A crow is a very intelligent bird, but it is easily distracted by shiny objects. Avoid the shiny objects and improve your yoga practice.
A crow is a very intelligent bird. It knows how to hide food from other birds by simply dropping a leaf over the morsel and then waiting until the other birds leave before eating it.
But show this bird a new shiny object and it will forget all about the food it has hidden and in a flash it will be chasing after the new shiny.
Bob is just like the crow. The new shiny objects for him are all of the people in class. Bob is constantly looking outwards checking out everyone else and not paying attention to his own pose.
What is wrong with looking outwards
Bob is focusing on all of the shiny objects around him. It does not matter if they are doing the pose better or worse than him. He is always checking them out.
Bob has lost his focus. He is not focusing on his own pose and how well or poorly he is doing it rather he is focused on how well he is doing compared to others. Bob’s ego is running his yoga practice.
He is ignoring the feedback from his body. His body is telling him when it is okay to move further into a pose and it is also telling him when it is time to back off. Bob does not hear this feedback.
This outward focus at all of the shiny objects around him will result in Bob injuring himself. He needs to learn to ignore the shiny objects and look inwards.
What is meant by Looking Inwards
Looking Inwards requires Bob to ignore the people around him and focus on his own practice.
He is doing this by starting to pay attention to the feedback from his body. His practice is starting to improve. He now knows when and where to move further into a pose and when to back off.
As Bob’s focus moves inwards he is beginning to recognize the limitations of his own body and respect those limitations rather than attempting to push through them and possibly injure himself.
There are several things that Bob is learning how to do better to improve his looking inwards.
How do you Look Inwards
Bob is learning to ignore the shiny objects around him by adopting several techniques:
Focus on alignment
Bob pays attention to getting his arms and legs in the right place. He checks out his spine, his abdomen, and his knees. Is everything in the right place.
Focus on breath
Bob checks out his breath. He learned that the quality of his breath is an excellent indicator about how well you are doing in a pose. If your breath is restricted or harsh you have gone too far in a pose. If your breath is flowing easily and freely, you can probably go a little further into the pose.
Focus on gaze point
Bob’s teachers tell him that every pose has a gaze point which is a place to look. That place to look is not at your neighbour next door. There is a particular place to look for each pose. Gazing at this point helps Bob to focus on the pose and become aware of the feedback from his body.
Focus on body feedback
Your body will tell you how well you are doing in a pose. If you have gone too far your body will quickly tell you that you are in the danger zone. If you stay in that danger zone you are at risk of injuring yourself.
If you are slacking off and taking it easy in a pose, the feedback from your body will let you know that you can go further.
With all of this inward focus Bob has no time to look around at all of the shiny objects and he is learning a lot.
What do you learn when you Look Inwards
Now that Bob is ignoring the shiny objects he can focus on his own progress and make some discoveries.
If he is doing less well in a pose today compared to last time, Bob can reflect on his day and see if there is a reason why.
If Bob is doing better in a pose, once again he can reflect on the events of the day. Did some activity or event cause his body to be more flexible.
Bob is learning that by focusing inwards he is able to improve his practice a little bit at a time.
Why Look Inwards
Look inwards and examine your progress compared to yourself rather than to the shiny objects around you.
Is there something in his life that Bob should eliminate that will help him to remove the negative influence on his practice. On the other hand is there something that happened today that had a positive impact on his practice. Can he add more of that to
his life.
Based on the feedback from his body, Bob is able to move forward in his yoga pose a little bit at a time and avoid injuring himself.
It is more important to focus on where you are at in a yoga pose right now rather than where some one else is in the same pose.
Summary
The crow lost his food when he went chasing after the new shiny object.
Bob has learned to ignore the shiny objects around him and focus on his own practice rather than comparing himself to all the people around him.
Ignore that flexible noodle next to you and focus on your practice by looking inward using:
- Your alignment
- Your breath
- Your gaze point
- And feedback from your body
When you do all of these you will be better than that crow. You will have no time or interest in checking out all of the shiny objects around you.
Next Step
You may be doing yoga in a group setting, but it is an individual practice. It is more important to respect your body’s current limitations rather than trying to go too far and injure yourself. Use these techniques to develop your ability to look inwards.
Additional Reading
To learn more about your breath and its influence on your practice read How the Ujjayi breath improves your yoga practice.
You can find out about good alignment, feedback and your edge in Why a Yoga Defensive Driving course is required for a safe practice.
Where you look is an important part of your yoga practice. You can find out more about that here – Why looking at your toes reduces stress.
