Yoga is like Playing an Instrument

The body is our first instrument and yoga is learning how to play it well.

We start with individual notes. It’s like learning letters in an alphabet. Or learning a single yoga pose. There’s meaning in each one, but the value comes in their combination.

When combined, we have a chord. The letters become words. In Yoga, each posture or breathing technique naturally leads into the next one (Vinyasa Krama).

Put some notes or chords in a progression and now we have a melody. The river starts flowing. The words become lyrics. The string of postures creates an intelligent sequence that benefits the practitioner.

After some repetition, we have a song, or a poem or a story. The repetition of an intelligent sequence of yoga poses changes one’s embodiment, awareness, and understanding of the self.

The hard part is that our first song will objectively suck. Our first draft of the book won’t be the smoothest read. And our first time learning a new yoga pose will feel somewhat awkward or even impossible.

The nature of practice is that over time, we learn to do what we cannot do. We create pathways in our mind-body and all of a sudden, we’re fluent in ways that we were illiterate. We’re conscious in ways taht we were ignorant. We’re shining in ways that we were dim.

So dust off that old instrument in the garage and play some notes. You never know what songs you might be destined to create.