I love “Yoga For Wellness” by Gary Kraftsow, for many reasons and especially when I read things like this:

“The form-function problem, on the other hand, concerns the relationship between the classical form of a posture and its actual functional value. While it is true that the forms of the classical postures reveal a systematic record of the structural potential of the human body, achieving one of these forms does not necessarily indicate that we have achieved its function. The true value of these postures lies in their functional benefit to our own body, not in the objective character of their classical forms. Therefore, rather that focusing on the achievement of objective standards, we should focus on what is actually happening in our body as we practice. The classical postures should be used initially as mirrors to help us discover something about that actual condition. Then the information gained from this observation should be used to help us determine the direction of our practice.

Setting appropriate goals for our practice involves the ability to recognize change. Because our condition is always changing, we must continually redefine and renew our practice.”