Practice With Pain, Learn from Limits

Dear Yogis. 

I often think about adjustments these days. I miss some of them and I wonder if the fashion for assisting yoga students is passed. Then I think of some of the memorable ways teachers have adjusted me: David Swenson and Stewart Gilchrist have drawn screams and giggles from me! I cringed when John Scott put his hands on my belly. The first time a teacher lay his torso on my back using his whole body weight to fold me like a book, smelling of cigarette, I swore I would never ever do that ‘assist’. Brilliant fun and treasured memories have come out of assists with my dear friend and fellow Greek Retreat yoga teacher Lisa Lischak. I also think of Nancy Gilgoff who wasn’t happy with my restrictions in a seated forward fold and asked if I have trauma in my lower back – a childhood accident, perhaps. Yogis believe that the body is made up of physical imprints of experiences and traumas whether we remember/recognise them or not.

I’m dipping in and out of a book called ‘Bodymind: A synthesis of Eastern and Western ways to self awareness, health and personal growth by Ken Dychtwald. He says: ‘The yoga perspective recognises that each of us is made up of a great many forces feelings, limits, possibilities and passions. These aspects exist within my body and my mind and collectively define the boundaries that I usually identify as “me”. Therefore, at any point in time, there is an infinity of limits and edges that await my exploration and growth. Physically, these limits are experienced as muscle tension, restricted movement and pain. Psychologically, limits are experienced as dogma, ignorance, and fear. All limits have the potential to continually change and restructure themselves’.

On experiencing a limitation when trying to touch his toes, he says: ‘This point, this “edge”, is a highly important place, for within the yoga cosmology, this edge is considered to be my creative teacher from whom I can learn about myself… If I never explore my limits, my bodymind will gradually tighten and become unconscious. If I regularly explore my limits in a caring and adventuresome fashion, I will expand and grow. But if I try to push myself past where I am honestly able to go, I will no longer be practicing “yoga” but instead practicing “greed”, and I will probably be met with pain and disease’.

It’s just so logical!.

Zoom Classes 

Tomorrow was originally supposed to be the end of our magical Kapsali yoga retreat! Arhhhhh! This will be the first year since 2004 that I haven’t visited Kythera. All I can say is fingers crossed for next year and I hope you’ll come with me. In the meantime, we have yoga online and, soon, I hope, a yoga studio in my back garden for private classes – to begin with! Anyway, join me online. You can book here and, don’t forget, there’s an Ashtanga class today at 4.30. Your last chance to get a vigorous class in before the weekend.

Yoga in the news 

The Independent has: What are shakti mats and why are the yoga Instagram elite talking about them? ‘The mats consist of roughly 6,000 spikes and is described as a “bed of nails”. Users must push through a certain amount of discomfort by lying on the mat with bare skin exposed, or wearing a very thin layer of clothing. This is said to unlock the benefits of acupressure – an ancient Indian practice said to 'heal and detoxify the body’.’

HR News has: Eye yoga expert shows five easy exercises to improve eye strain while working from home. ‘Yoga teacher Phoebe Greenacre is hosting the first-ever eye yoga class on Instagram live on Thursday 15th October at 12:30 pm. The initiative, commissioned by Lenstore, wants to shine a light on some eye issues that might occur when spending a long time staring at screens, as well as provide those working from home with a few easy eye yoga movements that might help to fight eye fatigue’.

We are Social Media has: IKEA Recreates Yoga Poses To Promote Its Own Products. This campaign for IKEA Australia…is a 7-minute long video ‘teaching us the most common yoga poses, while openly associated each pose with an IKEA product’. It’s hilarious and ridiculous. You can watch it in tis link.  I doubt you’ll rush out to buy any of the ‘pose products’.

Have a great weekend. The rainy season is coming next week!