A Good Teacher is Always a Good Student
Every good teacher - is first of all a good student. My students have always heard me say that they should not study with someone who is not studying with someone themselves. So, here I am, in Columbia, South Carolina, doing the Anusara Yoga Immersion Part 2. This is a program really designed for students relatively new to Anusara who want to learn more about the principles and the philosophy undergirding the method. But here I am, with a beginner's mind, taking it all in...
I had hoped to make regular entries here, but it has been a bit busier than I had anticipated...
The days are long. We meet twice a day from 4 hours, to 4 and half hours at times - doing 2 to 3 hours of asana at a time, and then covering philosophy, principles of alignment, and so forth. It is a good experience for me to review all of these teachings and then embody them in the practice, which John Friend always does, so masterfully. He is incredibly gifted at weaving his themes into the practice - in a way that is very deep - and just may push your buttons too! Why? because he wants his students to awaken more deeply.
Yesterday was an intense and emotional day for me. Part of the morning practice involved offering up asanas - particularly inversions for those we love, but also for those we are in conflict with. It was a difficult morning for me, and the practice found my "stuff" and brought it to the forefront. I worked through it, and today I felt that other layers fell away, but not before struggling and shedding some tears.
I shared my experience briefly with a dear soul last night who wisely advised me to let go of all those parts of myself that were not the authentic and real me. As a yogini herself, she suggested that I root my wise and eternal self into the ground in order to rise and connect with the Divine. And that truly, all else would pass away. She was right of course.
I got on my mat this morning, and set this intent, and something shifted for me, even though the practice was not always easy for me. It involved long holds and multiple repetitions, and working very deeply, but I was in a different space. I went from doubt and self-limiting thoughts and feelings, to more lightness and clarity and so many incredible insights.
There is so much that I could share, but it will have to wait. It is late, and I have been functioning on 5 hours of sleep or so.
I will end with some teachings from John Friend:
"In the Absolute, everything exists simultaneously. Time and space are in the Absolute, and it takes a prism to break it out...
When we get stuck in the negative, we can't see auspiciousness...
In Tantra, the kleshas (afflictions) are different, because you take everything that happens to you and you use it for a positive or life affirming advantage. You need difficulties to grow. How you respond to these things is the important issue.
In Tantra, we dance with something until it leads to that place in the middle. How can I make ugliness in my life a beauty? That is skillful action and transmutation...
Ask yourself, what I am grateful for? How did I get here? Who guided my path? Who mentored me? And then say, today I will be the best that I can be - for this ultimately will reflect on my teachers. Remember your teachers with love...
Yoga is skill in action - and it is cultivating dharmically the way to respond to a situation - which is to align with the Divine. Grace pours into you when you are aligned.
We are responsible for the future.
If you are not here and now - you are no where.
What you do now is actually changing the past...
Who you choose to be with either contributes to your aligning with the Divine - or it doesn't."
More to follow...
I had hoped to make regular entries here, but it has been a bit busier than I had anticipated...
The days are long. We meet twice a day from 4 hours, to 4 and half hours at times - doing 2 to 3 hours of asana at a time, and then covering philosophy, principles of alignment, and so forth. It is a good experience for me to review all of these teachings and then embody them in the practice, which John Friend always does, so masterfully. He is incredibly gifted at weaving his themes into the practice - in a way that is very deep - and just may push your buttons too! Why? because he wants his students to awaken more deeply.
Yesterday was an intense and emotional day for me. Part of the morning practice involved offering up asanas - particularly inversions for those we love, but also for those we are in conflict with. It was a difficult morning for me, and the practice found my "stuff" and brought it to the forefront. I worked through it, and today I felt that other layers fell away, but not before struggling and shedding some tears.
I shared my experience briefly with a dear soul last night who wisely advised me to let go of all those parts of myself that were not the authentic and real me. As a yogini herself, she suggested that I root my wise and eternal self into the ground in order to rise and connect with the Divine. And that truly, all else would pass away. She was right of course.
I got on my mat this morning, and set this intent, and something shifted for me, even though the practice was not always easy for me. It involved long holds and multiple repetitions, and working very deeply, but I was in a different space. I went from doubt and self-limiting thoughts and feelings, to more lightness and clarity and so many incredible insights.
There is so much that I could share, but it will have to wait. It is late, and I have been functioning on 5 hours of sleep or so.
I will end with some teachings from John Friend:
"In the Absolute, everything exists simultaneously. Time and space are in the Absolute, and it takes a prism to break it out...
When we get stuck in the negative, we can't see auspiciousness...
In Tantra, the kleshas (afflictions) are different, because you take everything that happens to you and you use it for a positive or life affirming advantage. You need difficulties to grow. How you respond to these things is the important issue.
In Tantra, we dance with something until it leads to that place in the middle. How can I make ugliness in my life a beauty? That is skillful action and transmutation...
Ask yourself, what I am grateful for? How did I get here? Who guided my path? Who mentored me? And then say, today I will be the best that I can be - for this ultimately will reflect on my teachers. Remember your teachers with love...
Yoga is skill in action - and it is cultivating dharmically the way to respond to a situation - which is to align with the Divine. Grace pours into you when you are aligned.
We are responsible for the future.
If you are not here and now - you are no where.
What you do now is actually changing the past...
Who you choose to be with either contributes to your aligning with the Divine - or it doesn't."
More to follow...
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