imagine lifting the lid from a jar and finding it filled not with darkness but with light
—Mary Oliver
Parśva Bakāsana from Śīrsāsana II
Who are you?
“Do you guess I have some intricate purpose? Well I have… for the April rain has, and the mica on the side of a rock has.” Mary Oliver
Tittibāsana - firefly pose
“In a bee colony, when a bee dies another bee will have to transform to fill the hole of that bee’s job. “Am I who I am because the universe has a gap or void in this position?... is there a such thing as free will? Why do I make my decisions? If you act like you have free will, it makes you feel separate... it can be against society.... What are you willing to think about or not? [this is the teacher’s job (here, Manouso) to provoke you into questioning yourself and your conditioning—beliefs and behaviors] ... What am I supposed to be doing?” —Mr. Manouso Manos, excerpts from the philosophy talk March 4, 2018, Abode of Iyengar Yoga, Intensive
Tolerating the changing conditions
From teaching this weekend’s deep study: “The temporary appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance over time, are like the coming and going of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” Bhagavad Gita, 2:14.
Yoga shines a bright mirror on who we are. We see more, feel more— awakening the spaces within that were numb, hidden, dark. There is more sensation—more sensitivity, more awareness as blindness fades. As long as we hide from the truth of our present condition we only lurk in the shadows. Tolerate what’s happening now. Breathe through the moments. Observe how it keeps changing. Seeing everything means seeing our interconnection —losing separateness leads to freedom from fear.
Illumination
“When the exalted intelligence is ablaze, consciousness is illumined; it becomes free and tinged with the divine.”
Yogācārya B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, commentary on sūtra IV.26, 1993.
Kukkutāsana
Prenatal Yoga
“All things consist of carrying to term and then giving birth.” Rainer Maria Rilke
Prenatal Yoga Classes on Thursdays 7:15-8:30pm at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Grand Rapids with Jennifer Beaumont, Intermediate Jr. 3 Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, starting April 5. Register in advance www.iycgr.com
Photo by Matthew Provoast Photography
Gratitude
If the teacher works to show the student something—
it is a gift —
& afterward it is the job of the student to practice and realize and to expand that understanding further.
The teaching is not the end of the truth or the learning. It is not finished. It is the opening into a new horizon. “I have shown you all these things, Now realize them for yourself.” Yogācārya B.K.S. Iyengar, August 2014.
My teacher, Manouso Manos, taught me Vrśchikāsana at the March Intensive before one of the āsana classes. There’s been so much learning, practicing, trying to realize the full depth of what he taught.
Truth is a moving target
“Perfection eludes me but this has not reduced my efforts. The more I work, the more insignificant my efforts appear to be.” Yogācārya B.K.S. Iyengar, Art of Yoga, 1985. “What do you expect to get from your practice? Why did you come to yoga and why do you stay with Yoga?... they are usually not the same answer. [Truth moves depending on our perspective. In your practice, ask] ‘What is it I am supposed to be doing?’.” Mr. Manouso Manos, Intensive (philosophy talk, March 7, 2018)
Working with our place
“To know the spirit of a place is to realize that you are part of a part and the whole is made of parts, each of which is whole. You start with the part you are whole in.” —Gary Snyder, “The Place, the Regions, and the Commons”
Last week teaching another free Introduction to Iyengar Yoga at the Herkimer Apartments community room. Herkimer Apartments are adjacent to the Iyengar Yoga Center of Grand Rapids and also owned and managed by the housing non-profit organization, Dwelling Place. “Dwelling Place improves the lives of people by creating quality affordable housing, providing essential support services, and serving as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.” IYCGR rents space from Dwelling Place. While we have offered a sliding scale community gift class for over a year not one resident has attended. So after speaking to the community resident services coordinator, Regina, it was decided to bring class to the Herkimer and meet the community in their space. We are getting creative out of necessity using a rack of chairs to support a student with an amputation (below the knee) for the standing poses. The boots stayed on this student for the class for stability. He felt a lot of relief getting his hips moving. Another student wore socks due to a foot infection. The point of this class is to reach out to the neighbors where they feel safe and introduce some yogasana. My children and the resident’s children were sometimes participating and sometimes playing.
