Living the Wisdom of Yoga in Modern Times

Stop Playing the Victim Card and Get On Your Mat

Stop Playing These Cards. These Are Just Excuses. You Are Just Not Willing To Do What It Takes To Get Your Ass To a Yoga Class. Admit It & Let's Move On.

The Money Argument-Every single yoga studio in Charlotte has Karma/discounted yoga classes. I am sure it is the same for most yoga communities around the world. All these classes should be packed with yogi's thankful for a financial break but that is not the case.  They are often the least attended. Y2 Yoga even has a program where you can clean before and after class and get free yoga. You would think that I would have a volunteer for every class I teach but for the whole month of August, I have only had one and I teach 5 classes a week.

I know of yoga studio owners who have actually given scholarships for yoga & have put people on staff so they could practice and do teacher training for free or at discounted rates. If a person is truly poor, which most people in America have no clue what that really looks like, the studios will work with them. Usually the people who complain about price think it is more important to have Starbucks, cable TV, fancy shoes, tickets to the movies, and lobster dinners then it is to do yoga. 

I will never forget when a couple of my private students said they could not afford to continue with me but then proceeded to talk about how they were going to  South Park Mall, the swankiest mall in Charlotte, after class to shop for make up. Priorities. 

The Diversity Argument- No one sets out to have a studio without diversity. They open the doors and teach to whomever shows up. If it happens to be all White women are they supposed to turn them away because it makes the studio look non diverse? If everyone wears  Lululemon and drives a BMW are they supposed to tell them to go home? If everyone wears size zero and practices half naked is the studio supposed to feed them doughnuts and full fat milk?  No, you take their money and you pay the rent.

If the studio sees that teachers or students are creating a non inclusive environment, they can speak to it. They can go out in the community and speak to diverse audiences about yoga but in the end, they have no control over who shows up and you teach to who is in front of you.

The Argument For Yoga in Disenfranchised Areas-Again....rent...whose gonna pay it? Even though those who understand the benefits of  yoga see it as a necessity, most people see it as a luxury. Most yoga studio owners are bankrupt and up to their eyeballs in debt. They cannot afford to take the risk of opening a studio in an area where the population is not known for having disposable income. 

The Arugment For Normal Looking People in Ads- We all like pretty things. That is why we "oo" and "ahh" when we see flowers and gag when we see poop. That is why no matter how awesome an actor Forest Whitteker is, we wouldn't want him to play, heart throb, Christian Grey in the upcoming movie 50 Shades of Grey.  It has been scientifically proven that pretty looking things have a certain effect on us.  Advertiserers want to get the biggest bang for their buck so they go with what has the greatest effect.  

The problem is not that advertisers use pretty things to catch our eye. The problem is that we actually belieive the images are a representation of everyday life & take advertisments at face value. 

The Argument For Speciality Yoga Classes For Blacks-Anybody remember seperate but equal from the civil rights era?  I thoght MLK and all the people who got lynched, attacked by dogs, hung from trees and sprayed with water hoses fought so we could be together in one room and do stuff.

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Is Your Yoga Practice Putting You Further Down the Path of Suffering?

As a yoga teacher, I watch people wreck their bodies every day.  No matter how often I say, "its okay", "just breathe", "back off", "approach it this way", "focus on this", "let it go" & "take a break", people push and push and push until they break. The other 7 limbs are there to temper the actions that lead to our injuries & pain. With them, our yoga practice leads us to liberation & freedom from pain and suffering, Samadhi. Without them, we become entrenched even more fully onto the path of Dukha or suffering.

Injuries happen and no one can avoid suffering forever but we want to limit it. To do this in our yoga practice, we have to practice the 8 limbs. The most important of these for most  modern practitioners are the yamas and niyamas. 

When you find yourself pushing a pose or feeling pain in your practice, you should ask-

-Is This Harmful? Ahimsa/nonviolence

-Am I truly honoring my body and where it is today? -Satya/Truthfulness

-Is this pose really what I need or am I taking a pose that is right for someone else and trying to apply it to my body? Asteya-non stealing

-Am I guarding my energy so that my body and mind can be bright and free or am I blocking my energy and causing dullness and pain? Bramacharya/Abstinence

-Is this pose really essential for my freedom or practice at this moment? Aparigraha/Abstaining from greed

-Am I developing the impurities of ego-ism and attachment through this pose? Sauca/Cleanliness

-Am I accepting where my body is today? Santosha/Contentment

-Am I dedicated to the process or am I dedicated to the egos need to acquire this pose at all costs? Tapas/Austerity

-Is it possible that I can study this pose and my body and approach it differently? Svadyaya/Self Study

-Can I surrender and trust the process? Can I surrender to the state of my body today knowing that it is as it should be? Ishwara Pranidhana/ Surrender

 

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What Your Yoga Injuries Say About You

I took a wonderful class yesterday with Grace at Charlotte Yoga. She always speaks on the other 7 limbs of yoga, not just asana,  and I really appreciate her for that.  She spoke about how our injuries show us what aspects of yoga we are actually fighting against. I believe she got the info from Seane Corn. I am paraphrasing here through my own filter so if Grace or Seane reads this, correct me in the comments below!

When I thought about the injuries that I have had, the descriptions below really hit the nail on the head. All of them occurred when I was going through things in my life that match up with the energetics of that area.  If you are suffering from these injuries, take a moment to look at your own life and see if you recognize yourself below.

 

Injuries to the Neck and Shoulders-

Yoga shows us a path to live a happy and meaningful life. When we fight this and refuse to see the path and take the steps towards changing our lives, we find ourselves with injuries in the neck and shoulders. 

Injuries to Lower Back-

To learn yoga, we seek out a teacher, studio,  spiritual text or community of people who can point us in the right direction, help us to understand the teachings and help us to be safe in the process. We start to slowly surround ourselves with like minded people and build a community that supports us on our path.  When we feel that we are not being supported, we get injuries in our lower back.

Injuries to the Knees-

Yoga teaches us to be present and aware. It gives us the tools to overcome the ego and step out of the world of illusion. We stop pushing against what is and learn to move with the flow. As we continue to practice, we begin the process of seeing the world as it really is instead of as a reflection of our dirty cluttered mind. If we fight this, we end up with injuries to the knees.

 

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Ashtangi: Letting Go Of The Label

I recently made the decision to let go of the label, Ashtangi. I realized that by putting that label on myself that I felt the pressure to live up to this perfect representation of the physical practice. When I did not do all the poses perfectly, I felt that I had failed. I felt a tremendous since of guilt when I changed the sequence up a bit during my home practice and when I did not get to my mat as much as I wanted to that week. When students would ask me how many times a week did I practice Ashtanga, I would feel bad if I didn't say the traditional 5-6 days a week. For some reason people think I have been to Mysore and seem a bit disappointed when I tell them this is not the case.

The label also had others expecting perfection from me as well. I would push myself during public practice because I knew people were watching to see if I was nailing my poses & they would often comment afterwards about my practice.  I practice Second series in a city where many people do not.  People were looking to me to get an idea of what it was supposed to look like. Being a person that was given that series, also made people feel that my Primary must be perfect when that is absolutely not the case.

If someone who does not wear the label of Ashtangi does a difficult pose, they get hand slaps and praise. For me, it was, "that was cool but your legs should be straighter" . In order for me to get an "atta boy", I had to be doing Cirque Du Soliel type ish. People would ask me to do demonstrations of poses on cold muscles which I always declined.

Me Taken by Wanda Koch

As a practitioner of yoga, I am fully aware that others expectations and labels should not factor into my life, however, as a teacher, yoga is my business as well so it puts me in a place where people are looking for things from me.  Also, the strength of the word "Ashtangi" and my strong identification with it, made it an issue for me. By not using the label, my practice and mind has been lightened. Just like we use yoga as a tool for finding enlightenment, not using the label was a tool for me to stop associating with the negative feelings I was creating mentally through wearing it. This  is the paradox of labeling. It helps us to identify people, things, concepts and resources but it comes with a hefty dose of expectations as well.

I am an equal opportunity practitioner. For many years, I have been borrowing from all traditions and doing what works for me in the present moment. I teach about 5 different styles of  yoga which means that I also have to practice 5 styles as well. There are only 7 days in a week and I take one day off so you would see how being a traditional Ashtanga practitioner wouldn't work anyway.  I asked myself this question, If Charlotte opened up a traditional Ashtanga studio with a certified/authorized teacher right next door to my house, would I switch back to the 6 day a week Ashtanga practice I had 5 years ago? The answer was no. While Ashtanga is my first love and the practice that sings to my heart the most, I enjoy the other styles far to much to leave them by the wayside at this moment.  Yet another reason to stop wearing the label.

I am a practitioner of Ashtanga but not an Ashtangi. I let go of the weight that my mind has associated with it. I let go of the expectations others have put on me because I associated with it. I will keep the love and devotion I have for the lineage and the wisdom of the practice itself. I will continue to practice Ashtanga as much as I can and find joy, peace and health from its philosophies and principals.

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