At a goat yoga event last summer, a fit young person who had never done yoga wondered out loud “What’s the hardest yoga pose?”

The answer is “Any one you want!” When they sat down on the mat before the session began, I offered that answer along with an explanation:

Yoga is a bottomless pool where every movement and every breath, if done with intention, can take you deeper into yourself. Asana training, which is a physical expression of yoga, is part of a larger system designed to bring mind, body and soul together.

I could tell that my explanation was a bit too esoteric for this person that really only came at the request of their partner and wanted to play with goats, so a physical demonstration was in order.

I was seated in Easy Pose (criss-cross applesauce), extended my right leg out and moved my hands down toward my shin. “When I find my stretch comfort zone,” I told them, “that’s something I can concentrate on.” I then slid my hands down further to reach my toe tops. “As my stretch improves, so does my ability to concentrate.” I wrapped my hands around my feet and ducked my head down toward my knees as far as I could go. “And when the physical limitations of my body have been reached, I can focus on the breath.”

I could see they were starting to understand. The original question came from a place of physical curiosity. I am also curious about some of the poses I see, and how the practitioner can manage it!

As we progressed through the Goat Yoga flow, which is a very gentle Hatha mixed with some breathwork, I glanced over at the guest a few times and noticed them with their eyes closed, focusing, and going just a little bit deeper into some poses. After the class, they thanked me for the workout, but also for the explanation that revealed more about yoga than they had known an hour ago.