In our movement-obsessed culture, we rarely ask: 

Can we move too much, too intensely, without rest?

Meet Kathy, one of the many students who spent several years in classes at A Gentle Way Yoga.

Kathy arrived at our yoga center in her late sixties. Her history included being a lifelong dancer and a dance teacher known for strict discipline and for belittling those she deemed had less-than-perfect bodies. She had persistent high blood pressure and had undergone hip and back surgeries. She spoke rapidly and was constantly in motion. Kathy had no desire to relax. For her, lying in Savasana or sitting for a few minutes in Meditation felt like torture.

I could clearly see that her body and mind desperately needed relaxation and focused breathing. Still, because she lacked patience in my classes and did not want to be in ‘baby yoga’ with ‘lazy, unfit people’ (her words), she opted for the more classical classes at A Gentle Way, where she always pushed her stretches and asanas to the max.

Kathy reached out to me when she turned eighty. Now, with Parkinson’s and a body barely able to move, she expressed a wish that she had stayed with my classes rather than trying to keep up with the more active ones.

She now feels that all the dancing, combined with her inability to slow down and settle, may have contributed to the deeply depressing and debilitating illness she is now battling, and made it harder for her to cope. She stated that if she had focused more on relaxation, breathing, and meditation, she likely would be better able to handle her situation today.

Even though I intuitively knew that Kathy needed slower movement classes, I understood that she could not be convinced. In her mind, a classical Sun Salutation asana class was slowing down. She had made it clear that she viewed my classes as beneath her skill level and saw only my large body, judging me as very unfit; thus, to her, I could not possibly know what I was talking about. For her to contact me at eighty and share her realizations took a lot of willpower, and I felt honored that she trusted me with her revelations.

Kathy taught me that sometimes the most compassionate thing we can do is to meet people where they are, even when we know they need something different.

Movement is essential to the balance of our physical body and our mind, but for many of us, one of our greatest life journeys is finding that balance through appropriate movement.

For some of us, our journey is toward health and joy through increasing movement, while for others, like Kathy, the most advanced practice is recognizing the importance of slowing down, resting, and moving with more mindfulness.

Kathy's journey is not unique. I've witnessed this pattern countless times over my nearly three decades of teaching: driven, accomplished people who equate stillness with weakness, who believe that more movement is always better. Our culture reinforces this—we celebrate the hustle, the grind, the push. But what Kathy learned too late, and what I hope others can learn in time, is that rest is not the opposite of achievement. Rest is what makes sustainable movement possible.  A nervous system that never settles often becomes a body that eventually can barely move.

Our bodies are the physical vehicle we use to move through this earthly life. If you don’t drive your vehicle enough, it won’t run at its best. If you drive it too much, too hard, without letting its systems rest and cool off, it will wear down and possibly break down before its time.

The practice of yoga is about balance: honoring your body by harmonizing your movements and actions, your breath, even the thoughts you think, and the food you eat. This is a never-ending journey because the pressures of living on this earth in this human form are constantly working to throw us out of balance.

Where do you fall on the spectrum? Are you running your vehicle into the ground, or barely taking it out of the garage? 

The knowledge lies in discovering which rest—or movement—your body truly needs. True wisdom lies in making what you genuinely need a priority on your weekly calendar and showing up for it, no matter what it takes.

Lanita Varshell