Today is the first day of a new era for me. Our books are finally at the printer, so my days of endless proofreading and editing are over (for now, at least). I am returning to my practice with a renewed passion and vigor.
So much time in the past few months has been spent focused on instruction, both with our books and the regular classes I teach. I have noticed the lack of personal focus, development and progress. I am eager to explore some new depths of myself and continue on my own journey. I have kept up my practice enough to not slide backward too far, but I can feel the build-up of un-tapped potential. I am so happy and relieved to be returning to dedicated practice. Also, I hope to return to regular posting here in my online journal!
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(Has it really been a month since I've posted?!)
Practicing for myself has always been easy. Who else would I be practicing for? Recently, two developments have unfolded that make it more difficult for me to practice. They are revealing about the ego. First, I have been teaching more. A lot more. Big classes, small classes, vigorous classes, gentle classes, fast ones and slow ones. Much of my focus is on the students, what they need, and how to communicate effectively with them. Each class needs a different approach, both a game plan beforehand and also the ability to change when things inevitably don't go as planned. As I teach more, I also practice more. I demonstrate many things in class and often accompany the students in the postures for solidarity and motivation. I also practice a lot in preparation to teach, to familiarize myself with the movements and breath that I will ask the students to do. But all this practice is not for me. It is focused on communication and service of my students. Second, as my personal practice develops it moves inward and out of sight. It still requires time and concentration, even more than before, but Breathing exercises and Meditation are invisible. They don't develop new muscles or fancy new postures. So if I base my progress on my old measures, like growing flexibility and strength, it sometimes feels like I am stalled or sliding backward. This only means that my relationship to my own practice is changing. It must change if I am to keep moving forward. My measures of progress will have to change, away from depth of stretch and drops of sweat, toward balance of energy, stillness of mind, and awareness and control of breath. The first set of postures in Bikram's class is the Half Moon series, where we bend the upper body to both sides and then backward. These positions warm the body effectively because they stretch the same muscles that are engaged and strengthening. This generates a lot of heat.
When we bend to the right side, we are held up by the muscles on the left side of the body - in the hip, abdomen and torso. These are the same muscles that are being lengthened, so the body and mind must find a balance between engagement and release. Technically speaking, this is called eccentric contraction -when a muscle is engaged while getting longer. Contrast this with concentric contraction, where we engage a muscle and make it shorter, like a bicep curl or Cobra Pose. In concentric contraction, the muscles opposite the contracting muscle automatically relax and lengthen. In a bicep curl, the triceps relax. In Cobra Pose, the front chest, abdomen and hip flexors relax. The fourth posture of the Half Moon series is Hands to Feet Pose. Unlike the side and back bends, Hands to Feet Pose is not an eccentric contraction. We contract the abdomen in order to stretch the back, so it is concentric contraction. This series of warm-up bends would be better served by an eccentric forward bend that engages the backside of the body while stretching it. I just finished reading A.G. Mohan's book Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings. Mohan was a longtime student of Krishnamacharya and his book benefits from first-hand stories and a deep understanding of yoga. It is by far the best book I have read about Krishnamacharya. Here are some of my favorite parts:
"The purity of truth is often lost in unnecessary speech. To speak the truth, we would be wise to begin by practicing moderation in speech: to speak less and, when we speak, to do so clearly." "He would say, 'What is this "boring" you all say? Nowadays even children say everything is "boring"! Nothing is "boring." None of you have control over your senses and so your mind becomes restless. Now some activity seems pleasing to the senses, and a little while later, another activity seems more pleasing. Because your mind is not able to stay steady and the senses pull the mind to different things, you want to keep on changing what you are doing. If you have sense control, there is never any question of "boring."'" "In an interview, Krishnamacharya once said...'Group teaching is not good. When teaching asana we have to take into account the individual bodies since each body is different. One person may easily practice uttanasana while another cannot.'" "Krishnamacharya used these broad categories to define purposes for the practice of yoga: 1. siksha: fitness - yoga for people who are healthy, to maintain their health or increase their wellness 2. cikitsa: treatment - yoga as therapy 3. upasana: spiritual practice or discipline - yoga for personal transformation All quotes are from Mohan's book Krishnamacharya. Mohan's website is here. My own practice turns away from the strictly physical and toward the breath and mind. My physical practice is deepening and refining, turning toward cleansing kriyas and longer seated periods. This transition in my own focus is creating friction in my teaching.
How do I direct the students in exercises that I have moved past? How do I understand and inspire the students, guiding them clearly down the path that they need? How do I see their path when my path is so different? How do I relate to the students who are focused primarily on the physical benefits of asana practice? In elaborating these questions, it strikes me that my own progress need not make me a confounding teacher. Quite the contrary, it should make me a clearer one, as long as I keep focused on each student and their individual needs. My widening perspective and experience can make me a more effective and versatile guide. I have to remember that the purpose of the teacher is to serve the student, not to press my own views and practices upon anyone who will listen. Teaching is not a position of power but one of service. I remember clearly when my teacher Tony Sanchez told us, "some poses you don't teach, you just keep them for yourself." It baffled me at the time. Why wouldn't I share what I was doing? If I am finding value in a practice, why wouldn't I offer it to my students?
The idea of secrecy dates back to early yoga texts. Many writings contain general tenets of yoga but no specifics of practice or progress. They leave the reader with a curiosity about this practice, but one must still seek the guidance of a knowledgable teacher to learn the details. I have heard several reasons for this type of secrecy, but two seem to be the most significant: retaining power and therefore monetary value, and safety, as many intermediate and advanced practices can be very dangerous. POWER If we offer the bare bones of knowledge, we maintain control over the stream of information. With this control we can keep people coming back for more. More classes, more products, more seminars, etc. In fairness, there is a lot of knowledge out there, more than can be revealed and understood in even decades of daily classes. Still, there are those who use this bottleneck of information to their advantage, for power, prestige and money. SAFETY Others control the trickle of knowledge to their students for the safety of the students. In yoga there are many postures that can injure even a more advanced yogi. Also there are more advanced yogic practices like breath control, concentration and devotion that, without great care, can go terribly awry, causing headaches, heart strain, emotional imbalance and obsession. These are outcomes we would rather avoid. I think that Tony was mostly referring to safety when he told us not to teach everything we practice. Also I think he was talking about what it means to be a good teacher. Part of being a good teacher is offering what is beneficial to the student, and that is rarely the same thing that is good for the teacher. Each student is unique, with a unique history, body and mind and at a specific point in their progress. We as teachers need to recognize and address the student where they are at each moment. If we offer what is working for us at the moment, it is likely that we are overlooking what may be beneficial for the student. A difficult balance, no doubt, but an important one. It saddens me every time I see a yogi promoting unhealthy habits and, even worse, encouraging pride in them. I have heard yogis promote drinking stimulants (like caffeine) and alcohol, eating unhealthy foods and cursing.
We are all drawn to certain destructive habits - eating sweets, drinking coffee, complaining about work and family - but we should avoid them as much as possible. All of these things create new obstacles in our bodies and minds, or they reinforce old obstacles. Then, in our yoga practice, we strive to remove these obstacles to encourage our spiritual growth. So every cookie we eat, every cup of coffee, every mean word and thought has to be undone in order for us to progress. (To be fair, I drink my share of coffee and have been known to eat lots of sweets.) On the flip side of the coin, it is easy to let our pursuit of improvement create frustration, shame and insecurity within us. In an effort to improve we recognize our weaknesses, and we begin to obsess over them. Without care, what starts as a profound and healthy desire to better ourselves can grow into self-loathing. We are not perfect. I'm not perfect and neither are you. I have histories, scars, memories, habits and desires that hinder me as much as they help me. I try to locate, acknowledge and accept my barriers in order to release them and move past them. Most habits distract the mind, especially ones that stimulate the senses. This can include food, music, television, even conversation and sex. We must take care that we do not engage in activities to draw the mind outward toward the senses. This is the simple essence of the 5th limb of Patanjali's yoga - Pratyahara or the Withdrawal of the Senses. When I see yoga paired with wine or chocolate tastings, I am saddened for the contradiction: yoga practice to center the mind and sensory stimulation to draw it outward. I feel the same when I hear yogis encouraging drinking or poor nutrition for the sake of indulging the senses. I know that it is culturally attractive to be a wine connoisseur or to know where the best milkshake in town can be found, but these things hinder us on our progress toward a clear mind and a healthy life. "In good yoga in general, we are working asana in direct relationship to balancing and cleansing of the nadis, the proper practice of bhanda, mudra and pranayama. More and more practice reveals that these things are the purpose and primary focus of asana, and when done well lead directly into Raja yoga and deep contemplative practice."
From Richard Freeman's response to a question on yogaworkshop.com For the past few months Ida and I have been working alongside fellow yogi and all-around beautiful guy Jerome Armstrong on an exciting project. We discovered the lost manuscript of Buddha Bose, written in 1938 but never published, in which he describes and demonstrates the complete 84 asanas in the Ghosh Lineage. The book contains 84 asanas and 10 mudras, with more than 90 photos. It will contain a new introduction by Bose's grandson Pavitra Shekhar Bose. Everyone that has practiced the Bikram sequences, both his 26+2 and the 84 advanced sequence, will see familiar postures and also new postures and instruction from Bose. The album is presented in sequential sets of Padmasana, Sitting, Lying Down, Standing, and an advanced Kurmasana set, plus 10 Mudras. "Key to the Kingdom of Health: The Buddha Bose Collection of 84 Asanas" is set to be published and made available to all yoga scholars and practitioners in June 2015. Sign up for updates or contact for more information at www.buddhabose.com. Why do we practice yoga? Is it for strong abs? To be able to touch our toes? To stand on our hands? To get our heart rate up? To calm our minds? To lower stress? To know God?
Yogis practice for all of these reasons and many more. There are as many reasons as there are people on the planet. But what is the true purpose of yoga? It is a practice with many physical, mental, spiritual and emotional benefits. Which of these is yoga's true purpose and which are side-effects? Playing guitar will make your fingers tough and calloused, but few would claim that callouses are the purpose of guitar playing. Yoga is a complex endeavor. Traditionally it has between 6 and 10 diverse areas of focus, or limbs. These include Disciplines and Values, Physical Postures, Breath and Energy Control, Inward Focus of the Senses, Concentration and Meditation, Chanting and Ritual. Some yogis focus intently on one area, others dabble in all of them. I will explore each of these areas in some depth over the coming weeks, discussing how they aid and hinder us as we progress toward the true goal of yoga. It is simple in concept but unending in practice: to see things as they truly are. We see the world through a filter that is unique to each of us. Our perceptions are colored by our own experiences and the mental constructs that we have in place to explain the world and the people in it. This is why, if you ask 5 different people for their explanations of an event, you will get 5 different but equally plausible answers. We all see the world differently. The purpose of yoga is to purify our perception of the world. In the words of Pattabhi Jois it is the "purification of the sense organs." We change the way we see the world, how we interpret and interact with it. Step by step we notice and dissolve our individual prejudices and preconceptions, from the most obvious all the way down to the ones we don't yet know we have. As William Blake put it, "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern." With this in mind, let's explore the various practices of yoga, starting with the most common: Physical Postures (Asana). The Purpose of Yoga, Part 2: Physical Postures/Asana The Purpose of Yoga, Part 3: Energy Control/Pranayama |
This journal honors my ongoing experience with the practice, study and teaching of yoga.
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