Why it's never about achieving the yoga pose

The Yoga Sutras teaches us that the path to yoga - which in the Sutras is defined as a clear, calm mind, leading to a happy, healthy life - is achieved through two things:

1) Diligent practice (Abhyasa)
2) Non-attachment to the outcome (Vairagya)

Now, these two things can seem at odds at first glance.

Naturally whenever we put the effort in, whenever we commit to doing something – we naturally want to see the results.

We might even feel entitled to them!

What the Sutras are trying to teach us here is that the real gold is in the journey towards whatever we are working towards.

In modern yoga especially, we can get quite pose-orientated in our practice (try searching #posegoals on Instagram, for example).

We might be working towards a particular pose or action (touching your toes, anyone?!) – and whilst there isn’t anything wrong with this, what you will learn the more that you practice is this:

What I want to share with you is that it is never, ever really about 'the pose' itself.

And you can swap out the word 'pose' with 'goal' here.

What it is really about is who you want to be by the time you get to the goal.

It is about the persistence, determination and commitment you will learn with the consistent steps you put in to achieve whatever you are going for in your life.

That's where the magic happens. And for me, it's one of the reasons why I practice.

I hope you found this helpful. And if this resonated with you, drop me an message and let me know!

If you're looking for new inspiration for your practice, I'm always here to encourage you.

Lauren x