by Erin Ipjian

There’s a funny thing we do in yoga: we spend years learning and refining the poses, attentive to the smallest of details, like the grounding of the outer seam of the foot or the reach through the ring finger. And, yet, we learn that the pose is not the point. So then, what is the point?

Maybe it’s this: maybe all the physical refinements make this practice what it is - a moving meditation. Maybe there is some value to learning how to be attentive to the details of the pose while still dispersing our awareness throughout the entire body, aware of ourselves as a full, integrated whole. Maybe this skill can even translate off the mat - this capacity to attend to the required minutiae of everyday life without losing ourselves in the process. Maybe that is how the practice helps us remain connected to our broader purpose.

So, then, perhaps the details really do matter, even if they ultimately aren’t the point.