Don't Just Wear the Clothes

When we strive to be a better as a yogi, a spiritual practitioner or anything else, it is tempting to copy the traits of those we admire. We observe what great practitioners look like, how they carry themselves, what they say and how they act. While this can be helpful to observe, it is important to remember that emulating traits is not the same as doing the work. 

This is taught in the Hatha Pradipika, ​Chapter 1.66:

"Success is achieved neither by wearing the right clothes nor by talking about it. Practice alone brings success. This is the truth, without a doubt." 

​It doesn't matter what we say, it matters what we practice. It doesn't matter what we look like, it matters what we practice. It doesn't matter how much we talk about our goals, it matters what we practice... ​

​This also rings true outside of the yoga world.

​There is a story about the famous jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins responding to a question about players copying him. He was asked, how do you feel about young saxophonists buying and wearing the same type of shoes you wear? He responded by saying, I hope they copy the important things too.

Let's not worry about the clothes. Let's just do the work. 

Source: Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Trans: Brian Dana Akers, Yoga Vidya