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Volume 3 Issue 4 April, 2002 |
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Practice Guide
Asana Tips When you keep the balance by strength, it is physical action; when you keep the balance by the intelligence of the body, it is relaxation in action. - B.K.S. Iyengar
With some work the back of the legs can have some connection to the spinal muscles. If this is not happening, the standing postures will not come. - Geeta Iyengar Womens Intensive |
"What is the single most wonderful thing about your trip to India?” It’s funny. Now, four months after my return, Ruth is the first to ask a question that requires so succinct an answer. I was speechless. The events in India were so integrated that it was difficult to unwrap one event alone as the most significant. They all fed each other. The most significant event, then, had to be this integration of events and the way that it seemed to expand time. I was, as I tend to be, busy most days. It was not a restful time. However, the time spent was re-vitalizing and rich. The environment, the people, the expectations I had of myself, were all new to me. I was living as a child, learning the rules and how to cope as I went along. Because my past could not be as effective as it commonly is in determining responses, I was more in the present. The future is more nebulous when the past does not give guidance. In India I was impressed with the wealth of texture in each moment. There were Hindi icons. Each business had an altar just inside the door. There were pujas (a ritual venerating the deity) performed daily, offerings were made to the God or Goddess in order to receive blessings. There were religious celebrations often. Parades in the street, fireworks, flowers adorning doors, incense glowing, rangooli (chalk designs inviting the deity’s blessings into the home) in the doorways, blessings everywhere. The first couple of weeks I was acutely aware of how separate I was in this land. I looked different. I could not communicate easily with everyone that I met. I was learning more subtleties of good manners, India style. With each week I felt more comfortable with my environment. As I broadened my community and visited different areas of the city I became more confident in my ability to walk through the social constructs without offending others (too much). I relied quite a bit on my experiences at the Institute, where I spent most of my time. It was practically a job. Many days I was at the Institute for six hours throughout the day, some days over eight. My mornings began at 7 am to observe Prashant’s class after which I stayed for my practice. The afternoons were usually for me (great nap time), or for observing medical class. My class with Geeta was in the evenings four out of six days a week. At the Institute I learned that what I considered to be common courtesy was not necessarily “common.” The props I gathered from the prop closet could disappear at any time if I did not ally with another student (not always a westerner, by the way). One of us would guard our props, the other went in search of additional props when necessary. We took off our shoes before entering the Institute. I took off my shoes before entering anyone’s apartment or home. I took off my shoes when entering some businesses. All shoes were removed before entering a temple. Some museums required that we remove shoes for entrance, some did not. I learned to ask. India is a very crowded place. I learned to respect people’s privacy even if I was unable to give space. Staring at the person on the mat next to me at the Institute was not necessarily the most polite thing I could do. Still, emails were not considered sacred and it was not uncommon to have someone noticing a website I had opened or a letter I was reading at the internet café. It was like doing laundry at the Laundromat, dirty laundry was visible to any one interested. I had to listen closely to understand. At times it was the Indian accent that caused me confusion. At times the unusual syntax of British-Indian English would render me helpless. At times I believed that the person talking was just making up words, and with Prashant it was true (so fun). My only chance of understanding what was being said was to stay present—not let my mind wander, thinking I could pick up the conversation in a moment. This had long been my practice with close friends and family. Now I find myself listening more closely to the people who talk to me. My mind wanders less. And that’s the secret. We must attend to each moment as though it is new. We must attend to each person with whom we interact as though we don’t know them, but dearly want to. This attention expands time
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VRKSASANA
Vrksasana
If you look after the root of the tree, the fragrance and flowering will come by itself. If you look after the body, the fragrance of mind and spirit will come of itself. - B.K.S. Iyengar
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Vrksasana is tree pose. This balancing posture elegantly illustrates the integration of actions in a yoga posture. Without being grounded one cannot achieve balance and lightness in a pose. In Vrksasana without integration of the opposing forces of gravity and lift the tree falls. (If my Vrksasana falls in the privacy of my own practice do I make a sound?) Vrksasana prepares us kinesiologically for all standing postures. With it we learn about the integration of front and back legs in wide angle standing poses. The lifted bent leg is relative to the front leg in a wide stance standing pose, the standing leg equates to the back. If we can be as firm in the wide stance postures with the back leg as we are on the standing leg in Vrksasana the posture becomes quite serene.
Release the pose by following the directions in reverse order.
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