Donna Britt

Several times a week—after I've finished teaching my yoga class or completed my private home practice—it hits me:Yoga is the perfect exercise.

This notion isn't just based on what nearly everyone I know feels after a yoga session: A peace or elation much like that many of us experience after a soul-expanding church service. We feel happier, lighter, more peaceful and centered than when we began the practice.
As wonderful as that feeling is, my belief in yoga's perfection is due to something much more surprising and ironic: that the rigid, self-defeating concept of "perfect" is completely counter to the nature of the discipline. As an oft-ambitious perfectionist, I've experienced some of the competitiveness, angst, disappointment and strain that so often accompany our exercise programs--all of which are actively discouraged in yoga. This ancient discipline is centered in the acceptance of what seems IMPERFECT—the acceptance of our bodies where they are at this moment, of the capabilities that we question, of loving our seemingly flawed selves where we are right now.

What could be more "perfect?"

The practice of yoga began thousands of years ago. Created as a link between body and spirit, it provides a pathway between the two that virtually anyone of any age or physical condition can explore. Perhaps its most fundamental gift is opening: the initial opening of the heart to every practice; the opening of the body's joints and the expansion of its muscles during that practice (building what we call it flexibility); the psychic opening to Spirit that even beginning yoga practitioners experience. That pervading sense of peace is a by-product of the mental concentration, deep breathing and controlled physical effort that the practice demands. I was drawn to yoga because of its ancient spiritual roots and dancer-like beauty. But I've discovered that many people seek it out for their own unique, profoundly personal reasons.
Some practitioners just want a more toned body. Many crave the increased range of motion that regular yoga ensures. Others' reasons are more complex. Kevin Hawkins, one of my most avid students, suspected 20 years ago that he would one day embrace yoga because it "requires discipline, mental toughness and mastery over everyday obstacles." But what finally moved him to try yoga was his love of golf and what he calls the "Tiger Woods effect." Woods' lithe muscularity and freedom of movement are so unmistakably a part of his excellence that Kevin began searching for ways to increase his own strength and flexibility.

"Being physical fit is a big key to playing great golf," Kevin told me. "But lifting free weights made my muscles both bulky and tight, neither of which is conducive to a fluid golf swing."
Finally, Kevin considered Pilates and yoga. Through yoga, Kevin has not only gotten noticeably stronger, but "I've strengthened my body without the bulk—in fact my muscles have become elongated. I look taller, and my flexibility has increased to the point that I can make a full shoulder turn in my golf swing. Yoga has exceeded my expectations—my overall physical health has improved, I've learned to relieve inner tension and I'm mastering the art of relaxation, which has help me to play better golf."

Let's see: A noticeable increase in strength. A freer, more agile body. Looking taller, fitter and more graceful. Relief of everyday tensions. A better golf game.

Sounds perfect to me.

Donna Britt
Yoga Instructor, Sport & Health