One of the wonderful things about teaching yoga is how much you learn from your students. I have a guy who has been coming to my classes regularly 3 times a week for over 10 years. He is a pleasure to have in class. He comes in and works his way slowly and surely through his practice. In 10 years he has managed to bind on the first side of Marichasana D twice. Despite this, the posture causes no difficulty for him. He has seen new students come in and go flying past him onto postures later in the Primary Series. Some stick and some come for a while and then disappear. He persists because, he says, that though he accepts he is not the most flexible person, he enjoys coming in and practicing what he can.

The beautiful thing I have learned from him applies to my own practice and to my teaching. So many of my students have great difficulty with Marichasana D, but the difficulty exists in their heads. It is their attitude to the posture that is creating the problem, not the posture itself. I have found time and again with my students and in my own practice that if you let go of your expectations for a posture and focus on breathing softly and steadily, there is no difficulty. Sure you may not get the bind, but you will get closer by relaxing than by fighting, and your practice will be much more enjoyable. Just breathe. It’s true and it works. Just breathe.