Several poses in the 26 + 2 series dependably frustrate beginners and sometimes long-time practitioners. One is supta vajrasana, or fixed firm pose, or that one where you sit with your feet apart and place your butt on the floor. I always instruct that if your butt is not on the floor, do not go back. Often, nobody hears. Pretty much everyone tries to hurl their head back even when I say, “If your butt isn’t touching all the way on the floor, please don’t go back. Stay upright.”
The other day I asked someone to sit back up and he said (quietly, frustratedly), “But then I’m not getting the benefits of the full stretch!”
But one point of the practice might be simply to meet that spot where you feel like you want to go further, and you don’t, because your alignment becomes ugly. What happens then? How do you make the next incremental change? Do you push through it, do you breathe through it, do you work harder in the other postures, do you just wait? It doesn’t really matter but the goal is to recognise that you have met this point of resistance, and interrogate it. Do you really need the “benefits of the full stretch”? Maybe you need the benefit of stillness while sitting with the idea that you will, perhaps, never get the benefits of that particular full stretch, simply because of your particular anatomy. Or maybe it’s useful to just sit with the idea that for today, you aren’t going any further.
It’s not a work out, as a teacher of mine mentioned the other day, it’s a work in. What’s happening in that dialogue between your head and your body?
It’s always the same, you’re always different
Another day recently, a relatively new regular seemed to have a very different practice from her previous ones. She just seemed to move more easily in her body.
Afterwards she asked me, somewhat accusingly, “What did you change? You did something different today!”
I had to say no, nothing changed. That’s the beauty of a set sequence like Bikram or Ashtanga.
I said, “What did you change?”
“Oooh, well… I had a great sleep last night!”
We should think more about…
The body, how it is telling us the truth in differing measures every second of every day. There are millions of truths running up and down the lengths of us. Pay attention to new information. Perhaps it’s time to end an old dynamic or begin something new. Stop suppressing the calls to action; the daily fatigue, the overwhelming boredom, the discomfort — it’s telling you something. There’s a root somewhere. —Yrsa Daley-Ward via Things Worth Knowing with Farrah Storr
Slashies
I’ve been doing an excellent freelance writing/business course with Lindy Alexander, a freelancer whose work supporting other freelance writers I have followed almost right from when she started, I think. During one of the masterclass sessions she has run, the idea of being a “slashie” popped up. When you’re this, but you’re also that. You’re a plumber say, but you also paint. You’re a dentist, but you’re also a guitarist. I can really only say I know of one person in my professional network who pushes out on LinkedIn that he’s an aviation comms specialist, but also posts clips of himself wearing another hat: country and western singer. So as a yoga teacher/editor/writer (maybe adding counsellor to the list down the track) I enjoyed this Atlantic piece on how hyper-specialisation doesn’t necessarily lead to the best outcomes, including your own happiness. So many quotable snippets, but I did like: “An apparent confusion if lived with long enough may become orderly.” (The similarities in my combination, I’ve come to realise, lie in the story zone. Stories are powerful [writing]; the body tells a story, which you can change by changing your mind/body [yoga]; telling your story helps change your own narrative [counselling].)
Aldo
My daughter has been fostering Aldo, a pitbull/Doberman, for a few weeks. Would you look at those paws? It goes without saying that it’s quite different to fostering a baby, but the process of handing back is reminding me of Sarah Sentilles’ beautiful book Stranger Care.
Chilly air, stunning views
I took a short trip to Batur last week. Would you look at those spring-fed hot tub views? I got up at 5:45am to sit in the tub and watch the sun rise. It was only when I got to the tub I realised they empty it out at night.
A few things I’ve read
Lessons in Chemistry. Joyous, fun, clever.
Candy House. I liked Jennifer Egan’s sort-of follow up to A Visit From the Goon Squad a lot.
Our Missing Hearts. A beautiful, very believable dystopian tale with a focus on race and motherhood.
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. George Saunders examines a selection of Russian short stories and explains why they work so well. Generously spirited, funny, and smart.
How to Slow Down Properly. It’s a short list.