Why it’s important to embrace unlearning in yoga
A few days ago one of my weekly students stayed after class to chat with me a bit about his personal experience in studying yoga with me. He shared that coming to class has been challenging because of all the unlearning he has to do in the yoga asana or postures. He went on to elaborate that his ego had to take a big check since he has been practicing yoga for a while and even became certified in yoga. Like most of my students, they come in believing they understand how to do the poses and quickly find out that alignment based yoga begins to reveal how much they must unlearn and learn. We all have different bodies and each persons architecture is unique. Thus, innately, the way each body does yoga will be different. The Iyengar method is genius as it has a path for all students to learn how to engage, lift, and turn on their muscles and also turn off muscles. The language of Iyengar yoga is extremely detailed and soon enough, if not the first class, students begin to discover that they have a lot to unlearn as well as learn.
Part of the path of yoga is to learn to let go of the ego. The ego doesn’t like to be told that your pose needs more intelligent action, or that the way you have been working in the pose is incorrect. The ego wants to be stroked. Teachers that do this are actually doing the student a disservice. For example, we tell students “your on the right track”, or “that looks better”, or “now your getting it!” If my teacher told me my pose is excellent I would then think I have mastered it, which is impossible on so many levels! There is always more fine tuning in a posture or refining of an action or all the actions making up the whole. Students come to class to learn and learn how to unlearn. It takes a teacher skilled to be able to understand what is right action and incorrect action. These actions build ways for each practitioner to work safely into the poses and not in the joints or areas of the body that could sustain injury. Changing the body’s movement patterns take time and consistent re-education through yoga.
The insight my student had was enlightening and the fact that he didn’t let his ego stop him was true wisdom. When I practice with my teacher weekly I try to forget all that I think I know about yoga or doing the poses. I wash my brain and begin like it was the first time. Listening to her instruction carefully, paying close attention while she demonstrates right actions in the pose, and then work to apply it when it is my turn to explore the asana. If I knew everything then why come to class? You cannot learn if you are not open to learning. Even the highest certified Iyengar Teachers still went to study with Mr. Iyengar yearly. We all need a teacher. The teacher is there to bring us forward continually on the path of yoga. The teacher is there to inspire us and show us from their own dedication with the practice what is possible. The teacher is there to watch carefully over you and keep you from falling into bad habits in practice.
I have spent years unlearning bad movement patterns which may have been with me all along or I learned in general yoga. The transformation I see in my own body and life as well as my students is what keeps me moving forward in my teaching and my personal practice. The more we embrace unlearning without letting our ego flair up and hinder us, the more successful the practitioner will be on the path of yoga.Being humble is an enormous key to learning an invaluable mindset in life. Alignment based yoga is a discipline. Just like learning classical ballet, or a musical instrument. Perfecting an art takes time. No artist is a master right away and this applies too in yoga. We just keep showing up and working on refining our art whether in yoga or in life. Embracing unlearning is just as important in yoga as learning. Come join us for a class anytime to practice, play, learn and unlearn!
Written by Dina Georgoulis
Owner of ZOE Yoga Lifestyle