Discomfort

“We are methodically wringing out stress and stiffness from our bodies, and clearing the mind in the process.”

That comes from Eddie Stern’s book, One Simple Thing, following an analogy about our body being like a sponge. By their nature, sponges soak up liquid and dirt when they’re used and Stern compares the cleaning process of wringing out a dirty sponge to wringing out the bumps and kinks in our bodies through yoga. We twist the sponge and squeeze it under running water one way, then another, until the water that passes through the sponge is clear. 

Stiffness, tension and tightness plague even the most ardent yoga teachers. Most are walking around with some nursed injury or tweak. London’s Rocket and vinyasa yoga powerhouse Marcus Veda writes, “I understand what it’s like to not feel flexible enough for yoga. That’s where I started (and still wake up most mornings) so hope to impart the message that this is what should get you onto your mat, not what keeps you off it.”

We naturally tend to shy away from discomfort, but while a lot of yoga feels fucking good (why else would we do it) there’s always an element of it sucking balls too. You’re gonna ride through some postures and feel amazing, but there’s a wall everyone inevitably reaches in their practice where it’s uncomfortable and hard. The great unifier, humbling everyone at some point in their flow. But that’s often what keeps us coming back, trying that tricky pose again and again. Sitting with that discomfort until we soften, activate in the right places and find the space needed. It’s a process that’s the same for someone ten years deep in their practice, or someone stepping on a mat for the first time. 

I get it though, it takes time to form habits and it’s easy to think yoga is an all or nothing commitment – spoiler: it’s not.

For me, yoga helps iron out the tension, whether that’s physical tightness, or mental stresses – so I can get up out of a chair, or tie my laces without groans, grunts and wincing. It often makes it easier to take day-to-day stresses in my stride, and generally deal with discomfort in a calmer way. In short though, it just makes life easier, and who doesn’t want a bit of that?