Awakening the body

Here it is! At last the final part of Kino’s asana demo. My closing thoughts on Kino’s workshop are that it takes years for the body to awaken in certain areas. This process first starts with awareness and is developed over a period of time. The length of time it takes for the body to fully awaken will depend on the amount of effort put into the practice and one’s samskaras. The layers that need to be swept away from past lives. Whether or not you believe in past lives is irrelevant, what is relevant is that we all are given a body and mind with which we can use as tools for personal transformation.

Becoming proficient at asana practice

The question on the tip of many tongues when watching Kino practice is ‘How long does it take to get ‘good’ at an asana?’ Her response when she asked Guruji was ‘you take it 1000 times!’ My quote there not Guruji’s. He apparently modified this to ’1000 times, correctly’. Kino suggested that for most people more repetition is required closed to 10, 000 times. So that’s a lot of years.

With this in mind I’m reminded of one of David Swenson’s quotes ‘Don’t let yoga ruin your life’. So maybe it will become a long time to become proficient at asana practice, it’s really important we enjoy it today and every day. Find the devotion and love and immerse yourself in it.

Approaching practice without judgement

One of the themes that came out of Kino’s workshop last weekend was a three step process for approaching practice:

1. first become aware of your body and breath
2. then practice satya – truthfulness towards what you discover
3. then practice with maitri (friendliness or compassion) when working in that area

For example in the opening sun saluations you become aware that your left hip is tight. You observe this and truthfully assess it, perhaps your left hip is generally tighter than the right or perhaps you have an injury. Then approach your practice with this truthful awareness. Practicing Satya will help determine how best to apply maitri and ahimsa in any given moment.

This is not something that we do once, rather it’s something that can be cultivated and practiced as we receive constant feedback from our breath and body. Over time the work we do on the mat will have an impact in how we live our lives, responding with seemingly spontaneous honesty and compassion – er, on  a good day of course!

One of the things I found inspiring about Kino is that she isn’t from a dance or bodywork background. Ok, she did start yoga when she was 19 which probably gives her a head start on most of us. She also said in her talk that she wasn’t naturally strong and really set out to build strength. Kino’s first teacher was Govinda Kai who now teaches in Japan. His beautiful website Lunatic Monk is well worth checking out as he’s an avid photographer too.

What’s far to easy to overlook when we watch someone with a lovely practice doing a demo, is the years of dedication, devotion, injuries, doubt, frustration and tears that have made them the practitioner they are today. Kino has been practicing for over 10 years and made consecutive annual trips to Mysore for 6 or 7 years.

Kino Macgregor led an inspiring workshop at Triyoga in London last weekend. This asana demonstration was part of the Friday night session which included chanting and Q & A. I filmed 10 minutes of her demo which I’ve broken up into five parts.

Saturday consisted of a 2 hour led primary with around 75 people in the morning and a workshop on inversions, handstands and the art of balance in the afternoon.

The weekend was great fun and challenging too. I’ll be writing about my experiences and insights from the workshop over the coming week as I upload the videos. Enjoy! Here’s part 2 of Kino’s demo.