Finding your work in yoga practice...and dance!

Do you have a space in which what you’re working on is different from the work of those you’re alongside? Guess what -- yoga can very much be that space (as can dance, and we’ll get there). I’ve just wrapped up a 200 hour yoga teacher training, which I took to refresh my knowledge and get re-inspired. Among other powerful effects of this training, my practice has been transformed (we practiced together four to six hours a week and broke down the nitty-gritty of poses and flows).

A key way in which it has: I’ve learned that my work in asana (posture) practice is to strengthen rather than stretch to the limits of my mobility. I’ve danced since I was thirteen and practiced yoga since I was nineteen -- now thirty-two, that’s more than half of my life dancing and short of half of my life practicing yoga. That’s all come with a lot of deep stretching, on a consistent basis. My own approach to working and growing has also intensified all of that work; I haven’t always understood that more is not always better. Genetically, anatomically, and physiologically, I’m also mildly hypermobile (very mobile in muscles, ligaments, and joints).

Practicing a Lizard Pose a few years ago, going deep into my flexibility

Add all of that together and the result is that I have quite a mobile body. Is there a problem with that? Well, first off, let’s look at all this with the yogic perspective that nothing is plainly “good” or "bad”, it simply leads to certain outcomes (positive and/or negative). Let’s go a bit deeper and investigate the what and why rather than branding things as 100%, always “good” or “bad”.

So, that said, here’s the main issue with hypermobility: mobility has an inverse relationship with stability. In other words, when mobility goes up, stability goes down, and vice-versa. Lack of stability can lead to injury, repetitive stress issues, and even some technical limitations (not being able to achieve certain postures, and in dance not having access to certain movement qualities or difficult movement vocabulary).

So, that all means that my work in yoga practice is finding stability rather than going to the limits of my mobility. What does that look like? In something like a Lizard Pose (a lunge with hands down and both hands on the inside of the front leg, that front leg stepped out wide towards the long edge of the mat), I’ve often placed my back knee down and sat deeply into my hip mobility.

I now instead keep that back knee up and engage through my leg musculature to encase my knees in protective muscle.

In something like a Low Lunge, I used to sink deep into the lunge. Now I lift and steady my hips a little higher -- again securing my knee through engaged leg musculature, and focusing on the alignment that allows for safety and stability.

What’s that been like? In all honesty, it's been a little challenging and requiring diligence; we can’t just decide to change habits -- rather, doing so takes consistent practice of something different to do a sort of manual override.

There’s also that little voice from inside telling you to go deeper and push harder just because you can -- dancers, can you relate? But I've been trying to tell that voice to shush, that I’m making a different choice and have a different goal. I keep at the manual override. That right there is yoga, to my understanding -- that consistent coming back to the better choices for you, and the growth that results from that diligence.

Practicing a Low Lunge recently, intentionally not going as deep as I can go

And here’s the really key thing that I’m hoping to impart: while that’s my work, the person next to me on the mat has different work. Ergo, we’ll likely make different choices in our respective yoga practices, and -- if supportive and nurturing for each of us individually in practice and as people -- none of those choices are "wrong."

We’re all different people, coming from different places and with different needs -- so why should practice look the same for each of us? How could it be and still be supportive of all of us who come to our mats? Another aspect of all of this is how it's a multi-step process: finding out what your work is, beginning that work, and maintaining it. There's no fingers-snap magic moment and no silver bullet. It's in coming back to the practice, and your unique work in the practice, again and again.

Finding your unique work in dance

You might be thinking "I'm a dancer -- does this apply to me?". It absolutely does. It largely depends on your goals, strengths, growth areas, and the context you're in as a dancer (for example, competitive ballroom dance will call for different work than professional ballet). No matter what it is, it's a process involving clarifying your goals, creating a plan of action for reaching them, acting on that plan, and having a way to evaluate your level of progress.

Considering all of that, if flexibility is a growth area for you, for example -- what would be the best course of action? Learn how to stretch safely and do so regularly -- also remembering to take days off from flexibility work for muscular healing, working smart over working "hard." Importantly, also remember -- when doing that work and evaluating your progress -- that sometimes limits to our flexibility can be structural in our anatomy, meaning that they are not things we can change no matter how much we stretch.

If you want to improve your jumps and turns, or need to in order to achieve your dance competitive or career goals, your work would be consistently working on that technique while also letting those goals shape how you approach all of your technique work -- from every ballet barre to every jazz class warm-up to every improvisational session. Mix in necessary rest, being kind to yourself, and patience, you'll be on your way to hitting those triple and those fancy leaps!

Dancers posing, all with their own unique work according to who and where they are as dancers

Just as the work of two separate yogis side-by-side in a class might be dramatically different, your work and that of a fellow dancer in class with you might be different. Support them in that, of course, but ultimately know that that's their work -- just as your work is your work; it's 100% okay if they're modifying a movement phrase in a different way than you are (with choreography, so long as it’s in alignment with a choreographer’s vision, of course)!

In fact, that can greatly contribute to the unique artistry of individual dancers -- something that can turn a good performance into a spellbinding one (you might have heard it said -- once you learn the choreography, then you can really start to dance it).

All of that said, I challenge you to investigate your unique work as a dancer. Maybe you already know what it is -- how are you doing that work? Are you intentional and consistent? Do you have clear goals, and a clear plan for reaching them? Do you have accountability measures for yourself, and ways to gauge your level of progress? If so, to any or all of that, what has happened for you -- technically, artistically, personally?

I'd love to hear from you on the matter -- including feedback and other perspectives! DM my social channels (found on the "Contact" page) or email mindfulmovers5678@gmail.com. Thanks so much for reading!

Dancers finding harmony and ease in performance, as individuals and individual artists