As an experienced yoga teacher and yoga therapist, a question I often get from students and clients is…
‘How can I advance my yoga asana practice and what advanced yoga postures are important to learn?”
What’s imperative in answering this question is determining where the student is in their current practice (including their level of understanding of the postures) and what benefits are they looking to derive from their yoga practice.
For many, one of the main benefits is the opportunity to go deeper into a yoga posture by practicing more advanced variations.
In my experience, the longer I practice refining basic postures the more I realize how advanced the “basic” postures are. When I can hold a basic posture like downward dog for some time with a sense of balance and ease, I then move into a more challenging variation of that pose.
Benefits of advanced yoga postures
A great teacher (who studied with BKS Iyangar and Pattabhi Jois) once showed me that Tadasana (mountain pose) was one of the most advanced yoga postures that you can do. She taught me how to refine the pose in such a way that every bone, muscle and ligament in my body was stabilized and strengthened. I then used mountain pose to successfully accomplish headstand and variations within headstand.
In my current practice (been practicing for 25 years now), I continue to do mountain pose and it still gives me awareness in many places where I need to develop strength, stability and balance. Basic postures like mountain also show me more places where I need to soften and let go to realize a deeper alignment.
For me, an advanced practice is not showing off how strong and flexible I am on Facebook or Instagram! Rather an advanced practice is rooted in a combination of discipline, steadiness, comfort and stillness.
Your yoga practice is like a mirror that reflects yourself (and the total of your existence) back at you. Others can also see your personality shine as a reflection of your yoga practice.
In actuality a deeper or more advanced yoga practice is realized when someone continues to learn and show up on their mat with the intention of developing these qualities I just mentioned.
There are numerous postures that can be learned and with the right attitude students can advance in their practice and postures. One should learn and understand the benefits of doing certain postures, especially the ones that are considered to be more advanced. The benefits of advanced yoga postures will be revealed to you through your practice and learning.
My recommendation is to continue to study and practice the poses and sequences you are interested in. Find a teacher or go to a workshop where you will not only learn the benefits of important postures but also how to specifically refine the postures to develop strength, stability, flexibility, steadiness and balance.
learn to find equanimity in both simple postures and more advanced postures. And remember, there is no such thing as a perfect yoga pose, only a healthy yoga pose. What is healthy for you?