“I’m not flexible!”

That is the most common response I get when trying to get people to try yoga out. I must admit, for the longest time, I also thought that way. And that is probably why I never got into yoga until early 2006. I thought I had to be a contortionist to qualify to take up yoga.

The idea that you need to be as flexible as a pretzel before even attempting yoga is a misconception. In fact, it is the reverse. Practising yoga brings back the inflexibility that has set into our bodies due to our sedentary lifestyles and desk-bound jobs.

Observe a baby. Just a few months old, the baby brings its big toe to its mouth and sucks it. What flexibility!

I have also observed some classes where kids do yoga. Many of them effortlessly execute poses that stump adults like us.

Now, I can almost hear the comments “Yes, but that’s because they are KIDS! They are still flexible”. So, my question is: What happened to that flexibility we had as kids? I used to take up ballet and doing the splits were peanuts. I could bend backwards from a standing position — no sweat! How come when I try to do the split now, I am 6 inches from the floor? And don’t even ask me to do the backward bend now…

The answer, I have realized, is — LIFESTYLE, LIFESTYLE, LIFESTYLE!!!!!

Muscles that continue to be used maintain their flexibility. Muscles that are not, become rigid. Take my case. I have been working since age 19. My work as an accountant required me to sit for at least 8 hours a day (either at a client’s office, at my office, in front of a computer, poring through accounting records, etc.). I was almost always in just one position — sitting. Isn’t it any wonder all my other muscles that used to get worked out by ballet atrophied?

The good news is that — to some extent, these effects are reversible. And yoga helps the reverse process.

When I started out in 2006, I remember benchmarking some things I could not do:

1. Only the tips of my fingers could touch the floor when I bent down

2. Forget the forehead to knee pose. If I could barely touch the floor, what more this one?

3. After several poses (called asanas), I was already huffing and puffing. And when Pio would tell us to breath slowly, I would be thinking: Are you kidding? After all that you made us do, you expect me to breath SLOWLY when here I am gasping for breath?

Today, I can bring my palms to the sides of my feet while bending down. The forehead-to-knee pose is now do-able. And my heart has adapted to the aerobic demands of the asanas, allowing me to breath slowly and evenly, even after several sweaty, demanding poses. There are still challenging poses I am working on. I am not sure how long it will take, or even if I can ever do them, but that is not what is important. I just try to enjoy whatever I can do and accept the limitations of my body.

If you are having second thoughts about yoga because of lack of flexibility, just remember these:

1. Flexibility will return to some degree. It is just a matter of time. How fast it comes back depends on the regularity of your yoga practice.

2. Yoga is not a competitive sport. Nothing should be forced beyond your physical limits. The goal is to be able to listen to your body, move according to its needs as of that moment, and enjoy whatever benefits it brings you then.

3. Its benefits go beyond the physical. The meditation that often starts a class can do wonders in terms of releasing tension that built up during your day and bring you internal peace that allows recharging of the body for the next day.

If you are leading a sedentary life now, promise yourself that you will try to adapt a more active lifestyle. If outdoor sports are not your cup of tea and indoor ones are too fast-paced for you, consider taking up yoga. The benefits will work on the outside as well as on the inside….