Now that I've been practicing for 9 months and have established some discipline in working through difficult moments in class, I'm experimenting with sitting out a posture now and then. Some teachers encourage it, especially with new students, reasoning that it is better to do all the postures you can but to do them the best that you can. If you're just flopping through, you're not getting the full benefits.
I've found it difficult to sit out postures, even early on, when I felt I HAD to or I'd pass out. It's hard for me to sit by, thinking about not keeping up and missing out on the benefits of the posture I'm not doing. It's also difficult to physically get back in the rhythm. Sitting down during the standing series and then getting back up can make me feel even more light-headed than I felt before. If I feel light-headed after a standing posture, I've found that often the next posture will help me recover. For example, I'm very dizzy after stick position, but the following forward bend brings the circulation back to my head, neck and shoulders and makes me feel better almost instantly.
Nevertheless, I have wanted to explore the difficulties I have sitting out a posture, particularly the feelings of not keeping up, being left behind, not getting everything I can out of each class. When I sit out, I try to keep focused on myself, but I'm interested in what other people are doing. I do take a few moments to look around the room and see if there isn't something I could learn from one of the other students. Then I focus on myself and just try to breathe through the uncomfortable thoughts that come up, in the same way I'm learning to breathe through uncomfortable moments in postures.
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