Anyone who practices yoga has likes and dislikes about certain poses. It is easy to like poses that you are good at. What is challenging is to like the poses you dislike because ironically these are the ones that will give us the breakthrough we need.

When practicing our non-favourite poses we are being brought out from our comfort zone and into unfamiliar territory. Most of the time it is because of the discomfort and pain that we experience.

Why would anyone enjoy the unpleasurable experience when practicing (yoga) is supposed to make us feel better or so we think. Despite the saying ‘no pain, no gain’, we don’t have to push through the ‘pain’. Instead, yoga challenges us to work through these uncomfortable moments intelligently and wisely.

When we dislike a pose it can translate into a deeper meaning.

The inability to do the pose, the pain accompanying the pose and the discomfort of being in the pose. Sometimes the mere thought or mention of the pose itself can also create fear. Fear of falling, injuring yourself, breaking your bones and overstretching your muscles.

The important lesson is to understand why. Why do you not like certain poses?

Try asking yourself these few questions:
Why do I not like this pose?
What am I learning from this pose?
How can I get better in this pose?
Is there another way I can approach this pose?

Whatever your reason is, learning to overcome this uncomfortable feeling or emotion can help us grow both in your practice and personal life. Sometimes the thing we dislike (to do) most is often the very thing we need to transform our lives.

Life’s so ironic. It takes sadness to know what happiness is, noise to appreciate silence & absence to value presence. – Unknown