With so many #yoga posts on Instagram showing expert-level handbalancing, airborne acro tricks, and impressive feats of strength and flexibility, one might wonder — what’s the difference between yoga and gymnastics?

Yoga vs. Gymnastics

Gymnastics is about athletics and aesthetics, while yoga is about the journey.

While both are physical practices that involve some of the same movements and skills — such as splits, handstands, deep backbends, etc. — yoga is all about the flow and working through a sequence to steadily arrive at each peak pose.

Despite the fancy poses you might see, it’s not even necessary to have advanced levels of flexibility and strength to practice yoga. That’s why it’s called a yoga practice — it’s focused on helping you gain deeper flexibility and strength, not on how well you can do the poses. Yoga also tends to be a more approachable and accessible practice for all ages and activity levels. The barrier to entry is much lower when all you need for yoga is a willing mind and a space to practice.