Befriending Your Body - thoughts from my interview with Kelly McGonigal, PhD.

My first show of Living Yoga Radio launched with Kelly McGonigal, editor of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy as my first guest, who made my job as interviewer so very easy. (Thanks Kelly!) Her story of meandering her way into yoga therapy by recognizing ‘regular yoga’ didn’t really fit the needs of many of her students is a story that resonates for many of us in the field. I found myself nodding through so much what she said, in full agreement that yoga practice is not something one should need to ‘recover from’, but is a way of ‘befriending your body’.
This message bears repeating again and again. Just last night, I worked with the daughter of a dear friend who has been a consummate athlete for many years, and is now suffering from lower back, hip and groin pain. She loves to run, to do circuit training, pushing her body to extremes. Not surprisingly, the yoga practices she enjoys most are also those of the strong, athletic variety. In that sense, yoga has become yet another way of ‘pushing her body’, rather than a way of supporting her body compassionately to come into balance. Working very slow and mindfully with my young friend, she was able to feel into places in her back and pelvis that were holding chronic tension and creating imbalances. By moving consciously with intention, she was able to unwind some of the holding patterns that have locked up her hips, patterns that have been reinforced by both her athletics and her yoga practice. With soft and gentle movements she was able to tend to her body in a different way, a way that supports healing and stays true to the principle teaching of yoga, “ahimsa” non-aggression – doing no harm.

In our desire to ‘condition’ our bodies, we sometimes can lose sight of the difference between healthy levels of exercise, and beating our bodies into submission. Whether we’re at the gym or in a yoga studio we can in fact be damaging our muscle tissue and creating a chronic physical stressor by tearing our bodies down and not allowing time for rest and recovery. I witnessed this last fall when I taught a course on low back pain to yoga teachers in southern California. These young women were perpetual movers; when they weren’t teaching Vinyasa flow they were practicing yoga, dance or pilates. In the name of ‘health’ their bodies were constantly being pushed to move. They were shocked when I suggested that to heal their acute back and hip pain, perhaps they might stay still for awhile. Even good movement, if the dose is too high, can become toxic.

We must remember that yoga is not about movement, it’s about balance and integrity of our whole being. It’s not another ‘sport’ to be performed. Yoga can certainly be used to that end, but as my teacher Gary K. used to say, that’s like “using a laser to slice bread.” It can do the job, but what a waste of an exemplary tool.

Yoga has such incredible potential for transformation. As teachers and passionate practitioners it’s our job to educate the public about the depth and breadth of yoga practices, beginning with basic principles like compassion for ourselves – and then extending that out into the world to others.