Forms and Principles
of
Yoga Practice
Hello
ashtangis :) I'd like to share my thoughts about the form of yoga
practice, specifically about strictness of form and growing out of
it.
Most
yoga methods, including ashtanga yoga, are taught through well and
clearly defined forms and sequences. This is true in both external
(asana, hatha, astanga) and internal (meditative, tantric) yogas. A
well defined form gives beginners a foundation to learn about and to
rely on. For this reason, for beginners, strict forms are very
useful. In asana practice, one not only strengthens the body and
makes it more flexible, but also the defined sequence makes it easier
to feel the body and be mindful of its various sensations. What is
also very important aspect of form-based practice is learning the
structure and connectedness of the body, both in stillness and in
movement. So for beginners, there's a lot to learn through the form.
This is both a very joyful process of learning about oneself, as well
as internally empowering.
There
comes a point however when the strict form has delivered the benefits
and turns into a barrier. This stage comes after perhaps a few years
of intensive practice. One begins to feel bound by the strict form
and intuits that it would feel better to change the postures,
movements or mix the sequence to make it new somehow and to keep it
fresh. Following a strict form, doing the same form over and over, no
longer feels right.
It
is at this point when one comes to ask oneself what have I learned
from my foundational practice. Have I learned enough about my body
and do I understand asana practice well enough to be able to trust my
intuition of letting it begin to grow on its own? Wondering about
these questions might take a while, perhaps another few years.
Hopefully one can share these thoughts with likeminded practitioners
and senior teachers who are able to support the direction one's
practice is taking. Sometimes, unfortunately, these kinds of
contemplations, when shared with others are met with doubt or even
negative emotions. The reason for that may be that the doubters
haven't yet reached the same point of wanting to break out of the
confinements of the form, or the strict form is believed to be so
important or even holy that it shouldn't be changed and should be
followed to the letter.
Third
Fetter
It
is here that we come to a very important point about internal,
nondualistic awakening, which yoga practice is all about(!), as
defined in the Ten Fetters in buddhism. The meaning of the word
fetter here means a sense of me-ness that binds the mind and makes it
miserable. The third fetter is seeing through the attachment to
strict forms of rites and rituals, or in the context of ashtanga yoga
for example, the asana sequence. This doesn't mean to replace
attachment with detachment but to see through the sense of me-ness or
self that sticks to strict forms and thinks that they are special.
Feeling special is always a problem in yoga because it directly shows
there being a small ”me” or ”I” in the play. Believing in
strict form without questioning is what is common to all religions,
isn't it? The most essential point of any yoga practice is to look
and investigate one's self-based beliefs (citta vritti) to at one
point reach a state that is entirely without them (nirodha). This
internal contemplation and process of inquiry should be part of asana
practice as well, because without it there is little hope for other
progress than physical. So, one way to support the growing out of
strict form is to think what this dropping off of the belief of rites
and rituals means.
A
different way to support this stage is to understand that no form can
ever cover or include everything, even if we wanted so. If we think
about this in terms of physical movement, for example the range of
movement of the arm from the shoulder, the arm moves full circle of
360 degrees in vertical direction and simultaneously, depending on
one's flexibility, a varying degree also horizontally. Now, if we
only move the arm in one or two ways, it literally leaves endless
amount of other angles unused and therefore the range of movement and
exercise becomes limited by the form. Then if we consider that the
whole body is made of joint after the joint after joint, connected by
a vast number of bones, muscles and tendons, we come to realise that
one or two types of movements cannot possible cover the endless
variety that the body could move.
In
the context of pranayama and tantric yoga, this point becomes very
clear when comparing focusing on just a few channels, (usually left,
center and right) and all of them, which number up to hundreds of
thousands. It is good to begin with few channels but few channels
cannot possible cover hundreds of thousands of them, so similarly,
the beginning form must and should be broken at some point so that
one may keep learning and growing in knowledge. This is the reason
why I teach ”masterclasses”. They are meant to help the students
understand the principles behind the form. Once the practitioners
understand the underlying principles, it is profoundly empowering to
start practicing from the principles, rather than repeat the forms.
Perhaps
I'll end this short text by encouraging people to be brave and to
follow one's gut. If and when we understand the basics, we can be
confident of following our internal voice.
I wish you a great
day of practice,
Kim,
16.4.2021
