Perfection as a North Star

In our yoga practice, and in life, perfection is often like the North Star—a point of reference guiding us toward our destination, but never something we’re meant to reach. Before modern navigation systems sailors would use the North Star to navigate, knowing they could never actually get to the light guiding them. Perfection is much the same: it serves as a lighthouse for us, showing us the way, even though it’s light years beyond our grasp.

What’s fascinating about the North Star is that when we look at it, we’re seeing light that left it long ago. It’s a glimpse of the past, not the present reality. And so it is with perfection. The ideals we hold, the visions of how things “should” be, are often based on past experiences or outdated assumptions. We may chase these old images of perfection, thinking they’ll lead us to fulfillment, but what we’re actually following is a reflection of something that might no longer exist.

As we move toward this distant light, we create our own version of what perfection is in the here and now. While it may not match the perfect image we’ve held onto, it is perfect in its own way because it’s rooted in the present. Just as sailors trusted the North Star to guide them while accepting they could never reach it, we too can allow perfection to direct our journey without expecting to attain it.

This week, when you feel that tug toward an unreachable ideal—whether in your practice or in life—pause and ask: Is the perfection I’m chasing an old light, shaped by the past? What would it mean to let that guide me, but to create my own version of “perfect” in this moment?