In yoga, complementary actions are essentially actions that do the same thing. For example, in downward-facing dog externally rotating the upper arms and aligning the wrist creases with the front of your mat have the same effect on the arms. Complementary actions work towards the same direction, or towards the same result in the body.

I’m sure you can think of times when you’ve gone to a new yoga class and the teacher described something in a different way than you are used to. Often a new approach to a pose can lead to a light-bulb moment. People are different, and different instructions resonate with different people. Complementary actions are therefore also complementary instructions, which is why it can be a good idea to attend yoga classes with different teachers once in a while.

Complementary actions can be used on a more abstract level too. B.K.S. Iyengar talks about working to extend and expand in your poses, and these two different but very similar instructions can increase your understanding of this inner action. He has a quote that I really like: “When you extend and expand, you are not only stretching to, you are also stretching from.”

Next time you’re feeling stuck in a pose or not really understanding what to do, ask the teacher if there’s a different way to teach it that might help you.