It’s late morning at the local indoor swimming pool and as I pause at the end of the pool to adjust my goggles the male swimmer who has been sharing my lane says, “You’re obviously a natural swimmer. You just glide across the pool. I’m not good at swimming.” This tweaks my curiosity but before I can say more, he adds. “I’ve always been good at rugby, but I’m no good at swimming.” I share that I returned to swimming five years ago because of my pelvic injury and when I started, I could barely walk across the pool, let alone swim. Fortunately, my swimming routine often coincided with the competitive swimmer’s squad training. Watching the way those swimmers torpedoed gracefully through the water inspired me to approach their swimming coach one day and to set up some lessons. That was the beginning of completely overhauling my swimming technique week-by-week, little-by-little. There was a lot of floundering and confusion in my nervous system as I tried to undo a lifetime of bad habits. “Maybe you could get some swimming lessons too?” I suggested. “Nah! I’ll never be any good at swimming!”

Developmental psychologists have done extensive research on the effects of a person’s approach on his or her ability to learn and ultimately master material. Dr. Carol Dweck, a leading researcher in the field of developmental psychology makes a distinction between entity and incremental theories of intelligence. In a nutshell, children (and adults) who are entity learners “tend to attribute their success or failure to an ingrained and unalterable level of ability.” They see their overall intelligence or skill level at a certain discipline to be a fixed entity, something that cannot evolve or change. Whereas incremental learners tend to believe that with hard work difficult material and skills can be mastered, step-by-step, little-by-little, until the novice becomes a master.

The key to pursuing excellence, in any subject, is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process. But I think there’s more to it. I believe incremental learners have developed a capacity to investigate and explore their experience and derive deductions that fuel their next steps.

This will not be news to those of you who have long since abandoned formulaic yoga methodologies based on blind adherence to doctrine and have been practicing yoga as a form of deep inquiry. When we inquire into our practice with curiosity and openness, there’s the potential to learn new things every day and to extract new understandings that form the basis for evolution. What fascinates me now as someone who has been approaching yoga from this perspective for decades is how inquiry-based learning on my yoga mat has extended into every possible dimension of my everyday life. From tweaking a recipe, to nutting out a challenge in the vegetable garden, to figuring out why this batch of Camembert turned into cheese pancakes, to the more personal challenge of handling conflict in relationships.

If you are a yoga teacher, you can support incremental learning by using process-oriented language. For instance, you might say to someone who is having difficulty learning Chaturanga Dandasana “If you practice keeping your trunk stable as you come forward, you’ll soon become stronger,” rather than, “Obviously, that’s not one of your best poses!” We can replace words like “good, better and best” when referring to a chosen variation, with the suggestion that the smart choice is the one most appropriate for the individual. We can foster inquisitiveness rather than acquisition, inviting a deeper learning experience that is not hampered by the fear of failure. We can become less judgmental of ourselves and more tolerant when we can’t do something immediately and build our capacity to be with awkward stages of learning. We can also foster a willingness to go back to basics and correct foundational errors. This is what I learned as I slowly moved across the pool doing drills, trying to adopt a new way of moving my arms that at first felt weird and difficult and gradually began to feel strong, efficient and easeful.

This is also what I attempt to share in my monthly Mastering Simplicity livestream, where I explore what’s currently peaking my own curiosity especially as it pertains to an aging body. It might be how to keep my sometimes painful and finicky feet mobile and ready for the next big hike. Or it could be a desire to self-guide the process of Yoga Nidra that frees me from digital recordings. Or what to do when it feels hard to get off the floor: is there a way to meet this with a practice that is easy yet still builds strength and balance? Each class comes with an elegant class plan PDF. Click here to learn more.

Kindly,

Donna

P.S. Just a reminder that the full scholarship applications for the July 2025 intensive Origins of Alignment in Denver, Colorado close on December 6, 2024. There are two scholarship places and successful applicants will be announced on December 13, 2024. Travel and accommodation are excluded.

P.P.S Learn more about the Intensive and Venue.

P.P.P.S Download the Origins of Alignment Full Scholarship application.