Lately I’ve been teaching a Sunday morning class on Zoom. It’s a flow and meditation format and it has become my favorite class to teach.

I can’t pinpoint if it’s the class itself or the buildup to teaching that I appreciate the most.

As the format is 75 minutes of me gabbing at a computer screen about movement and sitting, I tend to take more time to prep myself for the offering.

Most Sundays I wake up around 6, drink some water, get the pup ready for a walk, and listen to an episode of Michael Stone’s podcast Awake in the World while we go for a stroll. Stone’s dharma talks always seem to shed light on something I’m struggling with that week. His voice grounds me and provides me with the focus to lead my Sunday practices.

Recently, while on my Sunday prep walk, I was listening to one of his talks on asteya. If you’re familiar with the concept there’s a good chance asteya has been translated to you as non-stealing. In this specific talk Stone refers to asteya in many ways, one definition Stone provides is that asteya means to be satisfied. I appreciate that perspective. Sure, I think we can all agree that it’s best if we do not steal from others, but Stone’s definition goes deeper. He pokes at the reason one might steal.

What are we lacking? Why are we unsatisfied?

We’re all living in a space that accentuates more, more, more! At what point is it enough?

I was recently working with a beloved student who mentioned their tight hamstrings many times throughout the practice. This was not an isolated incident. At one point in my teaching career, when I was grinding away at teaching 15+ classes per week, I’d hear someone say, “My hamstrings are so tight!” no less than forty times. Humans have a funny relationship with their hamstrings and yoga shines a big ‘ol spotlight on that relationship.

So you’ve got tight hamstrings? Who cares!

So you can’t touch your toes? Who cares!

So you can’t wedge your chin and nose between your shins in a seated forward bend? Why does it matter?!?

Sure, being able to tie your own shoes as you age could be seen as an important skill. And being able to bend down to pick up your kids or grandkids is essential for many. I get that. But does touching your toes make you a better human? Probably not.

For many yoga students who primarily focus on the shapes, it becomes this process of never being enough.

Say you start practicing postural yoga and you’ve got tight hamstrings. After a few months of regular practice you gain some mobility and your forward bends go from you being able to touch your knees to you being able to touch your ankles. Progress! Fast forward a year or so and you can now put your hands on the floor. More progress! Now what’s next? Will you be satisfied with just being able to touch your toes? Or will you be itching to put blocks under your feet and go above and beyond?

I appreciate people who are goal-oriented. I am right there with those folks! But at what cost? When will your forward bend be enough? And what are you missing when you’re always striving for the next big shape?

Yoga is a journey. Yoga is a continuous, never-ending path. What happens when we forget to hit pause and appreciate the progress we’ve made along the path? We get so caught up in our desire to go bigger or do better and then we develop a sense of never being satisfied. Throughout the process we steal our own ability to appreciate what we have in the moment.

Let’s stop stealing from ourselves. Let’s allow ourselves to pause for a moment and simply be satisfied.

And trust me, it’s okay if you have tight hamstrings.