As the summer rolls into August, we near the time of the year when many of us or people close to us – children, friends, parents, and colleagues – get ready to go back to school.

You can also look at your yoga practice through the lens of “going back to school”. Sometimes the poses, transitions, breathing techniques, or meditation we learn in class or explore on our mat are completely new to us, but other times they are combinations of elements we have already explored.

Our yoga practices (as well as any other movement lifestyle) are not static and unchanging, nor are they linear journeys. Each day in our lives we experience change emotionally, mentally, and physically – and every change, no matter how small, can in turn affect the state of our mind and body on any given day. And over a longer period of time, the many incremental changes add up to what can be monumental, incredible changes.

In the spirit of embracing this perspective, why not revisit an old pose or try something new (again)? You may find that in revisiting an ‘old’ pose, you will find subtle nuances that you didn’t feel the first time around, or you will be able to explore a pose more deeply because your practice has evolved. If you didn’t like a particular style of yoga the first time around, maybe give it a second or third try – a few months or a few years after the first experience, you may find that you can appreciate and even love what those practices can do for your body. Or maybe try that difficult arm balance or pose that wasn’t accessible to you a year ago and see how it feels now.