Yoga should be shared and practice for the sake of sharing and practicing. Really enjoyed my time tonight. The
space is very upscale and posh, yet the teachers are very genuine, fine
teachers. Once again I reconnected with a teacher from my lineage. It
is so familiar yet different. That to me shows the growth of a yoga
practitioner and educator. Not to mention having such an amazing
teacher who instilled the ideal to take what works for us and if it is
then authentic to us teach it, if not then don’t. So many teachers
and students get hung up on one teaching, as tho it were the only way.
I guess this could be a lack of confidence in the wisdom of the body,
or maybe it stems from the initial teacher. I am not sure, I just feel
blessed that it was instilled in me. If you think about it, many of
these popular “Gurus” of the western world, they too took what their
teacher or teachers gave them and are now sharing what worked for them.
They are not teaching what does not work for them, right? And how do
you suppose they found what worked for them? If they were not teaching
an eclectic blend of many teachers, but teaching just from one teacher
they would not be able to say they are the founder and creator of
…………..yoga. They are teaching a style that they have named and some
even have copyrighted “their work” and are now passing it on to you.
Yet in order to call it by THE NAME or say your are inspired you cannot
veer from it, you must teach it with their language, their sequences
etc. I have never been drawn to that style of yoga or at least not for
very long. Bikram Yoga was my first intro to yoga. I loved it! None
of that spiritual stuff, it was just a physical practice. I was very
much stuck in my box of salvation. I remember one of the instructors
would on occasion veer away from the 24 poses and share with us another
asana. Appalling! Some even told the owner and guess what?! He was
fired! Thank goodness, we all thought, the nerve of him to veer from
the correct sequence of things. LOL I know say good for him! He was
growing as a teacher and practitioner without fear of not being included
in the folds of the yoga Nazi! I have contact with another instructor
who trained under a similar style, but instead of one there are several
scripted sequences. He has moved away from the Dharma of that discipline
and now is referred to as the Rogue Yogi! And is doing yoga all over
the metro and I think will do quite well! This type of yoga programming
does not lend itself well to the concept of learn and grow and move
beyond. I have heard it called corporate yoga, or Nazi yoga. Yoga is about freedom, freedom to
explore. We hear people say that yoga is not prejudice to any
particular doctrine or belief system. This is also true about body size
and type. Yet how many of us can safely do another’s practice. What
is true for you today may not be true for you tomorrow, this is also the
truth in your asana practice. Yet you must give yourself permission to
explore and study with other teachers and other styles in an effort to
find your style. When I work with aspiring yoga
educators, I am always encouraging them to listen to the wisdom of the
body, my goal is not to see them on the cover of Yoga Journal magazine.
My goal is to give options and tools for self healing. If you listen
the body will tell you if this is good for it or not. Classes that
strive to push you into a pose in a way that your body is not made to
go today or maybe ever only causes a rise in body shame and injury. How
many times have you heard someone say, O I cannot do yoga, I could
never do some of those poses. If we give then permission to explore the
asanas, and teach the function rather than the form, we open the door
to a group of wonderful yogi’s that have missed out on the wonders of
the practice because of limiting believes imposed by teachers stuck on
alignment. Most of the teachers from my lineage of
teachers get this. I believe this is a gift we were given from an
egoless teacher. She has been so gracious to me, encouraging me to not
only begin teaching but to create my own teacher training program, one
that evolved from hers and which I tweaked and explored and I now share
it. I am saddened by any yoga teacher that feels the need to copyright
anything yoga, be it verb age, order of asanas or any universal wisdom
that was passed down thru their lineage of teachers. I fear that we
will see even more of this if the government gets involved and decides
to regulate yoga. What is for the most part an open system of
communication will be a secret and only to be learned if you attend this
workshop or class. This is not the spirit of yoga! Yoga should be shared and practice for the sake of sharing and practicing. This is truly the Zen of Yoga |
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Categoriesasanabalance breath chakra injury karma, meditation patience perception practice touch yoga yoga alliance yoga, accountability |
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