Do you try to hold exact, proper form for as long as you can (if that means less than thirty seconds) or something more “doable” for you for a full thirty second interval when doing yoga poses or specific stretches?

I do my best. I find that doing what I can for the full time makes me feel better after I’m done. I feel more accomplished when I can last the allotted time. I have tried doing it perfect for the amount of time I can do it but it makes me feel like I’ve given up or that I’m not enough.

I try to hold the proper pose for as long as I can. Once I start to slip up in form, I modify the pose to make it more comfortable for the rest of the time.

I do a bit of both so that I am not only practicing stretches I can actually do, but also trying to improve the amount of stretches that I can do well

Yes I do try to hold the proper pose for as long as I feel as beneficial for myself. I don’t try to hurt myself. I try to listen to my body.

Form is most important. So reaching exhaustion in best form is what’s most important. Endurance will build. But you will do more damage than good holding a poor form for a longer period of time. I actually read a study that shorter burst of stretches are more beneficial than longer ones- about 20 seconds is thought to be the magic number now.

Depends on what the pose is; if doing the more difficult pose is dangerous or harmfyto my body as I am not capable of doing it yet then a softer pose is better but if it simply hard to hold I will hold for as long as possible.

That’s an excellent question. I believe that holding proper form for as long as I’m able is quality work even if I fall short. The next day will be longer and so forth. Eventually, I’ll be able to hold the pose with the right form for the entire time frame.

Yoga is not about stretching yourself to your limit. Each pose and stretch have certain alignments that are important for that pose to work (like keeping straight back while you could still bend your knees though, for example), so try paying attention to that but do not try achieving poses that your body is not yet flexible enough for. So rather than aiming to 30 sec with perfect pose, aim to suitable time for you with good enough pose. Be gentle to your body, yoga and stretching should not cause bad pain, just the good kind of gentle stretching pain. Listen to your body and you’ll know the difference.