{"id":199,"date":"2014-11-01T01:16:59","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T08:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/10.0.1.8\/crow\/?p=199"},"modified":"2018-09-17T09:47:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T16:47:04","slug":"cracking-the-code-pose-puzzle-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaphysics.com\/yp\/2014\/11\/cracking-the-code-pose-puzzle-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Cracking the Code: Pose Puzzle 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

How I Really Learned To Practice Yoga<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Originally posted by Yoga Works<\/a> on April 29, 2014<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not exactly a poetry buff (shocking I know) but I do have a favorite poem that moves me every time I read it called \u201cAutobiography in FiveShort Chapters\u201d by Portia Nelson. \u00a0It was introduced to me by my teacher James Brown during my 200 Hour Training, and it was then that I had one of the biggest \u2018AH-HA\u2018 moment I\u2019d had to date. \u00a0I now read it in every teacher training I lead during the philosophy discussions as an illustration of what \u201cpractice\u201d really means.<\/p>\n

\"portia-nelson-poem2\"<\/p>\n

In our culture, the practice of yoga can sometimes leave students missing the \u201caim\u201d of their practice.<\/p>\n

Often I hear instructors tell their students \u201cit\u2019s not about the poses,\u201d which falls short of capturing what the practice really IS about and why we do these poses.\u00a0 This poem clears the fog and explains what we really should be doing when we step on our mats. <\/span>One of the simplest ways I can explain this is a pattern that happens in class while I\u2019m teaching. \u00a0I encourage students to really pay attention to exactly what is happening in their bodies, in that moment, and to make wise choices, work hard, and with proper alignment and without injurious pain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I\u2019m moving students through poses, I almost never call the poses by their Sanskrit or English names, hoping they\u2019ll come into them more present-minded.\u00a0 I encourage students to use props, and to move slowly and methodically.\u00a0 I\u2019m always building to a very specific pose and I\u2019m very meticulous about what needs to be learned in order to safely approach the pose we\u2019re working towards.<\/span> Some of my students move closely along with my instructions. \u00a0Yesterday these students may have been in triangle pose with their hand flat on the floor, but today they know that they might need a block to achieve that same proper alignment. They understand that staying present in what they need in that moment, that day, is more important than putting their hand on the floor simply out of repetition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing because often times the students who are making present-moment decisions achieve poses they never thought possible.\u00a0 They walk down a different street every time they come onto their mats, looking at the poses with fresh eyes as a place to learn, change, grow and put in the effort.<\/span> Then there\u2019s the converse, (and trust me, I was this student myself which is why the poem speaks to me so loudly) who don\u2019t modify, and plop into the poses the same way they\u2019ve done for years.\u00a0 They forgo alignment or mistakingly think, \u201cI\u2019ve got this pose, I\u2019ve been doing Triangle Pose for years,\u201d and then make an icky face at the mere suggestion of props.\u00a0 The funny thing is, often times this group also gets stuck at the peak pose of class.\u00a0 The question always comes, \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to do xyz pose for years and I can\u2019t get there, why do I keep falling down the same way?\u201d \u00a0The reason is likely that their repetitious patterns have led them right back to the same place they\u2019ve been stuck for years. For these students my reply is always the same.\u00a0 You\u2019re stuck because, perhaps, you keep approaching the poses the same way time and time again.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if you\u2019re beating your head against a plaster wall hoping the next time your head hits the surface it will have turned to soft foam.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next time you come to class, try to pretend you\u2019ve never done yoga before, come into each pose with the hope of exploring them in the moment as if they\u2019re brand new.\u00a0 Modify and use props you\u2019ve never used, work hard in places you avoid, and soften in places where you hold yourself so rigid. It\u2019s truly remarkable when you make that shift, I know how powerful it was for me when I heard this poem for the first time and really got it.\u00a0 Poses that I used to think were easy became incredibly challenging, but I knew the hard work I was putting into it and the change in my approach would pay off.\u00a0 This new approach helped me improve and achieve other postures that I\u2019d been stuck in for years and that was my \u2018AH-HA\u2019 moment in action.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was no longer doing that thing<\/i> we\u2019ve all fallen victim to \u2013 repeating behaviors or actions over and over, getting the same result, and somehow being surprised that we\u2019ve ended up in the same place again. The practice of yoga is about clearing away the clutter of your mind so that the present is all you can see.\u00a0 It\u2019s about letting go of the thoughts of the past, or the future, and being in our bodies and minds in the present moment \u2013 which is the only moment we truly have.\u00a0 It\u2019s only in that present moment that we can choose to walk down the correct path and avoid the pitfalls that we repetitiously end up in. \u00a0In that moment, we are making choices based on what\u2019s in front of us rather than what\u2019s happened in the past or what we anticipate will happen in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

This work isn\u2019t always easy. \u00a0It can be painful and down-right hard.\u00a0 It can be hard to \u201clet go\u201d and agree to back off in a pose, or to accept a block when you think you\u2019ve been nailing it without one for years.\u00a0 I can say from experience, that when you choose to do that and listen to what you need in that present moment, you take a different path and the unachievable becomes possible. The poses in yoga are just the first step. \u00a0They\u2019ll often show you where you repetitiously fall victim to patterns off the mat as well.\u00a0 That\u2019s the real beauty of the physical practice of yoga, it\u2019s a mirror for our behaviors in our daily life. \u00a0My advice is this; Do the practice, put in the effort, do what\u2019s hard, and pay attention.\u00a0 When you do, what you see and realize, will change your life.\u00a0 You may find yourself walking down streets without holes in them a lot more often.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \n YES! I WANT TO LEARN.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n