ha ha.:) It is of me now and one of my best friends Anna Elfving in the present moment.

I am stiff. I am extremely stiff and have always been. I have a very long back and my hips are super narrow. I find some poses very hard to do and I think it really is a physical thing. Combine that with horse back riding and a job where I sit (and stress) a lot, and you can almost just sit down and laugh about it all.

I am however very proud. Proud of my stiffness and proud of my body. My stiffness shows me my limits and makes me very much aware of what I should be working on. It shows my emotional blockages and makes me want to go that little bit further.

Then again. Yoga really has nothing to do with being supple or not being supple. It really has everything to do with so much more. It is all about how it makes you feel and how it teaches you about yourself and the parts that you might just have forgotten about. It teaches you to detach and stay in the present moment and it teaches you to let things flow through you rather than getting stuck on you.

My yoga practice and learning to control my breathing has completely changed my life. I do think that we should not let any stiffness or other factors influence us in not trying out something new. Yoga is for everyone and it is only in our mind that we think we can not do one thing or another. My oldest student in one of my beginner riding classes was by the time 60 years old. She was the fastest learner, the bravest student ever and the one that now rides every day and owns her own horse. The limits and beliefs that we put are not really there. They might be something we think are there or society has given us the perception of being there.

I suggest that we all try it out at some point and even if the heals don't touch the ground or the standing splits are unsteady just be proud and be present. Enjoy the flow!



And here is a little something I picked up from my Instagram post that I really wanted to save on my blog also. Some thoughts on our feet, fire toes pose and movement in general:

Let’s talk about our feet. Last weekend we did the fire toes pose in our yoga class and I love the pose because people always get so surprised how much tension we can hold in our feet. Our feet are one of those places that we don’t pay much attention to. But as Lara Heimann so well puts it in a podcast with Rachel Brathen ”Hold up the bottom of your feet. There should be a denseness and muscularity to it. For a lot of people there is not. It is almost like this deadened looking tissue because it is just not working. When people struggle in yoga in one legged leg balances like airplane or warrior and get cramps in their feet, their feet are just not strong enough. Cramping feet can be a hydration or mineral issue or then too much demand is put on the muscle and it decides to cramp up.” So work on those feet. Get those shoes of, stand on your toes and practice fire toes pose as often as possible. According to Heimann we should move at least 10 minutes every hour in order to keep our bodies supple and our minds focused. Lesson learned! #yoga #toes #feet #firetoespose #laraheimann #lovethosefeet #takeyourshoesoff #move #body #awareness #focus 📷 @myyogalife_anna ✨💕