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!

Well it’s been just over a week now since we got back from Buddhafield festival and time for that blog post I promised! You may also be interested in my previous posts on Buddhafield festival: Buddhafield 2008 – Connecting with abundance and Buddhafield 2009.

This year was a particularly special festival for us as Hannah’s sister was visiting the UK from New Zealand with her two boys. We went down on Monday before the festival started as Hannah’s mother is one of the managers of the Buddhafield cafe. I really enjoyed being there with the crew before the festival started. There were a few hundred people on site by the Monday we arrived.

We quickly found a few other Ashtangi’s in the cafe crew to practice with so it was back to practice again on Tuesday morning. If you’ve ever been to a yoga camp or practiced yoga at a festival you’ll no doubt be aware of challenges of practicing outdoors in a tent. Firstly even flat ground is not flat and it’s generally much cooler than practicing indoors.

So all the standing postures become rather challenging. Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana is a hoot, jumping back and through in the seated postures is also a bit crazy depending if you’re on an uphill or downhill angle. Postures like Marichyasana C and D are also made rather interesting too! My first response was: ‘why don’t the organisers build a nice flat platform?’ but that’s just the city boy in me. You do have to maintain a sense of humour and adventure when practicing closer to nature. I also think there’s a lesson in letting go and allowing things to be imperfect (or perfect) whichever rocks your boat.

I really enjoyed our self practice mornings in our little group while things were still quiet. The festival officially started on Wednesday and more and more people steadily arrived. Joey Miles (now based in Leeds) regularly teachers at Buddhafield or at least has done the last 3 years I’ve been going. He taught the 6:30 – 8am  Ashtanga class which was billed as ‘intermediate’. I’ve only ever done led classes with Joey and I love his direct no nonsense style. He really does inspire you to work hard. The class was a mix of primary, intermediate and one cheeky little modified posture from 4th series or advanced A – Astavakrasana. It’s not actually as difficult as it looks!

During the festival we had opportunities to chat with Joey on a range of topics including going to Mysore with children and how having children affects one’s practice. We don’t have children yet but it was really interesting to hear Joey’s experiences. The one thing that struck me while hanging out with Joey is his love for the practice, there’s a twinkle in his eye when he talks about practicing in Mysore and attempting really challenging asana from 4th and 5th series.

This has inspired me to approach my practice with a joyful attitude. I can’t recommend Buddhafield festival highly enough. It really is a treat! For more about the festival, music, ecstatic dance, tantra workshops, check out my posts from previous years: Buddhafield 2008 – Connecting with abundance and Buddhafield 2009.

Today has been a long day. Up at 5am to catch the 5:49 train to London to practice at the Dharma Shala in Euston. I had a mid morning client meeting which meant that I had to buy a peak-time train ticket – £42! So I thought why not use the opportunity to go and practice at the Dharma Shala, aka Astanga Yoga London (AYL) aka Hamish’s.

Hamish is one of 2 certified (see footnote) teachers in the UK and he’s backed by a team of highly regarded authorised teachers at the shala. You can check out their biographies on the AYL website. You really do get a sense of the lineage of Ashtanga Yoga at the shala which I really appreciate.

Door to door the journey took 2 hours. The shala is a house with the front rooms converted into practice rooms, changing rooms and what may have been a shower or toilet. You start practicing in one room and Hamish calls out ‘One more’ and you move into the bigger room as someone else is finishing up.

The room was much warmer (hot!) than I’m used to so I was sweating profusely half way through the sun salutations. I was also really nervous. I’ve not practiced Mysore style outside of Brighton and I’d never met anyone (teachers or students) so it was all new, exciting and a bit edgy. In order to keep myself grounded I really focused on my breathe and dristi.

I may have been a little too focused because I couldn’t identity in a police line-up any of the people who I practiced with this morning!

The atmosphere in the shala is amazing and it reminded me of the first time I experienced a Mysore room here in Brighton. It’s a place of warm, silent, sweaty devotional intensity. I love it! I flew through my practice and what normally takes 2 hours took 1.5 hours. I’m not sure how that happened!

It’s well worth the trip and I’d love to do a couple of weeks practicing there and am just in the process of working out the costs. A big thank you to my friend who shall remain nameless for all the details on getting to the shala, most helpful indeed

Now it’s time to cook dinner and get an early night to get to practice in Brighton tomorrow. Oh the luxury of a short walk!

Footnote: The other certified teacher is Philippa Asher who teaches at Triyoga Soho.

Kino seems to be popping up all over the place these days. We had a review of her recent Edinburgh workshop at Union Yoga in our April newsletter which was attended by a Brighton Ashtangi. This rather interesting article by Kino has also been making it’s way around the web and is definitely worth a read. It’s on the topic of working through physical and emotional pain in practice. Kino runs the Miami Life Center in the US. Her personal site has loads of free podcasts from her workshops and is also worth a browse.

The Elephant Journal is also worth checking out, they describe themselves as “your guide to what we like to call ‘the mindful life’: yoga, organics, sustainability, genuine spirituality, conscious consumerism, fair fashion, the contemplative arts…anything that helps us to live a good life that also happens to be good for others, and our planet.”

Firstly, thank you, to Guy for such an interesting post which was thoughtful, well structured and certainly  made me stop and think about my practice.

I was sat on a beach in Egypt, when I jotted down these thoughts and around 1630 I would return to my room, collect my mat and go out onto the balcony to do my practice whilst it was still warm. Easy when one is relaxed and warm with your body feeling flexible and strong, very different from  having the alarm go off at 5am, when it is still dark with the weather cold and wet and yet I still drive the half hour into Brighton, to go through my practice with like minded people and then head off to complete a days work. So why?

Am I addicted? For me the answer is no.

I came to my practice 9 years ago. My reason for wanting to study yoga came from a need to be calmer, more relaxed and to find some sort of peace of mind. Like most people who come to the practice I was quickly drawn to the physical aspect of the practice and marvelled at the ability of the students around me. I wanted to be one of them, my ego had kicked in and I decided I was going to be a “super yogi”.

Over time i became more interested in the spiritual side of the practice and understand what the practice was about. Whilst I have only scratched the surface of this side of the practice, I know now and accept  that asana, is not the beginning or end, that it will not deliver me to enlightenment and I will probably never see the end of intermediate and that’s fine.

There are days when I cannot practice due to other commitments and having a non practicing wife,  means there are times when my practice has to take  second place. I  try to accept my practice for what it is, for all the complications that crop up and for the good and the bad days.

This is my attempt at non attachment and my idea of commitment to the practice,  we all have so many other things to juggle in our busy lives in order to fit in a daily practice. I believe that if all students that come to the practice would just stick with it then they too will have a deeper understanding  and experience the pleasure a daily practice can be bring without feeling guilt if  practice is missed one day but accept where they are and see it for what it is.

I am reminded of  the Niyamas, and in partcular Santosha. Contentment – so be content  with where you are  and enjoy.