“Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live.”
Audioslave
Over the years, I have often tried to find someone to take responsibility for my life: rock idols, partners, personal trainers, yoga teachers, an endless list. I don’t think I’m the only one; it’s a human thing. We all, at some point, look for this kind of reassurance; often asking that a figure that we consider of some authority show us the way. Continue reading
“I quit!”, he said as he stormed out of the Yoga Shala. – Well, not quite. But the other day I did have another one of “those” bad Ashtanga days.
So, I am 57 in a couple of days and, as a result of various accidents one of my legs is shorter, I have a replacement hip and several other bits of metal in my leg. So, yes, of course, I find Ashtanga really hard, right? Right?
Err, no, actually. My problems are just problems, like everybody else’s problems. And my sore legs are not deserving of any more pity or attention than anyone else’s sore legs.
And you know what, EVERYBODY has bad Ashtanga days.
So why is it SO hard sometimes? Continue reading
Posted in Yoga
Some of the advanced Yoga poses do require a level of physical strength to achieve and hold, like some of the arm balances for example; but, in general, a brute force approach in Yoga is bound to lead to frustration and quite possibly injury.
I have started practicing with the Ashtanga system around April this year, and it has taught me a lot. One of the big lessons is patience – I am normally very impatient, I want everything NOW, possibly quicker! But Ashtanga is teaching me (and reminding me every single day) that you can’t have everything now. It is also teaching me that Pattabhi Jois was onto something with his famous mantra of “practice, and all is coming”, the truth of which obviously depends on your definition of “all”. But if Yoga for you is more than Indian calisthenics then yeah, it is true indeed.
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Posted in Yoga
Who am I to judge?
I started practicing Yoga around 2008 and shortly after also started practicing Zen meditation and trying to align with the spirit of the five Buddhist precepts. A lot changed and shifted in my life because of these practices – one of these changes was me going from hardcore carnivore to vegetarian and eventually vegan. I remember being quite confused and disappointed to find out that neither my Yoga nor my meditation teachers were vegetarian.
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