Flexibility - have you got it?

There was a great post about flexibility over at Don't Forget to Breathe and I am re-posting it here because it's such a gem. So often I see students mentally beat themselves up because they can't touch their toes or their knees are up near their ears when sitting cross-legged.

Yogis - there are so many issues that affect one's flexibility, other than just muscle tightness (which is what most of us think).

Take a look at Bee's list of things which affect flexibility (besides tightness of muscles):
* bone structure (differs slightly person to person)
* gender (as a general rule women tend to be more flexible overall)
* time of day (ie in the morning we tend to be stiffer)
* temperature of the room/body
* amount of sleep one has had
* foods recently ingested - the more toxins, the less flexibility

So take heart next time you're trying to come into the forward fold Uttanasana and it seems like miles between your fingertips and toes... there are things you can do! Don't give up!