Reclaiming yoga

So many GOOD conversations are always floating around Blue Door!  From art, to food, to hiking, to anatomy, to health, to asana, to pranayama, to Ayurveda, and more.  I believe that one of the best things of our practice is being a part of such a wonderful community.  But there is one thing that unites all of us:  the desire for good, traditional yoga.  What is traditional yoga?  Yoga that incorporates Ayurveda.  Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga.  It is one half of a system.  Yoga is the other half.  Yoga teaches us balance through the asana, pranayama, mantra.  Ayurveda teaches us balance through routines, nutrition, living seasonally.  

While I was in Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) at Yogaworks in Mill Valley, during our Ayurveda weekend, my teacher asked who knew about Ayurveda.  I didn’t raise my hand because I didn’t know anything about Ayurveda.  I had never heard that word at home even though I’m Indian.  As the weekend progressed, I realized I DID KNOW Ayurveda.  It is tightly wrapped into the culture and practices of an Indian household; it’s just not named.  

In chatting with a student yesterday, she shared something that made my heart happy.  She said that she joined the gym to expand her movement practice and was pleasantly surprised when she saw YOGA on the schedule.  She has been an avid yogi for decades and loves her Yoga for Stress Relief at Blue Door.  She had to forgo an asana-based practice due to wrist pain, but with the help of Western medicine, she is able to plank again.  With these new wrists she decided to take the YOGA class at the gym on Thursday evening.  Here’s what she said, and I’m paraphrasing because my brain cells die at a rapid pace 😊:  

“I know that Blue Door is special.  And the yoga you provide is special, but I had forgotten how spoiled I've become.  This teacher at the gym seemed like a newer teacher.  And in this 50-minute class I think she strung together every yoga pose she knew and called it a class.  Being in this class reminded me why I’m at Blue Door.”  

I smiled and nodded.  And then (because those who know me know I’m not going to stop at a smile and nod) said, there is a hole in the yoga teacher training paradigm.  There is no over-arching body that regulates yoga trainings.  Thus, a teacher who goes through a $99 online, self-paced training will get the same certification as a teacher who goes through a $4500, 8 month, intensive, hands-on training.  The differences between trainings are vast.  Also, the $99 training doesn’t consider different learning styles.  THIS is one of my biggest gripes.  How can we be expected to teach this deep, vast, wise, complex practice when we don’t give teachers all the tools and information?  

You’ve heard me say many times: yoga is not a movement practice, it is an energy management system.  The asana (the poses) are the very tip of the iceberg.  And in the West we have glorified them.  We have made them the star of the show.  We have spent a lot of time and energy making sure that beautiful bodies are making beautiful shapes.  When looking at these physical poses, can you assess the practitioners energetic state?  Can you assess the ease of their breath?  Can you assess the spaciousness of the mind?  Can you assess the connection to the Divine?  Can you assess whether the practitioner is amplifying or pacifying physical/energetic/mental imbalances?  

That would be one, big, fat NOPE.  Because the asana tells us very little.  When you’re in class, the teacher adjusts you NOT to make the asana LOOK better, but to make it FEEL better.  And this FEELING is all to help you breathe with more ease, feel more stable and supported, to allow the energy (prana) to flow.  Asana is the very tip of the iceberg of yoga.  And my sincere hope is that I am exposing you to what lies beneath the surface and making it more accessible.  

Xx Jesi 

PS a fancy, expensive yoga training still doesn’t mean I know my right from left, nor how to count, nor how long 3 breaths are 😊  

PPS I’ve been geeking out in my classes recently because I’m not teaching a YTT this year.  Thus, you’re getting anatomy, yoga sequencing, energetic zero, and whole bunch of other YTT info 😊