“Yoga is not about touching your toes, it is what you learn on the way down” ~ Jigar Gor
Yoga is a daily practice. There are noticeable differences you will discover over time. You can term them to be progress or just part of creating space and allowing yourself to become your best yogi self. I have not found a way to calculate or measure anything in yoga like you do in other sports. For example with running or cycling, you can calculate your distance and time and measure improvement. However, you will find that over time, you change. Not just your body and movements, but also the way you feel and think. I have noticed that I am less reactive and take more time to observe and be thoughtful with my words and actions. There are some noticeable physical things like being more flexible and strong in my body. I can do poses today that I did not think my body would be able to do. I really feel that any “progress” I make in my physical practice is reflected heavily in my emotional and mental part of yoga. Balancing in yoga is a challenging thing to do. I used to get frustrated if I could not hold the pose. In practice on my mat, I found acceptance and learned that falling out of a pose is all part of the process. Falling does not equal failing. It is a great lesson to learn on the mat and then apply to your everyday life. We are not perfect and we make mistakes. We try new things and sometimes it works out great and other times we “fall” and need to try again. My balancing taught me that it is perfectly fine to not be successful 100% of the time. It is more about being kind to myself and not have negative thoughts and doubts float around my head. Everything will be OK. I just need to get back up and try again.