Asana and the Self

2019-05-26

As I write this, I find I missed my last intended newsletter by a solid six months. It’s been a busy six months, with the usual drama at my day-job, as well as additional teaching at Down Dog Hot Yoga in Swords. Frankly, I’m glad to see mid-Summer approaching with its more restful pace of growth compared to the frantic energy of Spring.

Which is a big part of why I’m taking the time to write. I’ve become too busy to be busy, and I will be taking a brief break for a week in June to recharge. I’m heading off on a yoga retreat to Spain with my teacher Meghan Currie from 8 June to 15 June. Besides the challenge of of meeting her asana practice with my own abilities, every time I practice with her becomes a deep dive into the process of Self-realization. Many authors consider Self-realization to be the point of all the practices: asana, meditation, mindfulness, & cet — and I would agree with them.

On a related note, there is an ongoing debate in modern yoga about the value and purpose of asana practice. I really had to address the issue for myself when I was asked to teach a Level 3 class at Hot Yoga Dublin. I knew I liked to practice complex asana, but what did it have to do with the process of Self-realization? Or moving towards the absolute freedom where “the indweller shines forth as pure consciousness” (YSP 4:34)?

Ultimately, I think those questions are really about the value of the body, and of physical experience. I hope it is obvious that I think the body is pretty important. In Tantra, body, mind, and spirit are viewed as being, for all practical purposes, inseparable; and the deeper I go on the journey of Yoga, the more that view gets settled as part of my experience. I hope it comes out in my teaching.

So, partly to answer my own questions, I actually began a three-part blog series to explore the question “Why Practice Advanced Asana?” in depth. Thus far, I have finished Part 1 and I want to share it with you. And that’s the other part of why I am writing.

So if I don’t see you before the 8th of June, I hope I will see you after the 15th. I hope to bring you all some asana practice goodies back from my time with Meghan, but I am sure that I will have a bit more clarity from my own journey towards Freedom that I want to share.

Have a great summer.

This document was translated from L^AT_EX by H^EV^EA.