Imagine an invisible wall that prevents you from reaching your goals, making positive changes in your life, or learning something new on your journey to grow into the well-rounded person you wish to become. Would you be surprised to find out that wall is created by your own mind in the form of psychological resistance?
I haven’t yet found a Sanskrit term for this concept, although I am sure there could be one, as this is a challenge often presents itself to yoga students. Here are some examples of how it comes into play.
A beginner would really like to start yoga, has told all her friends about it, bought the clothing and a new yoga mat, but somehow hasn’t got round to booking that first class. Or a student starts yoga and really enjoys it, but then something happens – a mental breakthrough or an emotional release that feels overwhelming and then he starts finding other things to do instead of going to yoga classes. Maybe you want to practice yoga regularly at home, but find that there is always something ‘more important’ to do and yoga gets side-lined.
It seems strange that we would stop ourselves from doing things that would benefit us by improving our health and well-being.
According to psychotherapist and writer, Peter Michaelson, people repeatedly bump against this invisible wall, then get up and bump into it again, without realising what they are doing. He calls it ‘an unconscious unwillingness to open one’s awareness to the inner truth that exposes our hidden participation in emotional and behavioural problems.’
He explains that psychological resistance is a part of human nature that causes us to act against our best interests. We resist learning more about ourselves; we resist uncovering our truths or hidden weaknesses; we resist changing our bad habits; we resist accepting our emotional and behavioural problems. In summary, we are resistant to inner work.
Michaelson believes a large cause of this resistance is irrational fear. It seems we are afraid of becoming disorientated or overwhelmed by self-knowledge. We might be afraid of confronting and accepting our shadow side or glimpsing aspects of ourselves that will instigate change in our lives.
He insists that although it is important to start to recognise and acknowledge this resistance, we can’t just smash through it, as that would just intensify our inner conflict. Instead he suggests we simply become aware of it and go forward with the confidence that this is something we will eventually dissolve or overcome.
These are some behaviours he mentions that suggest psychological resistance is at work (and I have added some ideas of my own):
- Indecision
- Procrastination
- Self-sabotage
- Narrow focus on minor details and not seeing the bigger picture.
- Forgetfulness
- Switching off mentally – sleepiness.
- Fear of new ideas while clinging to the old.
Let’s look at how this could manifest in the world of yoga. Something that would apply to those of us who have had an established regular yoga home practice for years, attend classes regularly or perhaps are teachers, is that we become too comfortable and safe. We begin grasping— getting overly attached to our yoga style, our teacher, or a particular way of practising a pose. This becomes limiting as it creates resistance to our growth as yoga practitioners.
The yoga sage Patanjali described in his eight limbs of yoga, the yamas or ethical behaviours he encouraged students to practice. One of these is aparigraha, translated as non-grasping. While this can relate to placing less importance on material possessions, it also suggests a non-attachment and non-possessiveness that can apply to our tendency to cling to ideas and concepts. When we let go of the grasping, we often find our resistance to change dissolves.
Our fear of change or growth often prevents us from trying out a class with a new teacher, exploring a new movement modality or going to another studio. Is there a part of our personality we have suppressed and are afraid of releasing if we step out of our comfort zone?
Are we clinging to an outdated definition of who we are in the fear that in practising something new, the walls around this constructed ‘self’, such as the Iyengar Yogi or the advanced Vinyasa Flow teacher, could come crumbling down? We often feel secure within these egoic walls, so we resist anything that could begin to chip away at them.
It just takes one step to begin to dissolve resistance. I have found personally, that I have had the greatest resistance to my most life-changing experiences. I struggled with extreme indecision and inner conflict before going on a journey to another country, (which would radically expand my world view), starting a course in order to learn something new, (which would allow me to grow) or beginning a romantic relationship (one of the most powerful heart-opening and learning experiences).
I have become wary of resistance—I look out for it and if I come across it, I remain aware, while nudging myself gently past it. There is that little voice that might tell me to stay in my warm bed instead of getting up to meditate or practice yoga. Certain practices, like getting up in the morning and going to my yoga mat, I tell myself, are simply non-negotiable if I am healthy.
So I encourage you to begin to look at your own behaviour with clarity and start to notice where the ‘invisible wall’ takes shape in your life. Just notice it at first. And then take a step forward in the right direction.
