YES you are flexible (really you are!)
When you mention to people that you do yoga do you ever hear “I’m not flexible enough to do that!”
Its a pretty common limitation for why many don’t get on the mat – especially as we are a society of achievers. Stepping onto a yoga mat for the first time can seem pretty daunting if you have never moved your body in that way before.
I know for many though, working on their flexibility is one of the instigators for going to their first class – they start to notice that their body has aches and niggles that weren’t there before, this is definitely true for me. When I started my flexibility was very limited due to many years playing sports and constant gym sessions!
For some bodies it can definitely feel like a slow process working with flexibility – I know I felt like that.
I’ve always said I have tight hips, every time I come into a hip opener I would just think to myself that I wasn’t going any further that my hips would always be tight, there have been times where I’ve been disheartened as I look around the yoga room (not that I’m comparing but hey I bet everyone has done this!) and see how everyones hips are much more open and they can go deeper in the poses. All I’m thinking is when will these dam hips open!
Overtime though – and for me its been years (!) I’ve slowly lessened the desire to believe that I need to go deeper into the poses and to stretch more, in order to get more out of my practice. It can be frustrating at times, but this is the practice hey! Noticing what comes up for you and how you react to different situations and challenges. This for me is being FLEXIBLE – not how deep you go into the pose but adapting to whatever your day throws at you.
So when you think you are not flexible enough to do that pose or you get frustrated or disappointed that you can’t get your body to do what you’d like to – be aware how it makes you feel, completely accept that feeling no matter what it is – learn from it, be mindful that this may translate to how you feel in your day when things don’t go to plan and YES you are flexble enough to do yoga – no matter, what age or size you are!
