Bounce Magazine 77

MARCH 2019 | ISSUE #77
NEW FEATURE
Jacqui Sinclair
Yoga Do’s and Dont’s
Jacqui Sinclair has been
teaching yoga in the Bury St
Edmunds area for ‘ages’ and is
keen to promote the benefits of
a regular practice to all.
This monthly piece will feature
basic answers to some of the
many YOGA comments and
questions that get asked by
beginners and pre-beginners
alike!
The beauty of a yoga practice
is that there are a myriad of
teachers and lineages out there,
so there truly is something for
everyone. I would encourage
everyone to try different
classes until a style or a teacher
resonates with you.
One comment that I hear often
is ‘I tried yoga once, but I wasn’t
flexible enough so I don’t think
it’sfor me’.
Flexibility is only one part of
many areas of exploration within
a yoga practice. For many of
us, it feels like the most obvious
‘restriction’ that we encounter
when we first go to a class, and
if we are mentally rigid in our
approach too, we may go no
further. Lacking flexibility can
feel like the practice
is an impossible feat
of trying to move with
the hand brake on. Looking
simply at just the biomechanical
objectives of our yoga practice,
it would be best summarised
as to bring balance inthe body
between stability and flexibility –
working on optimum integration
of both, for our own individual
anatomy.
All aspects of the
practice are worked on
gradually, incrementally
and progressively.
If we think about the number
of years we have been ‘doing
that life stuff’ that we do, with
all the repetitive patterns of
movement and behaviours, it
would be unrealistic to expect
to reverse that in a few classes.
Plus our practice doesn’t happen
in a life vacuum, as when we
step off the mat, we often go
back to all the movements and
patterns of living and doing that
build that restriction up in the
first place. It is worth noting
that anatomically we are all
very different, so optimum
flexibility for you may well be
significantly different from
the person on the mat next to
you. Props (blocks, cushions,
bolsters and so on) can assist
in your practice being safe and
progressive, rather than feeling
impatient and aggressive. Using
props can indicate an advanced
practice technique (as it
shows awareness) rather than
feeling like using stabilisers on
a bike….your practice can feel
challenging, but it shouldn’t
feel like a battle with your own
body.
Flexibility is best approached
with an attitude of working
with the body gradually to
Find out more about me, my
classes and workshops on my
website: www.sahasta.co.uk
43