This is good sound wisdom for anyone, not just for the yogi. As a yoga teacher I remind my students over and over to leave the ego at the door. As I visit different studios I am beginning to realize how difficult this can be for me. I know my limitations better than anyone, yet why do I often insist on pushing beyond the scope of my ROM? Because I am a Yoga Teacher?!
I think I need to not tell them I am a yoga teacher when I first go into a class. I try my best to go into each class an empty vessel, as a beginner. Maybe that is my first mistake as my mind and my ego often go into overdrive. When we are impatient, when we don’t listen to the needs of the body, we risk injury. At
my studio, my fluffy self as well as my struggle to bind and do certain
acrobatic type of asanas has been a great comfort to my students. A
lot of the more advanced poses we actually practice together and many
of my students are surpassing me in their ability to take a pose further
and I am thrilled! In India there is a cast system, I believe every culture lives by a cast system; India is just a little more honest about it. Iyengar talks about their being a cast system even in the levels of our practice. An interesting concept and one I have been contemplating. I know that a beginner is not necessarily someone who is new to yoga. You
may have a student that has been practicing the asanas for years and
still would be called a beginner, and then you may have someone fairly
new knew to your class that you could describe as being a more advanced
practitioner.A beginner is one who must work hard, and refuses to honor the limits of their body.An advanced practitioner is one who recognizes and honors the limits of their body.According to Iyengar the Sudra or lowest cast must work hard and sweat in order to learn. Then you have the teacher who strives to earn a living from teaching yoga, this is of the vaisya cast. The next level is one of competition, possibly even teaching from a place of pride and superiority this is the ksatriya cast. The
final cast is one who looks deep into the richness and vastness of yoga
as a spiritual practice, this is the cast of the Brahmin.So
in order for me to no longer be a beginner and to move into the cast of
Brahmin it is even more important that as I attend classes at other
studios that I am able to go to the source of why it is that I feel I
need to prove something in my practice. I am also noticing that I am not getting adjustments, so maybe this is another area I need to look at. Am I not approachable? I
try to make an effort to adjust teachers when they come to my class, as
I know how much I enjoy the hands on guiding that allows me to go just a
bit deeper. I am at appoint in my practice that I am confident in my ability as a teacher, just not so much in my ability as a student. What is that about?I
am really amazed at some of the stuff that has come up thru my “See you
on the mat ” and like I said before this was not something I signed up
for. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa you gotta love the practice, and practice it for the sake of the practice!
See you, on the mat! |
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Categoriesasanabalance breath chakra injury karma, meditation patience perception practice touch yoga yoga alliance yoga, accountability |
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