One thing about this practice, is that it makes me humble. I promised myself that I would not write about what I don't know - that I would share from my vantage point the experiences of yoga that I can speak to. So after years and years of practicing, all the while with a great curiosity about the history, culture, philosophy and anatomy all central to the practice of yoga, I know now, that there is so much more I don't know. It's infinite, really - which is one of the things I love about yoga. When we roll out the mat, we step into this infinite stream. We walk in the footsteps of the many great yogis who have come before and we join the many thousands of practitioners worldwide who are also in this stream, on the path. There is not a time when I move through my practice and at some point, don't think about Guruji or the many other great teachers I have had the good fortune to study with at some point or another. I hear their voices and with Guruji, see that infamous smile as I struggle through the mire of doubt, fear, physical issues or even moments of elation as I float or find a posture for the first time. Eventually, one by one those voices disappear and there is only the breath. Sometimes I can maintain that focus for several minutes or more, moving and breathing without thinking. The body knows the way by now so I can move through the practice as one might walk through a familiar house in the dark. If I'm listening carefully, I can pick up some of the deep, subtle wisdom of Ashtanga, the way in which these series target specific areas of the gross and subtle bodies so effectively.
One can practice the primary series of Ashtanga, without rushing or forcing through it, in about eighty minutes. Time can be taken to linger in some postures, to move carefully into the challenging postures and spend the time needed in Savasana. If in those eighty minutes, I can find a few minutes of real quieting of the mind of deep focus and concentration, I am doing really well. This is only a small taste of what yoga is. In the often quoted sutra 1.2, Patanjali staes, "Yogash chitta vritti nirodhah" - Yoga is the cessation (or control, regulation, mastery, integration) of the fluctuations (misconceptions) of the mind field. So yoga becomes this process of trying to quiet the mind to see more clearly, what is - what is now. As Beryl Bender Birch likes to say, "Yoga is the constant effort to stay firmly rooted in the present moment." We stop jumping ahead to the future or dwelling in the past and pay attention to the now. No ego, no thought, one breath at a time. This, is transformation - this, I know...
