The Dose Makes the Poison

I already feel like I'm in a little deep with this one! Just the title alone sets the stage. Poison? Harm. Damage. These are not the things we want in our practice.

That's exactly why I feel like it's important to remember that idea. "The dose makes the poison" refers to things that are ordinarily anodyne or even beneficial, but that taken in excess can cause harm.

Today is the solar eclipse in the US, which illustrates what I'm talking about. Ordinarily, the brightness of the sun makes us squint and look away, thereby protecting us from too much exposure to UV rays that can permanently damage our vision. In the case of a solar eclipse, there are still lots of damaging UV rays, but the moon's obscuration of the sun takes those automatic protective mechanisms offline, and when we aren't protected and are curious about the eclipse, we might possibly look without proper eye protection. This will cause us damage.

But get one of those nifty pairs of eclipse glasses, and you can look all you want! Why? Because the dose makes the poison. The glasses block a vast amount of the UV rays (visible, too) so we can see the eclipse but not get hurt by it.

Similarly, we want to drink plenty of water throughout our days to stay well hydrated. It certainly is possible, however, to drink too much water too quickly, upsetting the electrolyte balance in our bodies and causing damage--or even death. The dose makes the poison.

There's a balance to be struck, as in so many things. Are we practicing physical postures so much that we are doing damage? Overuse injuries are real. Are we balancing our practice so that we don't overtrain some parts and neglect others? Are we neglecting the other parts of yoga altogether in favor of the physical practice? Or not moving our bodies enough to maintain our health?

"Enough, but not too much" is the phrase I find myself using in group classes to try to illustrate this. How do we know what's enough? How do we know what's too much? That's the trick, isn't it? We have to actually stay in our bodies, to pay attention and respond to the signals that our body sends to us. It is extremely common for people to push as far and as hard as they possibly can, for as long as they can. There may be a sense of accomplishment in that, if what they've done hasn't harmed them.

Can we shift towards feeling accomplished from having paid good attention? From having done "enough, but not too much?" In so doing, we can avoid the "poison" and keep our yoga practice beneficial. After all, we have our whole lives to practice. The dose makes the poison, so don't overdo it so much that you cause yourself harm.