“I can't do Yoga because I'm not flexible enough...”

When discussing yoga with friends and people I meet, I frequently hear the same comment, almost word for word, about why they are reluctant to consider starting a yoga practice.

Physical flexibility isn’t a pre-requisite when it comes to yoga. It is an aspect that develops with time and patience. For some parts of your body, physical flexibility may not even develop to the extent that you would expect, quite simply because of your individual body structure.

If you were to observe a group of experienced yoga practitioners closely, all performing the same one posture, you would find that each has their own unique expression of the pose. Differences between them might range from the most obvious to the very subtle, as a result of individual attributes of each body’s structure and tissue. The pose is serving each one according to how their body moves and settles.

There isn't one pose for all, there is one pose for you

There is one pose for you – for that time, for that moment. It may change and evolve the more you practise it, or it may stay just as is, because it is right for you and your body.

As an example, after eight years, I am still unable to bend at the hips into a forward fold, with straight legs and my feet together. When I started yoga, I thought that it was due solely to my inflexibility. However, years later, after steady progress in my flexibility, I realise that my body simply won’t accommodate that variation. Nevertheless, if I bring my feet slightly apart and bend my knees a little, I can move into a releasing expression of the pose that feels good to me.

I’m still unable to achieve the same depth as some of my colleagues but that isn’t the objective. I’m practising the pose for myself, listening to my body, and as a result, I’m experiencing the full benefit of the pose for myself, which is the objective.

Mental flexibility

Flexibility may need to come from the mind and heart, in order for you to move towards accepting your body and its evolution according to how it relates to time and space, how it is structured, and how unique it is to you.

Flexibility may come from your willingness to adapt the pose and movement to your body.

Updated in March 2024 to incorporate mental flexibility