Yoga Pam: Give Up What You Must

Most of Pam’s aphorisms make sense instantly. The one she’s been repeating lately—give up what you must—makes me go “Huh?”

It’s easy to understand giving up what you want to or think you need to. But something about the implied command of the must is confusing. Who would command me to give something up? And why should I?

As with most things in yoga, the confusion dissolves during a pose. And as with most things in yoga, the answer is laughably simple.

The pose is Eka Pada Rajakapotasana—Penguin—my favourite. It’s a pose that “hip people” (me) love, and “shoulder people” (sooooo not me!) hate. In my typical yogic laziness, I love it because my hips are open and flexible: the pose is easy for me. Or so I thought.

I’m languishing in Penguin enjoying the stretch, when Pam arrives. She moves my heel out, straightens my hips, and pulls up my shoulders. All the weight I’ve been pushing down into my hips is redistributed throughout my body. Suddenly Penguin is a lot less fun.

“That’s Penguin,” Pam says. “You were hanging out in your tendons. You’re not building strength—just straining those tendons.”

Instantly I see how my belief that I’m flexible made it impossible to reap the pose’s benefits. Approaching the pose with the idea it’s easy has stopped me from really doing the pose. (The opposite can also be true—sometimes it’s important to give up the idea that a pose is too hard.) 

So, instead, I just do Penguin. I give up my ideas about it, about me. It’s a thought revolution, like so many of the lessons Pam facilitates in our classes.

Best of all, the idea give up what you must extends to anything. It could mean giving up some belief that’s poisoning your outlook. Or it could relate to that scrunchy thing you do with your shoulders when you’re working at your desk—how did they get up there by your ears, anyway? As with everything in yoga, it’s not just about the yoga. Actually, it’s hardly about the yoga at all.

But it might be easier to start small by giving up what you must on the mat. Then see where it takes you in the rest of your life. See how light you’ll feel when you let go of all that extra stuff in your mind and body.

Give up what you must. What will lighten your life load?

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What’s your yoga story? We want to hear your experiences of amazing teachers, pesky poses, and changed minds . . . Share in the comments below.

Next up? Practice and All is Coming.

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Michelle Superle writes books plus other stuff and earns a living teaching people how to do it too. She gets her wellness on by running around with the lovely human male, charming dog, and beautiful horses she lives with. Join Michelle through her journey back to yoga.