I’m not a practitioner or teacher that values peak poses or pretty shapes; what I do (and teach) diligently is strength and mobility training in the context of a yoga asana class. I’ve never practiced astanga yoga —I’ve attempted a drop back maybe twice in the entirety of my practice and definitely not in the last five years. Today I was curious and, apparently, it’s something I can now do.
Yoga is not goal-oriented. I always say there’s progress in yoga, but it’s evolutionary not teleological. It’s progress FROM something not TOWARD anything. It’s not “practice and all is coming,” it’s just “practice.” Practice with no attachment to the result. In maybe another eight years I might be able to stand up from a drop back. If that moment comes, my response won’t be the self-congratulation of ego, but rather, “huh, that’s interesting,” and then I’ll still keep doing the basics.