Today one of my yoga friends told me she recently stuck up for me when people were saying my practice was good because i was a gymnast.
One of my absolute hates is when i am talked about in the context of yoga with 'but she was/is a gymnast' or 'but she is a handbalancer/contortionist', and that is why she can do everything easy.
Yes apparantly because I was a gymnast as a child, then that is why i am good at yoga asana at age 31.
WRONG
I WORKED VERY VERY HARD ON MY ASANAS, SIMPLE AS THAT. MOST OF THEM FROM WHEN I BEGAN YOGA AND COULD NOT DO THEM.
A) If you are performing the asana with correct alignment then regardless of where you are depth wise then you gain the benefits and we are all as good as each other. Within the doors of the yoga studio i compare myself to no-one and nor should anyone else. Yoga goes beyond the asana, there are eight limbs of yoga and asana is just one of these.
B) I couldn't do many postures/asanas when i began yoga (especially hip opening ones). I still have many i can't do yet. But i practice regularly and with hard work i achieve some asanas and go deeper in asanas, and achieve better alignment. The more you practice and the wiser you practice the better you get, at anything. I get many benefits from the asanas i do, and i want to get the benefits from doing some of the asanas that still elude me and so i physically work hard on them, and i never see things as impossible.
C) I didn't pop out my mother's womb in a handstand or a backbend, gymnastics only developed me a basic two arm handstand, a bridge, and nice splits, i couldn't do things like press handstand as a gymnast. Yep guys, as an adult i worked my butt off on my handstands and flexibility, i was never fortunate enough when i was learning for there to be any handstand class anywhere near me, so i have mostly taught myself. I always arranged my furniture in my bedroom so that there was a big space i could practice and train my handstands and flexibility. I was fortunate i picked up enough knowledge through other people along the way that teaching myself was a successful feat.
D) The reason i am so strong is because I never stopped, i retained the strength i had developed as a child because i never stopped doing acrobatic type things. You don't use it you lose it, i never stopped so i never lost it.
E) I developed a lot of my flexibility through stretching a lot by myself since i was in my late teens and early 20s. Gymnastics helped because i knew how to stretch, but it was my own dedication that every night would work hard on some stretching.
F) What my childhood gymnastics training did do is strengthen me, both mentally and physically. It gave me the knowledge that to get good at something you have to work hard at it, you have to dedicate yourself to it, you have to push yourself to your limits to go past them and develop.
G) I wasn't, but even if i had of been a top level gymnast, that also means someone who worked very very hard every single day in the gym for years and years, sacrificing parties/going out with friends as you have prioritised training, dedicating a childhood to a sport that requires you train a massive amount of hours a week, the tears, the blisters and calloused hands, the aches and pains. That's what i see when i see a yogini/yogi who has a past in elite gymnastics, it isn't easy for them because they were a gymnast, they just sometimes have a bit more depth and strength in postures because they worked hard over many years and dedicated themselves to a sport, an activity, that developed certain abilities. Don't ever be jealous of the fact someone was a gymnast, most often they still have very much to learn that the yoga world can offer them.
One of my absolute hates is when i am talked about in the context of yoga with 'but she was/is a gymnast' or 'but she is a handbalancer/contortionist', and that is why she can do everything easy.
Yes apparantly because I was a gymnast as a child, then that is why i am good at yoga asana at age 31.
WRONG
I WORKED VERY VERY HARD ON MY ASANAS, SIMPLE AS THAT. MOST OF THEM FROM WHEN I BEGAN YOGA AND COULD NOT DO THEM.
A) If you are performing the asana with correct alignment then regardless of where you are depth wise then you gain the benefits and we are all as good as each other. Within the doors of the yoga studio i compare myself to no-one and nor should anyone else. Yoga goes beyond the asana, there are eight limbs of yoga and asana is just one of these.
B) I couldn't do many postures/asanas when i began yoga (especially hip opening ones). I still have many i can't do yet. But i practice regularly and with hard work i achieve some asanas and go deeper in asanas, and achieve better alignment. The more you practice and the wiser you practice the better you get, at anything. I get many benefits from the asanas i do, and i want to get the benefits from doing some of the asanas that still elude me and so i physically work hard on them, and i never see things as impossible.
C) I didn't pop out my mother's womb in a handstand or a backbend, gymnastics only developed me a basic two arm handstand, a bridge, and nice splits, i couldn't do things like press handstand as a gymnast. Yep guys, as an adult i worked my butt off on my handstands and flexibility, i was never fortunate enough when i was learning for there to be any handstand class anywhere near me, so i have mostly taught myself. I always arranged my furniture in my bedroom so that there was a big space i could practice and train my handstands and flexibility. I was fortunate i picked up enough knowledge through other people along the way that teaching myself was a successful feat.
D) The reason i am so strong is because I never stopped, i retained the strength i had developed as a child because i never stopped doing acrobatic type things. You don't use it you lose it, i never stopped so i never lost it.
E) I developed a lot of my flexibility through stretching a lot by myself since i was in my late teens and early 20s. Gymnastics helped because i knew how to stretch, but it was my own dedication that every night would work hard on some stretching.
F) What my childhood gymnastics training did do is strengthen me, both mentally and physically. It gave me the knowledge that to get good at something you have to work hard at it, you have to dedicate yourself to it, you have to push yourself to your limits to go past them and develop.
G) I wasn't, but even if i had of been a top level gymnast, that also means someone who worked very very hard every single day in the gym for years and years, sacrificing parties/going out with friends as you have prioritised training, dedicating a childhood to a sport that requires you train a massive amount of hours a week, the tears, the blisters and calloused hands, the aches and pains. That's what i see when i see a yogini/yogi who has a past in elite gymnastics, it isn't easy for them because they were a gymnast, they just sometimes have a bit more depth and strength in postures because they worked hard over many years and dedicated themselves to a sport, an activity, that developed certain abilities. Don't ever be jealous of the fact someone was a gymnast, most often they still have very much to learn that the yoga world can offer them.
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