Why Doing Less Sometimes Is Better Than Pushing Harder

Sometimes it happens that I realize my hard work only when I start melting over the floor in Savasana. I usually try to complete nothing less than 100% of any task and same applies to my yoga practice too. When I practice, I do it really hard. But sometimes doing less and giving rest to my body is the only thing that helps me in feeling better and understanding the philosophical aspect of yoga.

Given below are five reasons which describe the importance of rest in yoga practice:

1. Mastering challenging poses isn't going to give you any prizes - except a bit of ego and another more challenging pose to master. Yoga doesn't ever ask you to push your body till its limits. Ability of twisting or holding yourself in advanced and challenging poses doesn't mean that you've got the best understanding of yoga. So why are you in a hurry? Take your time.


2. Understanding the pose. Working as hard as possible for your body isn't essentially a good thing sometimes. In fact, it took me several years of tough yoga practice to understand the benefit of doing less. But now I can understand very well that doing slowly and feeling the breath is an essential requirement for understanding any pose.


3. For going deeper. It's undoubtedly true that doing less of a pose allows your muscles to relax, after which you can do a better deal of stretching further. However, going deeper does not always mean stretching further. Doing less of a pose also helps you in getting a clearer picture of what's happening in the various parts of your body. It's that awareness which helps in understanding every pose a bit deeper.


4. For protecting yourself from injuries. There's no doubt in the fact that yoga injuries happen. Sometimes it's an injury that helps in realizing the hard fact of not pushing too hard every time even if we're quite good at a particular pose. Preventing all injuries may not be possible at all times, but you're a lot less likely to hurt yourself if you go slowly with awareness and listen to the voice of your intuition.


5. Learning the art of loving yourself. Allowing yourself to do a little less on the yoga mat often translates into an opportunity of doing less in the other aspects of life. In simple words, trying to be a bit gentler with yourself. Yoga teachers don't expect you to be perfect in doing all poses at all poses. There must be some reason behind it. So why do you expect yourself to do everything perfectly before leaving the studio? I like to fall short. Doing less in my yoga practice teaches me that I should love myself instead of wrecking myself.

This article was written by John Drewry for increasing awareness in people about the importance of Yoga.

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