Don't worry if you don't get there...

...nothing happens if you do.

This is something one of my yoga teachers said in a class, as we reached behind us towards the floor.  I laughed, but it's so true.
Though we should always reach, there really isn't any point to reaching to the point of injury. Nobody will notice the split second you looked like a perfect model of a pose before your body said STOP. It's funny, I've been thinking of this idea for a week or so, since the teacher said it- and just today I pulled a ligament in my hamstring. I wasn't even doing anything fancy- I was just at work, bent forward slowly to release my back and "POING! ZIP! SEEEEAR!" there went some deep tendon that had been whispering to me for weeks.

I know from my anatomy class (taught by Dr. Baxter Bell  http://yogaforhealthyaging.blogspot.ca) that our muscles have a natural resting point, and regular life often shortens and tightens them. Through regular asana practice, or other stretching, we can come back to that point, but there will always be limitations.   For instance- I am fairly certain that my heels will never ever touch the floor in Adho Mukha Savanasana (downward dog). My hamstrings (as evidenced today) just do not have the natural flexibility.

So, once your muscles reach that natural state, you start getting into ligaments and tendons. Guess what? Ligaments and tendons only have 3-4% stretch! I will just repeat that for emphasis- 3-4%. What's more- due to poor blood flow (in comparison with muscles or bone, which heal miraculously quickly), they heal from injury very slowly. Ligament and tendon injury is probably one of my biggest fears in doing a lot of asana practice. I've actually been babying that hamstring since the first whispers, but maybe not enough. Hopefully with some ice and rest and drinking lots of water, I will be back at normal practice soon, but I'm certainly not going to push it. Reach, but with kindness.

In life, as in yoga, we need to respect our boundaries.  How many of us have reached blindly towards a goal, without keeping a broad view of all the elements of our lives? Tried to cram ourselves to fit within our idea of perfection in a role instead of kindly reaching towards improvement in all the areas of our lives? It may seem like slower progression to do it that way, but I believe it is a healthier way to grow.  To put it into asana perspective once more- if you are in warrior 2 (virabadrasana B), you reach your arms dynamically, that is, apart. If one hand is reaching as far forward as possible, you are compromising the reach in your back hand and most probably the reach of your spine upwards and your hips downward. You need to think equally forward, backward, up and down. That is how you can find a beautiful balance.

So have you been reaching too far one way? Can you try to reach with kindness and compassion for yourself?