Many of you Yogis and Yoginis know that in India it’s traditional to receive yoga training exclusively from a particular Guru. But bona fide Gurus are very rare in the United States So the vast majority of us receive training from non-gurus schooled in the technical aspects of teaching yoga.
Seven years ago on my journey to find the right yoga instructor I visited a few studios and met with several different practicioners. I was a little dissapointed with one imparticular. For as many years as she has been practicing I felt an energy from her that was hostile towards other instructors or types of yoga. She simply didn’t want to share her students with anyone else or encourage them to learn more than what she believed. I had a problem with that teacher’s advice on a practical level. That’s because I honestly believe that it’s good for you to “play the field” as a yogi. And, of course, once you know what’s out there you can settle in with your favorites.
You can call me a Yoga whore or maybe I'm just ADD feisty Yoga girl. There is no “one-stop-shop” in yoga. No one has it all. If they think they have it all, they have it all wrong. Ego runs rampant in yoga. The BEST teachers are humble. This note is about my own challenges and misunderstandings about the teachings of yoga, and is not meant at all to be a commentary on a certain instuctor or practice.
As a student or instructor I did have a lot of potential. I was one of those girls who could do backbends so deep it looked (and felt) like a rainbow was going to explode out of my chest. The Bridge is my favorite pose, I was gung-ho, and loved the blissful energy that I tapped into through YOGA. I especially loved the attention that came through the demonstrations we’d do at workshops. “Going deeper” to me meant finally grabbing my foot in Natarajasana, taking Vishvamitrasana to its full extension, and flying higher on the fumes of Grace generated by intense practice and the guidance of one of yoga’s most charismatic and powerful teachers.
But Grace had other plans for me. A moment of revelation came to me when in my search for answers, I discovered like many, people I know, that make a crucial error in the understanding of what yoga is. Yoga is not meant to be a competitive sport, or an artistic form like ballet where the body is mortified to create an image of beauty. I was so used to competition in the gym and coming from a dance and gymnastic background I was already conditioned and flexible and ready to show eveyone how much I could stretch bend and flex. One cannot “win” in yoga, nor does “going deeper” in a pose necessarily mean stretching it further or holding it longer. Yoga is a powerful form of subtle body and spiritual practice. As such, it will tend to bring us face-to-face with our own egoism, with our own contraction amid the larger flow of life. Yoga can also bring about profound and rapid healing. It did for me.
I don't plan to ever teach Yoga or Pilates again only Blog or write about it on my website and online magazine Namaste Valley. I will continue to practice Yoga on and off the mat, and host Karma yoga in the Park on the roof top at Alhambra or my back yard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMC1_RH_b3k
No comments:
Post a Comment