How to Learn New Yoga Poses in Better Manner - Pause

Flickr ~ micah.e

Practicing an asana or yoga pose can sometimes become mechanical. When we practice a sequence of poses focus can easily shift from a practicing a particular pose in a better way to completing the sequence. This can happen both in a individual practice or also in case of practicing in a group.

Our minds react more easily to visual stimuli and many times ignore the other instructions or signals. For example if you practice in a group, if the instructor tells you to bend left, but person in front of you bends to the right you are likely to bends towards right too. Which means that instead of the sound stimuli we are more likely to follow visual stimuli.

If you want a deeper experience of your yoga practice then you would need to shift your awareness also. Focus on the current pose being practiced deepens the experience.

Pausing in a great way to focus and I practice this frequently.



Pause and Focus
I am into a yoga training program where in the sequence of poses has been increasing as I progress and many new poses are introduced. As as is the case I usually find any new pose challenging can learning them is always a good experience. But what happens when a new poses gets introduced in middle on an existing sequence is you may not be able to provide sufficient focus to the new pose as may be required.

The reason is, when we practice in a sequence we try to go through the sequence and it is difficult to put more focus on a single pose. It may also be true with the existing poses which you practice. Though in both situation the challenge is different. In case of new poses your body is unaware about the new muscle action and required strength and flexibility as well as the adjustments needed to practice the pose properly. In the case of old poses with time, the practice may become mechanical since we know how to do it and hence the awareness may become less.

For example when you practice Uthitha Trikon Asana (Triangle pose) for quite a while, it is easy to lose focus on the exhalation while bending and just completing the bend.

The solution is also not that difficult. When you practice, just pause and go slow with the next pose. Just before starting the pose remind yourself about it and practice this. Pausing, brings focus and helps you get deeper experience and awareness.

For new poses, my suggestion would be to go even more slowly. For example if you are new to Trikon Asana, just bend in stages. Just bend a little, pause, take few breaths feel the muscles, then again go ahead with little more, pause, and try to reach the comfort level. Stay in the extreme position which you can hold and try to breath in relaxed manner as much as possible. Feel the muscles involved.

This is how I generally take up new poses and feel that it may be a good way to learn, which helps you learn and progress in relaxed manner.

Practice with pause will help you to progress faster. The two words pause and progress may not gel together, but in case of yoga, this is the way to go.

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