Using Mirror in Yoga Practices ?
When we walked into a Yoga Studio, the first thing we see is the long stretch of mirrors from the top all the way down to the floor on the wall. In fact, almost 99% of the yoga studio has mirrors.
Ever wonder why? A mirror is there so that you can look at it and see if you have done it right and if the alignment of that pose is correct. Or check out on others if they can do better/worse or what outfit is that girl at the back is wearing…
This behavior usually happens in modern studios. Now let’s take a look at the traditional studios - they do not have mirrors in the studio, not even a small one.
Why?
Yoga is about drawing inward; learning about ourselves, our body; focusing on ourselves and finding our true self. The gurus want the students to focus on their body, feel which part of the body is stretching, contracting and which part of the body is straining. In this way, the students learned about their own body, adjusting to the right position so that is not straining and also learn how to let go if the body/muscle is straining. At the same time to train the student on how to be comfortable of letting go in life for things that are no longer serving them good.
Yoga teaches us how not to compare and compete with others and self; teach us to remove Ego. If one starts to look into the mirror, one is starting to compare and compete; this is promoting ego instead of removing it. In addition, it is also a distraction, focusing on the outside and no longer drawing inward or looking inside.
Just imagine thousands of years ago, yogis/sage practice only in nature or cave. Where are the mirrors? They didn’t even have a yoga mat and legging!
