I've got a great workshop coming up in August - well, actually two: one at Wanderlust Live that is all about Rocking the Bhakti; the other is at Moksha Yoga on the Square in Georgetown - it's the one I'm thinking about.
I call it Yin-yasa... kinda a mumble of words, but intended to speak to the fact that there is a more 'passive' or 'receptive' energetic, even in the most vigorous Vinyasa practice. As it says in the sutras - "stirham sukham asanam - the posture, or seat abides in steadiness and ease". In the Eastern philosophies, there is a lot that speaks to this balance, the union of oppositions and complements, not detriments. Yin and yang; the two making the whole.
I bring it up because I'm meeting new students and other yogis all the time now. What a pleasure and how interesting to interact with folks and to see what lineages or styles they find they resonate with. As a teacher of primarily vinyasa, I know who to expect in class and what to expect from the 'typical student'. We've all heard about the 'type-A' personality; the go-getter, the driven person, the achiever. Sure, I resonate with that, and see that. And, this is the perfect space to look deeply into how we are, on the mat, and then in our lives.
I started with a focus on the softness, the "Yin", the 'sukha' or ease. It's imperative, especially in this day and age! Our times and lives are already hyped up and type-A enough! Everything is an adrenaline rush, all the thrills have to be thrillier, the highs most highest and with triple Xs in the "EXXXTREME". it's enough to just blow your mind anyway - then we take that week and try to 'work it out' while working in, and mostly by being just as driven, just as vigorous.
There's a basic premise - and I do great reductionism here, so bear with me - in Ayurveda. We seek what we innately are - so for folks who have hot and fiery dispositions, we like hot and drying foods and vigorous and hot asana... and so we just keep feeding the fire, or sharpening the sharpest knife. It feels satisfying in the moment, it reinforces some of our most basis comforts, but it may well be leading us further out of balance.
Think of it this way - if you are lonely and depressed, get out and interact with people. Don't feel needed, go volunteer and give service. Don't feel lovable, go out and give unconditional love. If we seek the opposite of our experience, we can change it; if we simply sit in it, it only abides and deepens and becomes like a rut, a samskara.
So, in the past few years, i've heard it from all the wisest teachers and in the most 'flow-based' places; an emphasis on slowing down, on doing more restorative and "Yin" versions of yoga (passive, still, long-held poses that work on the more deep connective tissue layers), and even Yoga Nidra (deep guided relaxation)) is greatly stressed. And I pun - we have enough stressors, we don't need the onslaught of a daily brahmanic, vigorous asana practice as well!
Where can you place more stillness, more intentional motionless breath, more concentration or mediation into your practices?? If doing a Deep Relaxation or Restorative class gives you nightmares, then do it, Yogi!! That's where your edge is, so seek that place of deep investigation and self-care!
Give thanks and praise!
I call it Yin-yasa... kinda a mumble of words, but intended to speak to the fact that there is a more 'passive' or 'receptive' energetic, even in the most vigorous Vinyasa practice. As it says in the sutras - "stirham sukham asanam - the posture, or seat abides in steadiness and ease". In the Eastern philosophies, there is a lot that speaks to this balance, the union of oppositions and complements, not detriments. Yin and yang; the two making the whole.
I bring it up because I'm meeting new students and other yogis all the time now. What a pleasure and how interesting to interact with folks and to see what lineages or styles they find they resonate with. As a teacher of primarily vinyasa, I know who to expect in class and what to expect from the 'typical student'. We've all heard about the 'type-A' personality; the go-getter, the driven person, the achiever. Sure, I resonate with that, and see that. And, this is the perfect space to look deeply into how we are, on the mat, and then in our lives.
I started with a focus on the softness, the "Yin", the 'sukha' or ease. It's imperative, especially in this day and age! Our times and lives are already hyped up and type-A enough! Everything is an adrenaline rush, all the thrills have to be thrillier, the highs most highest and with triple Xs in the "EXXXTREME". it's enough to just blow your mind anyway - then we take that week and try to 'work it out' while working in, and mostly by being just as driven, just as vigorous.
There's a basic premise - and I do great reductionism here, so bear with me - in Ayurveda. We seek what we innately are - so for folks who have hot and fiery dispositions, we like hot and drying foods and vigorous and hot asana... and so we just keep feeding the fire, or sharpening the sharpest knife. It feels satisfying in the moment, it reinforces some of our most basis comforts, but it may well be leading us further out of balance.
Think of it this way - if you are lonely and depressed, get out and interact with people. Don't feel needed, go volunteer and give service. Don't feel lovable, go out and give unconditional love. If we seek the opposite of our experience, we can change it; if we simply sit in it, it only abides and deepens and becomes like a rut, a samskara.
So, in the past few years, i've heard it from all the wisest teachers and in the most 'flow-based' places; an emphasis on slowing down, on doing more restorative and "Yin" versions of yoga (passive, still, long-held poses that work on the more deep connective tissue layers), and even Yoga Nidra (deep guided relaxation)) is greatly stressed. And I pun - we have enough stressors, we don't need the onslaught of a daily brahmanic, vigorous asana practice as well!
Where can you place more stillness, more intentional motionless breath, more concentration or mediation into your practices?? If doing a Deep Relaxation or Restorative class gives you nightmares, then do it, Yogi!! That's where your edge is, so seek that place of deep investigation and self-care!
Give thanks and praise!
