But I’m not Flexible!

One of the first comments I hear when people find out that I not only practice but also teach yoga is, “But I’m not flexible!” They point to my cross-legged position as I sit on my couch. “I can’t do that!”

My answer is always, “So?”

Photo by Michael Siemons 2024. Image of me, holding Yoga Barbie of the limited hip flexion.

I can hear the decades-past gym class trauma attached to that comment. I have some of that same trauma! U.S. schools usually don’t teach a unit on yoga as part of their P.E. curriculums. It makes sense that it doesn’t show up: in its core values, yoga counters most of what gym class teaches.

My P.E. teachers told me to push harder. They wanted me to train more. In my case, they remained convinced that if I “just lost weight,” I could do all the physical things they demanded. My large body blinded my P.E. teachers so they refused to see I was doing everything they required. Sometimes, I did it better, faster, and more skillfully than my classmates! After a few years, how they saw me began to impact me. Eventually, I quit trying to be my best physical self. No one wanted to see who I was or what I could do. It all became very Sideways Stories from Wayside School.

So, let’s pause and give our dodgeball-tortured inner children a moment to keen. Once you show yourself some kindness, we can redirect.

You don’t have to be flexible to practice yoga.

You don’t even need to have mobility at all.

If you breathe, there is a yoga practice for you. It might not be the asanas you want to work with. It might not be an asana at all.

But if you can breathe and imagine at the same time, you can practice yoga!

Most of the yoga I teach is asana-centered—you journey into the pose. You may only be able to move a millimeter or a centimeter, and you may even end up losing progress here and there. For those curious about yoga but wary of its woo, all you are doing is holding a pose, maybe not even a full pose, while breathing. Yoga practice sends your parasympathetic nervous system a message: we’re on our way to all good.

Flexibility and balance are incremental. In an ideal situation, you build flexibility. You build balance.

Yoga has a series of values, the Yamas and Niyamas. My favorite among them is santosha, which means “contentment.” Interpretations can become pretty broad, so take me with a grain of salt. I often see santosha as non-competitiveness. If you are content, you don’t have that urge to compare yourself, to grow jealous, to want more attention, acclaim, money, whatever.

That makes showing up for a yoga session and bringing the energy of santosha with you ideal. You are in a place—or finding your way to a place—where you can be content. You can also find contentment in the subtle shifts and changes of your body as you continue practice.

So, no, you don’t need flexibility to practice yoga. You might gain flexibility, and that’s cool, but there’s no race to being bendy. When you show up for a practice, do what you can. Some of us yoga teachers (OK, me) aren’t young and in bodies where you can sit on your ankles for twenty minutes. Holding the boat pose is more of a theory after about 45 seconds. Even I find myself cursing in plan. It’s OK. If doing that stuff is not where you’re at, you have plenty of options to work on a space your body wants to expand.

a Mini practice

Try it now—turn your head to one side or the other, only to the point of first resistance. Breathe in and out for a count of four. Release that. I’m guessing many folks in office jobs probably encountered a little resistance. You are still engaged in directed breathing and imagine a more flexible you.

There you go – that’s yoga. No flexibility is required!

Join me for Classes in Kalamazoo!

Saturdays 9:30 am Yin and Restorative Yoga at Unwindings

Mondays 6:30 pm Hatha to Restorative Yoga at Unwindings

Self-investment: $15. 10 Class pass available for $135.

Contact for details or to request streaming access!