“It’s painful!”

It’s something I occasionally hear from newer students and beginners when they’re experiencing a pose for the first time. And whenever I hear the word painful, my ears prick up. Pain is a word I take very seriously as a yoga teacher.

So I’ll usually enquire a little further. Where are you feeling it? What does it feel like? Is it sharp? Pinching? Burning? Aching? Or does it feel like a really strong stretch?

And quite often, once we explore it a little more, it turns out that what they’re experiencing isn’t actually pain. It’s actually sensation.

Perhaps it’s a strong stretch in an area of the body that hasn’t been stretched like that for a long time. Perhaps it’s muscles working in a way they’re simply not accustomed to. When something feels unfamiliar or intense, it’s understandable that the mind might immediately label that experience as painful.

But sensation does not automatically equate to pain.

So how do you know the difference?

This is where things become interesting, because there isn’t one universal sensation that I can describe to you and say: this is okay, and this isn’t.

Part of developing a yoga practice is learning the language of your own body. You begin to notice the differences between stretching and straining, between muscular effort and tension, and between intensity and pain.

If something feels sharp, pinching, catching, sudden or simply wrong, that isn’t something I want you to breathe through while waiting for it to magically disappear. That’s your body communicating with you. Listen to it. Back off, modify the pose or come out of it completely.

And if you’re not sure whether something is pain or simply strong sensation? Back off anyway.

You don’t win anything in yoga by pushing your body further than it wants to go.

You don’t need to give 100%

In fact, in most circumstances, I actively encourage my students not to work at 100%. I often suggest somewhere around 80% effort.

Why? Because more isn’t necessarily better.

If you’re pushing as hard as you possibly can, gritting your teeth, holding your breath and desperately trying to get another inch deeper into a pose, notice what happens to the rest of your body. Does your jaw tighten? Do your shoulders creep towards your ears? Does your breathing become shallow? Are you actually able to soften into the pose, or are you fighting your way through it?

When we push too hard, the body can respond protectively. Muscles can brace rather than release and the nervous system can shift towards a more heightened state. At that point, what are we actually trying to achieve?

Because yoga isn’t about forcing the body into a particular shape.

Sometimes pulling back to 80% gives your body the opportunity to soften, breathe and explore. And perhaps, with time, to naturally release a little further, without you having to force anything at all.

Learning the language of your body

This is one of the things I find fascinating about practising yoga over time. Your vocabulary for sensation begins to expand.

Instead of simply “That hurts” or “It’s painful!”, you might start noticing: That’s a strong stretch through the back of my thigh. My muscles are working really hard here. I’m feeling compression rather than stretch. My body is beginning to brace. That sensation feels sharp, I need to come out.

You become more curious about what you’re experiencing rather than immediately judging it. And something else begins to happen.

You’re practising in your body rather than just in your head.

Instead of your mind deciding where your body should be and then forcing it to get there, your mind starts listening to the information your body is giving you. That relationship changes everything.

And perhaps that’s the real yoga

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj – meaning to yoke, join or unite. We often talk about yoga as the union of mind, body and spirit.

But that connection doesn’t happen simply because you’ve rolled out a yoga mat and started making shapes with your body. It happens through awareness. Through listening, noticing and responding to what your body is actually telling you, rather than overriding it in pursuit of what you think a pose is supposed to look like.

Sometimes that means exploring a strong sensation. Sometimes it means pulling back to 80%. And sometimes it means coming out of a pose altogether or modifying with a brick or cushion.

None of those things means you’ve failed at yoga. Quite the opposite.

Because the aim was never to get your nose to your knee or your leg behind your head. The practice is the conversation you’re having with yourself along the way.

So next time you find yourself thinking, “This is painful!”, get curious. What are you actually feeling? And what is your body asking you to do?

Because learning to hear the answer might just be where the yoga really begins.