The Yoga is in the Details!

One of the reasons yoga never gets dull for its devotees is the endless details inherent in the practice. There is always something to refine, whether it be externally rotating your femur that quarter inch further in Warrior Two, feeling the connection as you engage Mula Bandha, or noticing you’ve overextended yourself by the jagged quality of your breath – attention to detail is what the practice is all about. In light of this, “Always find the right details,” may also be excellent advice for yogis – especially teachers of the practice.

How Might this Axiom Apply to Yoga?

A creative writing teacher of mine once said, “Always find the right details.” He meant that your story or poem or passage of prose would only truly come to life if the reader was able to see, hear, or smell, in their mind’s eye, ear, or nose, the little details of the story’s world – the deep, throbbing wrinkle in a mother’s forehead; the otherworldly shriek of the wind; the grape gum scent of the lilac bush. My teacher explained how these details were what made a work of creative writing completely specific to the individual author, yet somehow universal and recognizable to a large number of readers.

Just as specificity is important for the writer, it is key to the yoga teacher’s success. When a teacher advises to lift the pelvic floor muscles, decrease the space between the hips and ribs, and feel the pit of the belly pulling in, more students are likely to respond to the cue than if the teacher simply said, “Engage your core!”

Just as writers do, excellent yoga teachers often employ analogy, simile, and metaphor to convey their meaning to a class. For example, comparing the sound of Ujjayi breath to waves pulling in and out gives us a specific reference point. Imagining we are holding a block between our thighs helps us to engage our muscles without excessive thought and effort. When asked to truly embody what a warrior means to us, our Virabhadrasana One becomes that much stronger. The specificity of the cues helps make the practice satisfying.

How do Yoga Teachers Come Up with These Cues?

Again, like the writer, through patient, consistent observation. Teachers must observe their students and see both what works, and what mistakes are repeated. More importantly, they must closely observe themselves as they practice.

Finally, the committed yogi must read and research to provide a sense of history and authenticity in their classes. While texts pertaining to yoga are wide-ranging and diverse, if a teacher can zero in on something specific – a single sutra from Patanjali, a particular chakra, or a pair of Chinese meridian lines – students will benefit from the constrained focus. This honing in on something specific allows the practitioner to discover new details within themselves.

When all of this is working in harmony – anatomic details, useful imagistic language, and a thematic focus – we experience the type of class that truly engages the whole group and creates an experience larger than the sum of its parts. Much like reading a juicy novel where everything simply comes together, a good yoga class is evidence of the teacher and their students doing the hard work of finding the right details.