Congrats to Our Ashtanga Graduates

Sunday saw the graduation of the latest class of Quad Cities Ashtangis from our Intro to Ashtanga Yoga course. In six weeks we've learned approximately the first 40 minutes of the Primary Series. Speaking quantitatively, that's about half (the full Primary Series usually takes between 75 and 90 minutes to complete).

In truth, however, our newly minted Ashtangis are well over the halfway point, as we've thoroughly explored the repetitive elements, the fundamentals, of Ashtanga practice: how to breathe, how to link movement with breath, how to address difficulties, when/where/why/how to practice, jumping techniques, and much more. With these fundamentals in place, continuing to learn the next pose, and the next pose, and the next pose is not as daunting as it might once have been. We'd like to think that by the end of six weeks of regular practice, the paradox is readily apparent: however much of the sequence you are doing with full intention, it is a complete practice; and yet, it can also be added to. To paraphrase a favorite Upanishad: whether adding to or drawing from Fullness, Fullness remains, like carrying water to or from the river.

These Intro courses hold a special place for us, as this practice is so dear to us and we are so excited to introduce it to others and welcome them to the community, one jumpback at a time. As usual at the end of , it was a combination of blood, sweat, and tears as we said…"See you next week."

Usually, a graduation ends with a goodbye, but that is not the case—nor the intention—for this course. The idea of the

Intro course is not to master the curriculum over the course of six weeks, but to get your bearings within a remarkable system of practice. There isn't any end and, usually by the end of the six weeks students realize that they don't WANT there to be an end. Like a martial arts form, each week we learn a little more. In this way the practice expands "horizontally." But the real joy in the increased depth, the "vertical" growth. Our Intro students have been coming to one Mysore (guided self-practice) class each week throughout this course, in addition to practicing at home.

This is the ideal practice format, and at the end of the course it is already in place. Intro students continue to come to Mysore class and gradually learn the next posture, and the next posture, and the next…

Our next Intro course will begin January 2nd. This will be the last Intro to Ashtanga session until late spring (late April or early May), so if you've been thinking about it, now is the time. This session will meet on Saturdays, 10-11a instead of Sundays. We're hoping this gives some folks with full Sunday schedules a chance to come.

tapas Teacher Training

Heads up! (get it?)

tapas will be running our first yoga teacher training, beginning June 2010. This will be a Yoga Alliance-approved certification at the 200 hr level. We'll plumb the depths of the yoga tradition as only we can. Whether you come with an intention to teach or deepen a practice, you will not be disappointed. Much, much more to come…

Mysore Morning

A few recent morning practice pics…

Kino

Well, we've had a few weeks to reflect on a weekend with Kino MacGregor at Moksha in Chicago. We have studied a little with Kino before, but this time we did two Mysore classes, a led Primary, and four or five various workshops (first day = nine+ hours of yoga). Without a doubt, and without much surprise, we feel that the Mysore classes are where it's at. For ashtangis, who have an ongoing, six-days-a-week practice anyway, doing that same practice in a crowded, charged environment under a skilled eye is unparalleled fun. Since it's the same practice you always do, you'd think it wouldn't feel much different. Yet, it somehow ends up being a 'ho' 'notha' level.

Kino talked about much (most?) of the discomfort (different than pain) associated with an intense practice being associated with ego. Once you develop a certain level of skill and conditioning, you are very unlikely to hurt yourself, especially when so warm, so the voice saying that you should stop comes from a psychological place. A well-known manifestation of this (in Ashtanga communities, at least) centers around backbending, which is usually the most intense part of the sequence, requiring the greatest exertion just when you are most tired, and usually prompting the deepest body sensations. It is not uncommon for nausea to surface just when it's time for backbending. There is also backbending "fever," known in Mysore as a vague cluster of symptoms (gastrointestinal distress, lethargy, emotional ebb) occurring after being taken especially deep into a backbend by Guruji (or, nowadays, Sharath or Saraswati). Ashtanga philosophy understands this as part of the psychological purging process, something that will pass if you are willing to bear it (keep practicing) rather than give into it (and back off).

This does not discount the reality of and potential for true injury, but endorses the deep, interrelated nature of the processes at work in any person. Physicality and psychology are at least intertwined and working through the acquired blocks in the body is synonymous with undoing the acquired blocks in the personality. Whether in the body or the mind, these are known as conditioning.

So, perhaps the greatest gift of a weekend of Kino's teaching was a rediscovery and endorsement of intensity. During the Mysore classes we both had the experience of practicing LONG after we hit the usual point of what we thought was exhaustion. What does that mean? It means that that previously understood point of exhaustion was actually a threshold of psychological discomfort that we had decided must be the body's limit, simply because we wanted to stop. In fact, with prompting, we discovered that the body's limits were nowhere to be found. The depth and intensity of experience bloomed once we dismissed the usually rantings in the head about stopping. Yes, yes, we must be careful not to hurt ourselves, etc. This rule (really only one end of the spectrum, one polarity) is well-known and often taken too seriously. The body is strong and can do more than you think it can. The other polarity, discovering something beyond your current psychological constructs through sheer physical exertion, is under-appreciated at best.

Drunkest Guy Ever

Can't think of anyway to relate this to yoga: it's just funny sh*t.

Mysore Guest on Tuesday

Hey folks

Word has it that our Texas Ashtangi friend Laurence (student at Tejas Yoga, where they take many fantastic yoga pics, including the one below) will be making an appearance at Tuesday night's 6p Mysore class (Oct 19). He has a nice strong practice and will likely be joined by a few of our Mysore regulars. Of course, the more the merrier - come join us!

FRESH the movie

As part of our one year anniversary celebration (in addition to free classes Mon Nov 2 - Sun Nov 8), we'll be screening Fresh, a documentary about the industrial food industry and efforts to find alternatives, on Saturday November 7th at the shala. Not sure on the time yet - probably six or so. We'll also have a potluck, so we can eat food while we watch food. Fresh draws heavily from Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma (which you should read if you haven't).

The distribution of Fresh echoes it's subject matter in that it will NOT be nationally distributed in theaters. Instead, the movie is going for a word-of-mouth, grassroots popularity, and is available for small screenings, through purchase of a license, promotional materials, etc. We heard about the movie because it was shown at a church in the QC.

Initially, this movie seems not exactly yoga-related (or maybe more accurately it's not asana related). But as closely as dietary choices are tied to yoga practice, we think this movie is a good fit with how we roll. The dietary practices traditionally associated with yoga practice, from vegetarianism to fasting do not all stem entirely from the same intent (fasting is a body purification ritual; vegetarianism is both body purification and an extension of ethical observances). And, unfortunately, any practice can be "good" or "bad," ample proof of which is found in many things, including these two:

1) the recent formulation of the diagnosis of "orthorexia," an unhealthy and possibly fatal eating disorder centered around an obsession with healthy food

2) Hitler was a vegetarian*

Fortunately, any practice also has the potential to fulfill the yogic aim of raising consciousness, or bring conscious attention into aspects of the life otherwise lived mindlessly. Lunch, anyone?