I miss going to Mysore classes...

I miss my Mysore classes. I miss the feeling of doing yoga in a room with people who are doing similar things. Although it was not a very communal atmosphere; everyone was there for themselves really. So was I. It just felt really good to be in your own practice with people around you. I practice at home alone now. Different. I've been doing that for about 9 or 10 years now. I've become my own teacher finally. I thank all my teachers and teachers of the lineage for their work and guidance throughout my first 20 years (off and on) in my 30+ years of practice.  I keep you in my heart.

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. 

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?"