What It Means To Be “Good” at Yoga

If you have ever turned away from a yoga class out of fear that you are not “good”, please, allow me to dispell this fear for you. Contrary to how it’s contextualized in the west, doing complicated poses is not the right benchmark for a good practice.

As a yoga instructor, I hear this all the time from new students, and it really irks me. I’d like to clear up what it means to be “good” at yoga because it’s likely not what you think. This fear should not prevent you from developing a yoga practice.

Many beginners see people pose like this:

…and get scared of going to classes. I’m not saying people who do difficult poses are NOT good at yoga. They may be, or they may not be. Doing complicated poses is just not the right benchmark. As Leslie Kaminoff says in his book, Yoga Anatomy “Success in asana should be measured by the equilibrium through the whole body, rather than in the range of motion in a single joint”.

So what does it mean to be good at yoga? Yoga means union or connection. The ancient yogis used this word Yoga to describe a quality of consciousness where you are totally present, at ease, and connected to what’s within.

We have all felt this at times when we feel at the peak of life. Your body feels energized and light, your mind is worry free, and you can enjoy simply existing. Yoga is about making that feeling regular. So someone who is good at yoga would experience a feeling like that more often than someone who does not practice yoga. This is somewhat of a watered-down description of a very nuanced and complex system, but that’s basically what it is.

In day to day life, countless things could take you away from this inner feeling of connection. It could be physical discomfort or tightness in the body, an injury, stress, focusing on the past, obsessing about the future, overstimulation, lack of energy, or various of the other “unfavourable” states of being.

One who is good at yoga is attuned to the subtleties of their present state of being and has the tools to bring themselves back to connection. What being good at yoga one day may look completely different the next. An attuned yogi will know how to tailor their practice that day to whatever is going on in their body.

For example, an attuned yogi might notice that they are feeling restless and scattered, and would prescribe themselves a long, slow class where they hold simple poses for minutes at a time to balance themselves, and finish the day with a meal of grounding foods full of root vegetables. On another day, that same yogi might observe a feeling of laziness in their body, and do an energizing sequence to rebalance themselves, followed by a day of cleansing to clear their digestive system. This is just a rudimentary example of the mindset of an advanced yogi.

The process of getting good at yoga is a process of getting more refined, more precise, and more effective at returning to this state with the many poses, breathing techniques, and mental exercises yoga offers. The process of getting good at yoga is also a regular commitment to doing this as a form of regular practice.

There are no external metrics for being “good” at yoga. It’s completely internal and process oriented.

With this as a benchmark, anyone regardless of their experience level can be very good at yoga on a given day. Often times the most advanced yogis are the ones in the back of the classes using the blocks, and modifying their poses. If you see someone stressing themselves out to achieve a pose, I do not recommend emulating that person. Do not let this perception prevent you from either starting or going deeper into your practice.

Someone who is good at yoga also cultivates this feeling within themselves so deeply that by simply being around others, that feeling spreads to them. It’s like filling up a cup when your cup gets full of water, that water naturally flows out to others very effortlessly.

This way of practising and knowing yoga has been the greatest gift of my life. It has shown me a life perspective that is consistently empowering and practical for day to day life. I learned this during the yoga teacher training program. If you are seeking to deepen your practice and know yoga in this way, I highly recommend you sign up for training. It will change your life, and yes, it will make you understand for yourself what it means to be “good” at yoga.