I'm not perfect in my practice of yoga . . .

A lot of people applaud perfection - or what looks like it. It's easy to look at a person doing a perfect looking posture and admire the person and their ability thinking that's where the Divine lies. I'm sure this comes from thinking that we need to be perfect (at least look like it) in order to know the Divine; to be able to touch enlightenment or god. In this perfect posture then maybe the person's perfect and they must be closer to god then any of us imperfect beings?
But this isn't so. The more work there is, the more unraveling we do. As Suzuki Roshi said, "Everyone wants to be the best horse, but it's better to be the worst horse than the best horse." The work is essential, and it's good to work with sincerity. First for some of us the work is physical, that's why we do yoga. Together with the work on the mind, psyche, and the emotions, we'll be finally deep in the heart. Open and honest! In the moment . . . There we will find god!

If you want to ask a question...please feel free to email me...

. . . shamabhakti@gmail.com . . . If it's a good question I will want to share it on my Blog. :-) But if you need the privacy, please feel free!

Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana) from Prasarita Padottanasana

The Rise and Fall of Yoga Teachers...

So one of the 'gurus' of one of the more 'popular' contemporary yoga styles in North America has been caught with his pants down - literally. I'd say good for him, good for them and good for everyone that has any righteous indignation around it. There's nothing better for the spiritual work than people who because of their own needs, desires that manifest in strong and utterly personal projections fall with the said 'guru'. When he fails, we fail - they project, and they don't like to fail. It is the Shakti at work. It happens all the time! This is the ebb and flow of the universe balancing and frankly we are but mere players...what's that Shakespear quote? Although it's not to be interpreted as Shakespear has been, as a cynical and fatalistic view-point. It's really enjoy the ride and learn - about your deep selves. About the Self that is the driver of yoga. So don't be so naive as to think that this is the first time - or the last time - this sort of thing will happen in the world, let alone in the yoga community. What is revealing to me and cosmically comical really, is the fact that people are surprised that their 'guru', the one they love, the one they love to hate, look toward, project all their aspirations of being a special yogi/yogini, would do such things that are contrary to what they believe to be true of yoga. Where's the light?, they ask. Where's the goodness and niceness in it all?

The Spiritual practice is a difficult one. And no matter how much we claim and squirm that yoga is NOT a spiritual practice (if I don't want it to be, they say. Ha, there's the rub) but just a great way to stay healthy and happy. "Somehow it works to make me happy because the teacher makes me feel that way when I'm doing my poses" - you say. "I don't go to teachers who make me feel bad about myself..." "A workout that makes me feel all oogly inside." That's why he and his practice were so popular, because that's what the practice that he 'developed' was for - to make you feel better about yourself. And he placed himself right at the helm. Responsible for how good or bad you feel. So when he did something that didn't make any sense to his 'followers', didn't give them that oogly feeling, their whole world-view fell apart.

No one in yoga whether student or teacher has super human powers and doing yoga can not give you them. You are not invincible to the mores of society and the spiritual practice is there to take you down as well as lift you up. There is always that yin and yang. You can not escape that.

Again, the Spiritual practice is a difficult one. It works on us constantly in this material life whether you are aware of it or not; Whether you are a teacher, or otherwise. If you're a strong individual or a weak one, the universe will conspire to show you a way through to balance one way or the other. Sometimes the path is varied and unseen. Every decision we 'make', every 'mistake', every 'success' is the universe directing you through your life. The path is revealed to you constantly and all the various styles and traditions, and forms of yoga, whether it is meditation or asana is to open your eyes to it by allowing you to shed the dross which hides it from your view. You have no say in it. Otherwise the ego would protect us all from ourselves! 

It is time to wake up to this notion that: you do NOT do yoga, yoga does you! All teachers, authority figures, celebrities (he turned into one) etc., get the strong mass projections of love, devotion, hatred, envy, betrayal, competitiveness, etc.. The love projection is huge, and I have experienced it myself - from both men and women. Of course, I have experienced the opposite of that. We all do at some point or another. But here's the real work - as a teacher you are the instrument of the Divine and the Shakti works through you in these ways. It is all for the learning of both the student and the teacher. For the student, it is to feel the strong emotion and the desire to have the ability to express it. For the teacher, it is to recognize that this love is not for you - personally! The job of the teacher is to stand firm in an open and compassionate stance. To recognize projection and to allow it to a certain degree until it becomes disruptive (in his case it became very destructive). The work is to dissolve the ego to the point that you can get out of the way of the learning that needs to happen for the student and for you. It is the big 'Self' that leads us into places of real learning. The misfortune of it is not getting caught, nor is it the behavior. The real sorrow is the failure to see the learning. It falls flat because of the ego's self-preservation expressed by back-stroking, denial, and projecting it back into the society. The sad part of it is the loss of the real experience of the work of the Shakti; to be able to receive and give love wholly and completely without cause or recompense. To sit in the joy of Divine love where all possessive and conditional qualities all fall away and you are left giddy with the feeling of release and lightness that comes with this profound work. That is where freedom that is Yoga really is. Be the instrument, the container which is to unite yourself so fully with the Divine that there is no question of to and from where the Love flows. 

My Tumblr blog if you're interested... :-)

http://1barefootgirl.tumblr.com/

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?"