Perfect Balance: Yoga with Tim Seutter

You don't have to be flexible to do yoga - it's a myth.

I hear it all the time, "I should be doing yoga, but…"

The end of that sentence goes a bunch of different ways.

This sentence can be summed up as this, "I should be doing yoga, but I'm not."

So why aren't you doing yoga? What's preventing you from adding this life-changing practice to your life? There could be a whole bunch of reasons why you aren't from no time, it's too easy, to where do I even begin?

There are a lot of myths out there about yoga and the first one I would like to dispel is the myth that you have to be flexible to do yoga.

This is simply not the case. Yoga postures are about stretching and moving the body, not so that you can become a gymnast but, so you can release tension throughout the body.

I say many times when I teach that "yoga isn't range of motion"; and it isn't.

So, what is it then? On one level, the yoga postures bring health and vitality throughout the whole body, increasing circulation, and calming the mind.

It doesn't matter if you can touch your toes, put your foot behind your head, or balance on your hands.

All the benefits of the practice are in getting on a yoga mat and getting started.

It doesn't matter if you touch your toes, or you can barely bend forward and touch your knees, you are still getting the same benefit of the posture.

On top of that, you are learning to breathe consciously which provides a calming effect throughout the body.

So, you don't need to be flexible to do yoga but with regular practice over time, you learn to be elastic in your thinking, your body and mind learn to work together in a conscious movement, and you relieve stress.

A famous yoga teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar, put it eloquently, "Yoga uses the body to discipline the mind and to reach the soul."

Another yoga myth I hear a lot of times is that yoga isn't exercise. Well again, this is far from the truth.

The difference between yoga and our western view of exercise is that we work hard to gain results; whereas, yoga is more interested in treating the body as a unified experience and not just about burning calories.

You will get in shape running every day, or lifting weights, or doing whatever else you are passionate about.

Yoga is not about burning calories, yoga exercises the body and the mind in a holistic way, creating health and vibrancy.

Doing yoga a few times a week with your other exercises will make running, lifting, or whatever you do, more efficient thus giving you more bang for your buck.

You will strengthen the connective tissues and help lengthen the muscles so that they can be used to their proper efficiency.

There are many styles and types of yoga that focus on the physical body, the mind, or teach you to relax and create a mindful life.

Whether you train your body, or you train your mind, or you learn to train them both, that is the exercise yoga is interested in.

In the process, you may burn some calories or strengthen the body and that is a great consequence.

Again B.K.S. Iyengar puts this into perspective for us: "Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat."

Yoga is exercise, just not the type of exercise we may have thought and that is one of its gifts.

You are free to discover which parts of yoga will appeal to you and the longer you practice, the more you realise the depth and power it has to create the best version of yourself.

Yoga is more than physical exercise, and even more than a way to relax and release tension; it is a way to balance ourselves and find our true self.

You can start with just a few minutes a day, go to a class, or do some online classes on YouTube.

There are so many options out there to discover you just have to take the plunge. Look through the myths and instead of saying you should be doing yoga; get into it now!