Dear Yoga Student,

I once had a roommate whose mom was a psychologist
and he showed me her “DSM” manual. If you don’t
know, that’s the little black book of mental illness…

… close your eyes, flip to a random page, and
you can learn all about the signs and symptoms
of schizophrenia.

Flip again and there’s OCD, borderline personality
disorder, manic depression… it goes on and on.

Within the span of 15 minutes, EVERYONE browsing
through that book is suddenly convinced they have
some “condition” or more commonly a concoction of
a few conditions.

Is there some truth to it? Sure, we’re all a little
whacky and it’s comforting to know that other
people also wash their hands 50 times a day,
hallucinate in dim light or feel like their mind is
a piece of shattered glass…

But where it gets really destructive is when people
spend more time naming and owning their
handicaps rather than their strengths.

It often happens in yoga.

A student who struggles in forward bends is
convinced her hamstring muscles are genetically
shorter. The guy who struggles in backbends
thinks perhaps his vertebrae are fused together.
They’re dying for a name for their condition…
Hamstringatitis. Spinalstuckolosis.

Naming your struggles might help, but focusing
on your strengths and practicing holistically (each
part of the body) tends to have an overflow
effect that I think is preferable.

I call this selective ignorance and it’s great practice.

Stay bendy,

Lucas
YOGABODY Naturals LLC
Yoga Inversion Swing

p.s. What do YOU think about this? Post down below…