By this point in human history, most of us have a pretty good understanding that human beings are all different on the outside. We just plain look different – it’s kind of a “Captain Obvious” thing to point out.

We even have a pretty firm graspt on the fact that we are all different in terms of the way we think. That while there are some universals, we all are deeply influenced by a large array of factors coming from culture, upbringing, and our unique biology. Different brains and different experiences lead to different ways of seeing the world.

When it comes to our physical insides, however, our bones and organs, most of us have a pretty homogenous view of what we expect to find. This is unfortunate, because our insides are all totally different.

Why does this matter? Well, in some ways maybe it doesn’t. You can get through life pretty easily without knowing that someone’s stomach is in a kind of different position than yours or that your femur has a little twist in it that causes you to walk with your feet turned slightly out. No big deal.

Some of these differences can even be changed or created, that’s part of why most of us do yoga, after all – to change our bodies by making our muscles stronger and more flexible.

The key is to realize that some of these internal differences translate into different abilities in, for example, a yoga class. If you do happen to have a twisted femur, then standing with your feet parallel in tadasana is probably a pretty uncomfortable position. It would be like asking everyone else to turn their feet in.

Don’t force your outside to look the same as everyone else’s if your insides are doing something different.