How to Love the Hot Yoga Pose You Loathe

July 27, 2012 3:38 am

No matter how long you’ve been practising Bikram Yoga, there may be a posture that, if you could, you’d skip every time. As your practice evolves, the moves you dislike may change, too. But, like many things in life, they’re the ones you likely need most. Here are some tips on how to turn loathing into loving when it comes to the posture you hate.

All have a silver lining.

Find that bright spot – some aspect of the pose that works for you – and focus on it. Use your breath and body language to kick-start the process, and change your inner dialogue from “Not this again!” to “I love a challenge!”

Attitude adjustment.

Telling yourself that you absolutely HATE this posture, there’s NO WAY you’re ever going to be able to do it and why can’t Bikram Choudhury just take it out of the series isn’t going to help. Better to decide you CAN do it, tell yourself so and feel proud of yourself for trying.

Do your homework.

Rather than giving it the silent treatment, research online or ask a about the benefits of the posture. Give it a little extra TLC in and out of class to change your perspective. Look at how the pose is helping you. You may hate doing it because it exposes long-buried tensions or emotions, in which case it’s actually clearing negativity from your body. It may be a challenging process, but you’ll be better off for it.

Eat your vegetables.

You may not like the taste, but you know they’re good for you. The same goes for the posture you hate. Do it anyway and know that, just like your veggies, it’s not that bad – you may even start to like it! Be grateful for the food on your plate, and do the same with your hot yoga practice.

Don’t skip it.

Whether you find the posture physically or mentally challenging (or both), you won’t conquer it if you don’t work on it. While it’s tempting to skip a you find hard to do, remember: in mere seconds (a minute at most), it’ll be over. And you’ll be OK.

Try it the right way.

Many of us deal with yoga poses we don’t like by doing them incorrectly. Unfortunately, you’re only cheating yourself. When you try a yoga posture the right way, paying close attention to the dialogue and your body, you get 100% of the benefits.

Hold on.

If you can’t fathom holding a posture for the entire 20, 30 or 60 seconds, do as much as you can for as long as you can and release when you need to (just make sure you really need the break, and it’s not just an excuse). The next time you try it, hold it for a second more, then another, and another – pretty soon you’ll be sticking the yoga posture, no problem!

Stop stressing.

Worrying over a during class is counter-productive. Hot Yoga is meant to relax you; the hot yoga room is a place where you get to unload all your stress. So what if your practice isn’t “perfect”? Celebrate every attempt you make to do the yoga posture the right way, and know that your efforts are being rewarded. Yoga is a journey that never ends, and the pose you hate today will likely be your BFF tomorrow.

Variety is the spice of life.

Some hot yoga poses are easy, others are challenging. The difficult yoga postures only serve to make you appreciate the easier ones more. Without this variety and the different levels of challenge, your yoga practice could eventually bore you.
How did you change your mind about a frustrating posture? Let us know in the comments below!

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