From another of my teachers, the inimitable Judith Lasater: Follow your nature. The practice is really about uncovering your own pose; we have great respect for our teachers, but unless we can uncover our own pose in the moment, it's not practice - it's mimicry. Rest deeply in savasana every day... enter that pratyahara every day. And just enjoy yourself. For many years I mistook discipline as ambition. Now I believe it to be more about consistency. Do get on the mat. Practice and life are not that different.
In my mind there are various invitations into a particular , depending on what our intention is at that time, but there is no such thing as one set of instructions for a pose that always apply. As one of my teachers Gill Solberg says "thinking everyone will do the same posture in the same way is like thinking every student will fit into the same pair of shoes at the end of class". Our reading this week follows from the notion of being rather than doing our practice, and specifically on how (even though we're studying together and there may be relevant principles for a specific asana) we can find our own way into a posture that is stable, easeful and spacious for us at this time.
From another of my teachers, the inimitable Judith Lasater: Follow your nature. The practice is really about uncovering your own pose; we have great respect for our teachers, but unless we can uncover our own pose in the moment, it's not practice - it's mimicry. Rest deeply in savasana every day... enter that pratyahara every day. And just enjoy yourself. For many years I mistook discipline as ambition. Now I believe it to be more about consistency. Do get on the mat. Practice and life are not that different. Our practice and readings for the next several weeks will explore freedom and flow, and the connections between our practice and our life as a whole. We begin - not by trying to change or fix ourselves - but rather by becoming aware, with a compassionate and curious attention, of where we can sense we are restricted, constricted or blocked.
To start us off, Cybele Tomlinson, a longtime teacher from Berkeley... Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way. With yoga, we become aware of how and where we are restricted - in body, mind, and heart - and how to gradually open and release these blockages. As these blockages are cleared, our energy is freed. We start to feel more harmonious, more at one with ourselves. Our lives begin to flow - or we begin to flow more in our lives. |
AuthorMisha Butot RCSW, ERYT 500 is a longtime clinical social worker and senior yoga teacher living in Victoria, BC Archives
April 2024
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