Letting Go...

Vulnerability IS the human condition. Yes - You ARE vulnerable to EVERYTHING.

We get on a plane - we can catch a cold or worse. We could fall out of the sky - yet we fly!

We live, work, ride on buses, drive on highways, interact with people who are in variant stages of insanity (including us) yet most of us get home every night. By the GRACE of the Universe, we do not live in a war zone!

We get up every morning and we step into the world in some form or another.

We are by virtue of being human - Vulnerable.

What a cruel joke it is that at a moments notice you could be gone - heart attack, stroke, getting hit by a car - simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time... or is it right place at the right time... There are countless stories about people 'cheating' death in one instance and weeks/months later It catching up with them.

Our hearts are vulnerable - how many of us have lost those near and dear to us, family, friends, lovers one way or another? Everyone has! Being in relationship is part of the human condition which is what makes vulnerability a part of the human condition. You can't "fight" it - it is not "like height". It is not measurable, it is not material - it is as it is.

Stop fighting it. Let go!

Beyond the layer of fear is a place of warmth that is the embrace of the Divine. The Ecstatic Surrender. Do this and vulnerability will not be your enemy. Look at the sculpture of the "Ecstasy of St. Teresa" by Bernini - it is her surrender to the Will of God - Ecstasy through Grace.

To know and live through your own heart is to know the Divine - and isn't that ultimately what we are here for!?

Give up the need for control. Shit happens for better or worse. If you must, learn from it. We always want reasons for everything - 'why' is a question that can never be answered. Especially to our satisfaction - so let go.

Everything makes sense when you die to your own idea of yourself. Fear of vulnerability comes from an Identification with the small self. Me and I; an attachment to you and your physical and mental ability to stave off intruders. To protect oneself at all costs - to the cost of one's Heart (not the sentimental heart though).

Non-attachment is key.

This energy that we live, flows through us whatever we are masquerading as - take it off - take off your costume and live as you truly are.

Spiritual Life...What It's Like...In the Real World...

It's like being the ocean.

The surface of the water because of its saltiness stays buoyant. It doesn't know the depth of the ocean, and stays happily afloat to tend to it's comings and goings.

Then it is churned up by a storm or a big wave and is brought under and gets caught in the current and so becomes aware of its own depth and a whole new world it didn't know about (or had forgotten about) opens up (awareness).

Perhaps the once surface of the ocean would like to stay down and discover this vast weightless, calm embodiment of Self, but because of the nature of the ocean, constantly churning and changing, reacting and flowing, the surface of the ocean will have to once again at some point become the surface. Once it's been churned and tossed around a bit, led and cradled by the depth of it, it will bring to the surface with it a part of that depth - it is no longer what it was.

The changes will continue to occur as long as the surface of the ocean allows itself to be taken to its depths. It will always resurface until one day, it is no longer the same as it started. If the ocean is stagnant - resists change - then the surface will forget its depth.

Let the wind, rain, storms, and currents of your life take you to your depths.

Peace!w

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.

The Story Behind the Black Board at Restless Spirit

I painted and framed a blackboard at the entrance of the new incarnation of the studio, Restless Spirit. 

The intention behind the blackboard at the entrance of the studio was for me to ask a question and for the public - whoever came down the hallway, would write their answer to the question. I asked this question just before I left. (later I changed "today" to "lately")

I was looking forward to coming back and seeing what people wrote. I was going to document it in some way - through photos and writing.

Upon my return I found that someone had erased everything and put three words on it - nice words - but not My words. They decided for whatever reason to erase My board and put whatever they wanted on it.

So I decided that I was going to share quotes for now. Whether they are my own or from writings of my favorite teachers. I will post a new quote every couple of weeks.

I will revisit the "ask a question" project when I can be there more frequently, and have a discussion about the board with those around.

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!