Restless Spirit Hours the Week of December 16th...

Come in for a visit and let's chat! We'll sit here and do cards or a session for your deepening. Or we'll sit in meditation in the space right behind me and let Grace take over. Whatever it is that you would like to do, Restless Spirit is a very harmonious, spiritual place and you are welcome anytime to come talk with me! 

I'm planning to be in the studio Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 11-7pm, and maybe Friday. Oh of course it all depends on the weather.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I have some appointments so I'll be there for sure. Text me to make sure I'm available at the time you want to drop in.

Hope to see you all soon!

Remember to book your appointments with me here or email, or by texting or calling. Thx.

Practicing: Loving 1st Series

Urdhva Muka Paschimottanasana

Loving 1st Series again! Practicing in LA.

Ashtanga - Primary Series - Practice

The past two weeks, I have focused on the Primary Series. Haven't done it - consistently - for a while. Wanted to get back into it - really missed it. It was so hard to do in the beginning years ago when I first started to practice. My body and system did not like all the forward bends. It really effected me - and not in a good way. I remember how I would not be able to do ALL of the postures. It took years upon years of practice to get me to a point of feeling good in the practice.

But it came at a price. I mangled my body and stressed it out just by working into the postures.

I have a very sensitive system - even my bodyworker whether it is a chiropractor/thai massage/SOT therapist, says that my body has extreme reactions to adjustments. In other words, the work that I do in my practice can really set off a chain reaction of pain. Shoulder pain, back pain. Stiff neck and back. Sore hips and aching legs. So I had to lay off for a while.

Now - it's all back. The shoulder pain especially. It's because my right shoulder leans more into the forward bends and it puts it out every time. Even when I am totally conscious of it.

That's a part of the practice then isn't it. The physical practice is easier - I know the postures I can get into easily, I know the postures I can get into with some effort, and I know the postures, for my body's sack, I shouldn't push. It is a part of the practice to know these things.

I need to work like this for a while and let my body slowly work out the kinks again.

I know that if I were in Mysore practice I would try to push myself too much - spurred on by the energy of the room. Although I really love that - being with all those people. It has never served me.

Today I practice quietly in my home - I've got a great little spot - breathing and working through the aches in my body with a clear and calm mind. I do not push. I listen and learn. And I love every minute of it!

Peace!

Sharath Jois in Copenhagen

Lovely vid of Sharath in Copenhagen. Wish I were there…

vid by Alessandro Sigismondi.

It Is The Practice That Teaches Not The Teacher

Ashtanga yoga and Iyengar yoga have a few things in common:

1. They both come from a very traditional background and were developed from ancient understandings of yoga. They come from students of Krishnamacharya.

2. They have been taught without variation for decades (except maybe variation of teaching styles to accommodate level of student and time spent in class) and there's a silent agreement that the form and process of the practice would not be altered. Meaning that: say the Ashtanga series would not see any variation or addition to the main idea and postures of the practice. Teachers knew way-back-when that yoga was not about them.

A lot of derivatives of these practices of yoga have developed since 

because of this particular person's predilections or perhaps that person's understanding of what it takes to bring Yoga (not only asana) to the masses. Whatever the case, these yogas became things like Vinyasa, Jivamukti, Anusara, etc., and the idea of yoga (asana) expanded for better or worse. We see an explosion of these variations because Asana yoga has become very popular. As it becomes more popular with the "Thinspiration" generation it is more about the body and looking good than ever before. Yoga (asana) is changing because the students have changed. 

Is There A Place For Traditional Yoga (Asana) Practice?

Being a fairly traditional Ashtanga teacher, the traditional and strict aspect of both styles can turn off newbie and young students, and those who are looking for self-gratification. I find that it is more the aspect of "I want to feel good about myself and look good" which seems to be paramount for most students these days. Precise instruction and conceptualization is not what students are looking for because somehow it makes some students feel "less than". It sounds like criticism and doesn't add the students' narcissistic vanity of "how good I am for being here and doing this".

I have found that these days having a good sweat is not enough. The classes have to appeal to the aspect of personal power. So the more challenging postures in a class the better.

I tend to balance my classes (this is when I teach Stylized Vinyasa) with a style of teaching that challenges and at the same time, I do not introduce postures like some arm balances or things like the splits, etc., unless I see that the majority of students are a little more seasoned and I've taught them for a while and gotten to know them. I have witnessed classes where teachers will put beginners into some poses at risk of injury without any concern and the students just love it. Conversely, I have challenged those who just wanted to really do a restorative class (wasn't even advertised as one but they expected it (?)) and gotten my head chewed off because of it.

Just Teach As The Practice Dictates - Not What Your Or Your Students' Egos Dictate

There really isn't any way to predict students' preferences anyhow, and I have to say that Iyengar and Ashtanga stay steadfast in maintaining the traditional way of teaching as much as possible - and no, I don't mean yelling at your students or calling them names - that is the style of the teacher not the practice, and doesn't come from the deep understanding of the practice. I mean that the process through which the student is guided is as much about the practice as it is about the student.

It Is The Practice That Teaches Not The Teacher

Iyengar must stay as Iyengar as possible. Otherwise it starts to get confused. I have taught Ashtanga for years now and have trained in it extensively. I know the practice beyond the postures just because of the practice itself. That is what I'm teaching. I know some "Ashtanga" teachers who do not practice it and therefore do not know the practice as a practice. They do not know the intricacies of it. These teachers bow to the pressures of students' to add postures which do not belong in the series, make it harder or easier, and let go of the rhythm of the class to appease those who just want to "feel good about myself" to the detriment of Ashtanga. I have had great difficulty teaching Ashtanga after these teachers because students are not being educated in it.

Yoga Is Yoga First And Foremost

But teachers will try anything including risking the injury of their students because for some reason we have decided in this culture that yoga is about popularity and money instead of teaching simply and with humility.

It is the teacher's role to teach their students about the practice beyond the ego-ic need to be appeased and catered to (Spa-like). The most essential teaching for us as teachers and for our students is that: It is not the practice that makes you feel bad nor is it the teacher's responsibility. Feeling good about yourself is an inner conflict and learning that and coming to terms with it is revealed in the practice.

The teacher must teach the practice as it is because the practice is beyond the teacher and the student. It is bigger than them.

Peace!

This post is an extended version of a comment I made to another post by a fellow yogini. Here is the post:
http://yogaspy.com/2013/07/08/can-iyengar-yoga-attract-the-masses/

Thanks Lucy

Christine

Lessons of a Yogini

The body is a funny thing. Every day is different. Last year I was able to almost reach the ground: about 2 inches to go. Then all of a sudden I was unable to get low at all. My inner thigh muscles were excruciatingly tight. No warning. Nothing. They just didn't want to play anymore.

My first reaction was - sadness - not anger. I was sad because "I've worked so hard..." etc. I was sad because I have the type of body that snaps back and sometimes can't do things I suppose a 'normal' body can - or what we think a normal body can - it snaps back and I basically have to start pretty close to the beginning again. I was sad because when you get to a certain stage in your practice there's a kind of flow that allows for that elusive sensation of freedom in the body which can be viscerally experienced and I lost that - at least I thought I had. I still feel it - even when I'm tight and my body seems uncooperative.

As I get older, I've realized a few things:

That this is really as far as I can go - physically. There are postures that I will never be able to do "successfully" - whatever that means.

That I know my body so well, that I can feel the small changes in my body which can be very satisfying, and therefore I work very smart these days.

And that what I was chasing in my early years of practice are not important anymore. Oh that doesn't stop me from working postures to the point of a good sweat or at least feeling satisfied with my efforts. But that pendulum swing back and forth of emotions about what my body looks like in the posture does not equal my efforts doesn't drive me.

I am grateful for all those years of effort though. The wish to be the best teacher drove me to really get to know postural yoga in a different way. In a way that was about asking the question: When I do postures, what makes it an aspect of YOGA? How am I expressing YOGA in an 'imperfect' body? Perseverance, courage and humility are the foundations of practice - am I expressing those? What is the difference between:

perseverance and greediness?

courage and ignorance?

humility and self-consciousness?

With those questions and more inspiration I became very attuned to my body, mind and spirit.

Back to the task of practice: it is more now about practicing and working on things as a matter-of-course rather than trying to get somewhere...fast.

So with the help of a combination of postures in my practice - including some unconventional ones like squatting sideways, with warrior twos and side angle, some seated and lying down hip openers. Now with a few months work I am slowly making my way down again. First time in months I am able to place my chest on the floor.

I am very content with my body and my practice these days. There is a certain amount of calm. That I suppose is what it means to really do YOGA.

Peace!

The Difference between Sukhasana, Siddhasana, Padmasana

Traditional meditation cross legged sitting postures. The most done and most traditional used all over the world is: Sukhasana. The next is Siddhasana. And only rarely, Padmasana.

Sukansana – sitting “easy cross legged” pose.

This is “easy” because it is simply sitting cross legged.

Siddhasana – sitting with toes tucked into thighs or set the feet side by side keeping the knees wide.

Siddhasana is a little more difficult than Sukasana and is a cross legged pose where you tuck your feet into your thighs (between thighs and calves specifically), or lay your feet side by side (on the floor in front of you) keeping the knees wide: a wide kneed pose. Which means that it can only be done when the hips are more open, and it can help open the hips even more than simply sitting cross legged.

Padmasana – sitting with feet on top of thighs tucked close to hips

Padmasana or lotus pose is the most difficult of the seated “meditation” poses. It is done by tucking the feet up on top of the thighs and close to the hips: a closed knee pose. Which means that the knees are closer together and can be done when the hips are much more open than the other two. It is not easy to get into and takes a great deal of practice to make sure the knees are protected.

These are important distinctions. All three are available to use – but please practice especially the last two, with a GOOD teacher – one who knows the difference between the three poses.

Once you practice all three poses, the differences and the benefits of each will become clear.

Please keep yoga asana names and terms correct.

Peace!

Yoga Needs No Embellishment

This photo is all about admiring yoga (postures) or at least the body that’s doing them. The photographer states: I think yoga is beautiful.

What a revelation!

Superficial Understanding of Yoga
My only question is: if these same (there are a few pictures) Yoga Asana would be performed on dank dark piss filled corners of the city and by ugly people if you’d still think it was beautiful?

This is an important distinction, because if you think of yoga (asana) as pictures of beautiful people/bodies wearing beautiful clothing doing the pose (beautifully) on a beach or a mountain top or some lovely place then you’ve misconstrued the true beauty of yoga. If you can not appreciate it for what it is in your own body, heart and mind then you have not deepened your understanding. This is not yoga you are seeing (it looks like it because of the poses), but it is more like the sugar coating of your own missed understanding of yoga which remains superficial.

Seeing the Difference
It is in my mind vital that we distinguish between our own need to flaunt and perform not only our expression of our bodies but also our hearts in this way that is about – the look-at-me-approval train, and to perform a sincere practice where you get sweaty, breathe hard, falter in a posture, make faces without knowing it, and get injured sometimes. Yoga’s beauty emerges from the inside as we have good practice days and not so good. As we take Yoga out onto the street and respond within our capabilities as a human who practices yoga every other day.

Yoga expresses itself more subtly and more privately. It is not as conspicuous as when it is staged with all this stuff and noise around.

What are you hiding from?
I wonder from what you are hiding. Is it your own pain? Pain of realization that you might never do a yoga posture perfectly (only an issue of performance), or pain of your body which never goes away, or the pain of realization that to deepen your practice and your heart you must forego the egos insistence to be admired. What is it then?

Yoga is Beautiful and Ugly, Painful and Freeing…
Yoga needs no embellishment like how this photographer (and many others! Self portraits – you know who you are) presents it here. There is no there there in the expression, just performance, staging. Try not to stage it next time. Watch it unfold and look for it below the surface. If you’re looking for the beauty, you’ll find a gold mine!

Photo by: Robert Sturman

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Yoga Asana Practice in LA

I get up. I shower. I put my yoga gear on. I stand on my mat. I greet the day. I practice. My mat is already set out. There is no thought behind it. I just get on my mat as I would sit at my computer, sit in front of the tv, or wash the dishes. My practice is difficult today. I breath and move through it. I don’t go to studios anymore. I believe it is good to do my practice on my own. After years of practice, it comes naturally. My favorite part: sitting at the front of my mat and greet the universe.

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Happy Happy Joy Joy

It is difficult these days to teach and discuss 'traditional' yoga - like Ashtanga, Iyengar, etc...because of this notion that only if you feel happy, elated, and bolstered, empowered during your yoga class are you doing something worthwhile. The whole idea that if you're not feeling that way, then you are somehow still "burdened by the pressures of everyday life" as one yoga (Anusara) teacher put it; that by virtue of the style of yoga that is perhaps more difficult during class somehow does not let you "rediscover that belief in infinite possibility" (as another teacher put it). I say - Bullshit.

I have always said that Anusara and the like have usurped the heart out of the other practices, and as a heart-felt, sincere, mindful practitioner and teacher, I do not appreciate it.

The Heart is in ALL Traditions of Yoga Practice (including Asana, Meditation, Satsang, etc.)

I am so tired of how Anusara and all its clones take away the joy that is inherent in the practice of yoga postures in all its traditions - even if it is not "playtime" in an Ashtanga class. It is so apparent that these teachers have abandoned the traditional yogas for the sake of appeasing their own egos. Truly, we are not kids any more and that notion that we must somehow get back to that, is a fallacy. It's steering those people who want to deepen and give birth to their true selves in the wrong direction. As 'adults' we know too much to become children again. And yes, we have a lot more responsibilities to actually be able to act like one and get away with it. But through the difficulties of life, we have a choice to make - either we hide behind the tricks of the ego acting like we are spirit which only accepts 'goofing off' as a way to be 'happy'. Or we can accept ourselves and others in cultivating a no-nonsense, present centered consciousness which sees things for what they are and in that find the burden of the pressures of everyday life lifting in the face of the truth. That is freedom. In becoming unburdened this way, we find true freedom, with that we are 'happy'.

The Way to Happiness

Unburdening yourself of the constraints of an ego that can't face 'ordinary', sometimes boring moments is the work of true yoga and is made accessible by embracing all aspects of yoga not only asana. Meditation, reading thoughtful spiritual books (not only the Power of Now. C'mon!), going to a really good therapist that recognizes Spirit as a part of our worldly experience, etc., all help to open you up to those 'infinite possibilities' beyond the pacification and gratification of our ego-ic nature.

What is really scary and really exciting about it all is that it takes years! Not months. Really, the work to unravel you; what you've built up over the years to protect you: your defenses, your opinions, your preferences all must dissolve to make all of this work and it's quite a journey. You don't entirely get rid of the ego (see my other writings). You need your ego to survive. So the first real step is to cultivate awareness. How you do that by convincing yourself that there is nothing you need to work on, is beyond me. Somehow though, it is thought that if you admit you have things to work on, you are admitting to being irreversibly flawed. That there is something 'wrong' with you. That you are unworthy of love and attention because you are not perfect. That, my friends, is the first thing to work on. It is not awful to admit to yourself that "I can be a real bitch/bastard sometimes". It is actually pretty freeing. And it's scary at the same time. Still, just because you grow to accept that about yourself doesn't mean you go around being one. Go toward the fear, the dislikes, the repulsions. See what they can teach you.

We Are All Perfect In Our Imperfection

There are many aspects of ourselves we don't know and won't know if the idea of admitting to our flaws repulses us. So the next step is acceptance of yourself. Can you accept that you are not perfect? And that Perfection IS in the acceptance of all that is you! When you accept that can you accept that people aren't perfect. That means everyone. If you can open your heart to that then you are well on your way.

Surround yourself with those who know that it is not readily accessible in just a few months. When you are with others who know, then when your ego flares up because it is fighting for its life, those around will show you the way to go deeper. Trust them even if what they say 'hurts' you or 'insults' you - that's a good way to tell your ego has a hold of you.

The Playground That Is Yoga

There's nothing wrong with being playful. In fact, all of this is play in one way or another. The key is to pair your asana practice with counseling, reading and meditation. Ask questions and accept guidance. Be wary of those who tell you to ignore or forget about the dark and move only into the light. Be wary of classes which only stress to appease your tendency to look for distractions and your ego-ic nature's incessant whining. And as well, be wary of those who say yoga is about being stern. Even the most disciplined class of Ashtanga, practiced with an open heart can be light-hearted and very loving.

The wonder of it all is that when you do this then there is joy. When you can stay focussed and present in the most difficult, challenging posture (for you) or situation, there is elation. When you can accept guidance and assistance without expressing arrogance, there is love. When you can look at yourself without criticism, there is peace. Let YOGA teach you this. Then life will be so much fun!

This was inspired by this blog post: http://yogaspy.com/2011/07/22/hooping-and-the-hybridization-of-yoga-in-america/#comment-4309

Asana Practice: Urdhva Dhanurasana

Yes. It has always perplexed me - Urdhva Dhanurasana. Even as I take the pose it is not very comfortable for me. I don’t feel ease and I can’t stay in it long. It took me years of concerted and sincere practice to even get me here.

I never learned from someone who could do this posture well. They are the kind of teacher who can’t believe you can’t do it. You know the teacher that says, just do this, or that, and they think it’s that easy. I had one teacher give up on me. That didn’t feel good.

So I took what I knew - by that time 20 years of practice, and started to practice on my own (doing it for 12 years now), and didn’t rely on a teacher to see me through. What I learned about my body: what it could do when I moved into things the way that it needed to, was a real eye opener. I learned a lot and my body opened up considerably after in the years that I’ve been teaching myself. I always told my students that the people with the most difficulty in postures are the lucky ones. We are the ones that really feel our bodies open and change and even tighten up again. We learn that there is an ebb and flow.

So it taught me that for me, Urdhva Danurasana was always going to be a challenge and the things like  Kapostasana, might not ever come. But it doesn’t mean I don’t venture into that realm of back bends - I keep practicing. There are days when I can feel what it’s all about. And then the next day it’s gone. I accept that about my body and that’s what yoga’s all about. Isn’t it?

So absolutely go slow. Ease into it. But most importantly - move as if there was no where to go. No goal in sight. Just keep expressing the energy of back bend, or forward bend, or inversion, or any other type of posture you’re doing. Doesn’t matter if it ‘looks’ like you are in the posture perfectly, it matters how deeply you can go into the feeling of the energy of the posture.

Ask me about anything: If you’re struggling with any posture including backbends, send me a note. I’d be glad to assist. 

Variation of Leg Behind the Head Pose...

Variation for leg behind the head pose. Working into it and stopping along the way.

I love to do this variation of the leg behind the head posture. Took me a long time to get here. When I’m here I feel a certain kind of freedom in my body and mind that only comes from the kind of practice that will get you here. For some people this is a posture that comes simply and naturally. For me it took about 10 years! Think about it…

The Hard Lessons You're About to Learn... (Part 1)

When did having a yoga class in a boutique or tea house or any other retail space become a good way to market a business? What does it say about that business? Is it cool? Hip? Chic? Interesting? Relevant? What does it say about us? What is this need to identify with anything that uses yoga as a catalyst for more sales? Has yoga become a label to identify ourselves with those other cool, relevant people? Has it become exclusive in the way that if you don't do yoga then we don't want you around? Has "YOGA" become so vapid in the eyes of those who do it that it's only use is to help promote, sell, or trend? Has yoga become just another item on the list of must-haves at the party of the year?

The attachment to the physical aspect of yoga (asana) without the graciousness of the spiritual aspect has led those who choose to believe it, marginalize yoga to the place of workout, the fountain of youth, and just another thing to help you relax at the spa. All fine benefits of yoga, yes, but not the raison-d'etre. Bringing yoga to our ego-ic level and understanding lessens its impact on our organism: our being. Projecting onto yoga all the same stuff of ego-identity that drive some to have face lifts, be the first to do: to have something, to brag, undermines yoga's essential and primary benefit: union with the Beloved. the Divine Heart, God, the energy of the cosmos. However you like to "name" it, it is all that and more. (As Ramana Maharshi says, to even name it, you have lost your connection to it.) All the stuff that yoga asks you to shed (boosting, grasping, attaching, hating) is actually amplified by the need to make it a part of who you think you are...all the adjectives: good, nice, chill, spiritual, cool, hip, relevant, interesting.

With the words, "I-do-yoga" come many reactions. There's a definite stigma: bad or good. Some of us let other's reactions dictate what we do. It used to be that I never talked openly about my practice or my teaching in front of my family because of all the jokes about it.

Yoga is NOT any of it.

Haha - but that publicly traded yoga wear corp (I even dislike mentioning the name because I don't want to market them) have helped shape the way in which yoga is seen, how we interact with it. Yoga, for a lot of people, has become just another commodity to exploit like anything that trends in social media: flavor of the moment. Look what they've started. And by a guy (the owner) who says he doesn't  do yoga. What a great little marketer. He's helped shape a generation of displayers: Look at what I can do; at what I've got; at who I know...or I've seen (rather).

Is this really the way you want to experience yoga?

Yoga asks you to be the antithesis of a good little marketer. To do without thought of reward. To give without thought of recompense. The lesson is to learn to shake this illusion (maya) of the material world and what you need from it...happiness, love, connection, comfort, prestige. It's all there, you've already got it all. But if yoga is used and not practiced then it can never bring you into the light of day and help shed the doubt that looms over us like a darkening cloud.

The emptiness is always there whether the material world seems to give you everything...you have become a slave to that idea...ask anyone who is encountering their own mortality!

It's a hard lesson to learn. But I will gladly teach anyone willing to go there! Are you? Willing I mean...

Everyday practice...

Laghu Vajrasana - Deep back bends have always alluded my body.

Before I even get here, I open my back by laying on a block at the highest height and slowly open my upper back. (I will do a short video to show you what I do soon).

Slowly as I work, I will work out the tight quad muscles and upper back. I will eventually get my hands on my knees and my head closer to my feet.

All in good time…Right now I just breathe! :-)

Dear Bill...

William Broad - You seem to poo poo the spiritual aspect of yoga which is the essential part of yoga. When you divorce the physical from the spiritual then you are dealing with the ego only - I won't get into it, but that's what gets you in trouble. You, not yoga. When the ego drives the work in yoga (any part of it - BTW, yoga is not just the physical work - asana), then you get injured. You said it yourself, with all the pretty flexy girls in class doing crazy postures, you said, you couldn't help but follow and try to match them. I would think that after 40 years of practice you would know better; You would see that you are imposing a structure onto the practice that isn't really there (except through your own need to impress or something like that - or the teacher's need to push you for some reason). Any teacher worth their salt would have let you know that you are treading into dangerous waters and it is you who's deciding to go there. In fact, if you did yoga with the spiritual/philosophical aspect in mind you would have known that through your readings. But you obviously don't. Yoga is very scientific - traditionally. There is a reason for everything you do in the more traditional practices. You do get results. But when taught wrong through lack of knowledge or an imposing ego (teacher or you), it all can go horribly wrong. Yes people have changed the practice of yoga - too much in my opinion. And really if you listen very closely, you will hear the little whine from those that change it for their own needs, into their own image. I say, you don't have to change a thing. Just because someone's a teacher/guru doesn't mean they know what's what here or in India. The depth of the practice has been almost lost and we are usually paying lip service to someone else's ego's notion of what yoga is. That is wrong to me. Changing the practice is thinking you know better. Changing the way we teach is recognizing the depth of ourselves. Much different. You can read thousands of books on yoga; they're out there, go to a million classes there's enough of those to go around too. If you are still looking without instead of within, if you still think you know better instead of earnestly trying to shed all of your resistance to the teachings, if you treat yoga less than what it truly is and has to offer, you'll never find what your looking for - a deep, meaningful, challenging, mind-blowing, humbling, life-affirming and joyful practice of yoga.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html

What do you Bring?

I have been reading and hearing a lot about the good and bad of practicing yoga asana - the physical aspect of yoga, let's make this clear. About what it's good for, health-wise. what it's bad for, health-wise. What it can do for you in the way of making you feel better - about yourself?, about the human race? about your body? Yoga postures can do a lot of things for you - more than you'll ever know probably, and the pursuit of this knowledge is alive and well in all of us - students and teachers alike. I see it in the faces of my students, and other students in other classes. Eager to learn - but some of them, somehow are less eager to work for this knowledge. Some think they know already and i sense a kind of deadness in these people. One girl. she's doing trikonasana (triangle). One hand in the air. limp. falling almost. The attitude of her body arched and a bit contorted. Her head heavy. Her eyebrow cocked and mouth slightly open. Maybe this one's jaded. Has been doing yoga asana for-e-ver, but somehow is just going through the motions. No one stops to adjust her. Encourage her to go deeper. It is not considered good yoga etiquette to be directive... any more. Used to be that yoga was about deepening your experience and accepting instruction. Maybe she doesn't like adjustments for just that reason. It's insulting, she thinks. She's been practicing in the corner of the room. Without realizing, she has isolated herself and has become passive aggressive and withdrawn in her own practice. So this is it. This is what yoga can teach you. Today when i start the class, i begin by saying, "...if you do any yoga posture - any at all, it will do something for you. You will get that stretch you're looking for. You will achieve that posture (in your body) with practice. You will get something out of doing it. But - that is only the beginning of your yoga practice. Now it's time to change things around. To give something back. Change the notion of always getting and taking something from yoga: what it's good for, what it's bad for... Turn your mind from expectations. Rather - Bring something to Yoga. Your yoga practice. Ask yourself what can you give to your practice on your mat right now? During the ninety minutes we're here. What do you bring?"