Yoga is skill in action

Yogah karmasu kausalam

Yoga is skill in action, the capacity to ascertain what is right and appropriate in any situation. BG 2.50

Tonight, I was told by a student near and dear to me that her modification in a pose was “called out” and was made to change the alignment to suit the teachers demands. I would not have thought twice, but this person approached me and the scenario was not sitting well with this person. Turns out, me neither. When my students are affected negatively in a yoga class and they’re questioning how their bodies feel in a pose, I feel the need to advocate for their safety.

Any yoga teacher that calls students out and forces an alignment que when the student is protecting their body seriously needs to check in with themselves and their ego. First of all, as teachers, we need to be aware that our students may not want to be called out in a group and have some semblance how that may affect them, even trigger them. I’m far from perfect, but I do try very hard to teach with the Yamas and Niyamas always in the forefront of my mind. Ahimsa, non harming is the first Yama but also the first to come to my mind. Demeaning and/or criticizing a student?

No.

Just NO.

No yoga teacher knows your body and what you’re feeling better than you.

Period.

Know thyself! Don’t push past your breaking point on the whim of a teacher. Always listen to YOUR body. I constantly remind you guys that in class, please, if you never learn anything else, learn this. Tune in to you, become vigilantly aware of where you are, in body, breath and mind, moment to moment on your mat. That is the goal of yoga... if there were to even be one.

I’m not wishing to disparage this teacher. My wish is to keep students of yoga safe and free from physical injury as well as being berated in a class. This is not the essence of yoga. Yoga is a discipline. No doubt about it. But it’s also an intelligently articulated practice in awareness when properly executed. This is not to say don’t challenge yourself, but if it feels terrible? Is that a challenge? No, it’s lack of awareness and most times coming from an egoistic place not serving our practice.

There are no absolutes in life, much less in yoga Asana. Perhaps we come to yoga for a tighter butt or stronger core, but is this why we stay? We can always go to aerobics, spin or the gym. Why do we continue with our practice? Because at its root, yoga is a tool in a box of 8 others to aid us in Self Realization. Asana was designed to help our bodies sit in meditation, to find one pointed focus, and eventually bliss. Yoga is to yoke. To Align. To create an internal peace through awareness of body, breath and mind. Sure, we confront our minds in yoga, but should we confront our bodies? Or should we allow our bodies to integrate the practice and find grace, balance and dare I say, humility within the Asana? What is Asana? I always hear my mentor saying Asana means with Ease...

Sutra 2.46: sthira sukham asanam

The posture of the body during the practice of contemplation and at other times, as also the posture of the mind (or attitude to life) should be firm and pleasant.

Look, there are general guidelines we all learn as teachers to help a student “find alignment in a posture” but are they absolute? Is your pelvis the same size as your partner or friends? Are your joints the same? How about your lungs? Your heart? The answer is a resounding NO.

Try this. Stand up, bring your feet hip width apart. Align your big toes to be parallel. Notice what happens with your feet. Close your eyes, and FEEL the feet, inner and outer thighs, the low back and belly. Just notice. Now align your second toes to be parallel. Notice any differences. Finally, bring your feet together. Once again, notice the differences. Which one felt best? Which one felt grounded, rooted, stable and healthy? That’s the one you should use.

No matter what a teacher tells you.

No one knows your body better than you.

That was a quite simple practice suggestion, but it goes for any and all yoga.

Play with the alignment ques. See what feels right, what doesn’t. Notice your breath. Is it steadfast, smooth and deep? Or is it choppy, quick and anxious?

Iyengar said “The sadhaka (yoga student-seeker) has to analyze and investigate these (dubious) ideas and actions and their opposites; then he learns to balance his thoughts by repeated experimentation.”

I’m asking you to analyze and investigate everything teachers tell you to do. As yoga teachers, we give you suggestions. It’s your job and even your dharma to find your sweet spot working within these suggestions.

Be open to grace without expectations. Try new things, but with hyper awareness and always practicing Ahimsa, non injury. Feel where your body is at this present moment NOW and then allow the yoga to meet you there. Every single human body is different. Each of us have led a life that has caused usage of our joints, tendons, ligaments in different ways. We all have limitations and thresholds as well as goals! If we reach our goal, body be damned, are we practicing yoga at all?