Getting an "A" in Yoga

Sounds silly, right? The idea of grading performance in yoga so obviously contradicts the most fundamental reasons for practicing in the first place.

After all, yoga isn't about external validation or performance metrics—it's about something far more profound and authentic. Seth Godin captures this tension perfectly:

The prevailing system of the educational-industrial complex puts the fear of a ‘C’ in us. The entire point of twelve (or sixteen) years of our lives isn’t to learn anything, it’s to get an ‘A’…What if instead, we decided to opt in to a different path, the path of always learning?
 
Yoga embodies this revolutionary approach to learning. It's not just a destination—it's an ongoing journey of discovery.
 
In alignment-based asana practice, learning progresses through stages. We begin by learning the form of the pose - what goes where and how to get the body in and out of the shape - while simultaneously developing the necessary strength, flexibility, and awareness to perform the pose.

Many practitioners stop here. If yoga is just your workout, this might feel like your "A." But for someone interested in using yoga as a path for self-discovery, this is where it starts to get interesting.
 
Once we know the form of the pose, we begin working on the level of action. Observing, sensing, reflecting, and responding—on repeat. Each breath, each adjustment, each refinement becomes a doorway to deeper self-knowledge.
 
The poses become laboratories for inquiry, where we investigate our own experience to unfold greater insight.

Take Tree Pose, for example. At the level of form, we learn the mechanics: standing leg engaged, lifted foot placed on the thigh or shin, hands at heart center or overhead. But it’s at the level of action that the real learning begins.

When we wobble, do we immediately grab something, get mad at ourselves, or give up? Or can we find those subtle micro-movements that help us rebalance? This investigation reveals our relationship with imperfection and instability—patterns that show up everywhere in life.

The balance we cultivate in Tree Pose—that quality of finding steadiness while staying soft and responsive—becomes exactly what’s needed when facing life's inevitable wobbles. We begin using the practice as a field for experimentation into who we are and how to live more skilfully.

This is precisely the point of yoga as a "path of always learning." Our own selves become the never-ending, continually unfolding subject of study. We discover that we are both the student and the subject matter—forever growing, shifting, and evolving.
 
This isn't about achieving perfect poses or Instagram-worthy flexibility. The gifts of this approach run deeper: greater self-knowledge, richer presence, and an integrated sense of well-being that offers an empowering - and ultimately liberating - vision of ourselves, others and the world around us.

What if this was the reward of all types of learning?