Years ago, I attended a yoga class with a teacher I'd studied with only a couple of times before. During our practice, he had us in Bound Angle pose, the one where you sit on the floor, soles together, heels drawn up to the pelvis. I should note that I'm a lifelong Tight Guy (TG) -- hamstrings, groin muscles, shoulders, you name it. So my legs, which in my dreams rested serenely on the floor, in reality resembled a sharply angled "V."

Like most TGs, I didn't take kindly to this limitation or, for that matter, any of my limitations. I felt thwarted, frustrated, and finally angry. Over the next few weeks, I pushed my body to master the pose in ways that were at best inappropriate, at worst dangerous. The results were predictable: knee pain, debilitating spasms in my lower back and neck, and not a step closer to achieving my goal.

Most of us don't like the thought of being limited. Whether it's an inability to master Italian, sing on key, or touch our toes, we often meet these obstacles with the mind-set of doing something about them, pushing harder and ultimately putting ourselves in situations we may not be ready for.

How do you feel about your own limits? If you're like most people, you probably treat them the way you would a tree that's fallen across your hiking trail: You climb over it, wriggle under it, edge around it, or, if worse comes to worst, drag it out of the way. But not all limitations are tree trunks, and there's a better way to handle the roadblocks that stand in your way.