Urdhva Kukkutasana

DSC00703, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

Be Prepared

I am presently preparing to take my 4th Iyengar Yoga assessment test. This test will be for the Intermediate Junior 2 level.  For the first time since I began teaching Iyengar Yoga and taking these tests, I feel as if I have been preparing for this for years. Before I decided to take this test- while I was in India, while I was reading the Yoga Sutras, while I was practicing asana and pranayama- everything I have been doing has been in preparation for this test. Everything has been leading up to the weekend of January 8, 2011. I hope it's enough. I hope it doesn't all spill out of me once the test is over leaving me empty and dry. I hope this test will only prepare me for the next one.
These tests are difficult for everyone involved. These tests force us, the teachers being tested, to stick to a list of poses, confine ourselves to a time limit, and look with a closer eye at anything that may be going awry in class. One might say that it crushes the creative spirit, that it does not allow us to be in the moment, and that the discipline is stifling. In fact, it's the opposite; the precision that it demands is liberating. The self-discipline that it cultivates is empowering.
The Upanishads say that the Self is not realized by a weakling.  Without the discipline of Iyengar Yoga, would we be where we are now? Aren't most of our complaints based on laziness and our desire to move out of a disciplined practice, so we may have a moment of what we think is freedom.  What are the true obstacles? Mental laziness, physical laziness, some form of sensual gratification, and our unwillingness to put forth the work required to maintain progress. Patanjali even lists disease as an obstacle. Whatever the hurtle is, working to overcome it is how we learn.
Sometimes we learn things that we aren't too happy about. Through my years of teaching I've learned that I am impatient, demanding, and have an ego that wears a giant red furry hat.  The assessment tests have forced me to face these issues and deal with them so that I could evolve. Nothing that I have done would be possible without students. So, thank you, to all of you who endure me week after week. Without your evolution and growth, God only knows where I'd be now.

So, changing gears just a little, here is a sequence of forward bends. Simple poses held for a long time with intense actions.

Adho Mukha Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Utthita Trikonasana
Uttanasana-feet together
Parsvottanasana
Sirsasana-eka pada
Salamba Sarvangasana-  halasana and eka pada halasana before going up into straight pose
Supta Konasana
Upavistha Konasana
Baddha Konasana- belt feet, pull on belt to open chest
Dandasana
Janu Sirsasana
Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana
Dandasana
Virasana
Vidrasana- like Virasana with feet together, belt heels together
Dandasana
Triang Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana
Chatushpadasana- Little lifts a few times before lifting up fully
Setu bandha Sarvangasana- on a brick feet to wall as high s needed
Savasana

Yoga with the Noble Burt

BurtBlankets, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

This is Kristen's cat, Burt. If your cats decides to curl up on your Yoga blankets, it is okay to wake them up so you can practice. I know it's tempting to let them remain peaceful and cute, but our practice of vairagya (detachment) is best conditioned in our everyday encounters with normal happenings. Your cat sleeping on your props is not a sign from God that you should skip your practice for that day. It's a sign from God that you need to detach yourself from things that please your senses, like watching your cute sleeping cat, and get to some asana or pranayama practice. It would not hurt to get a nice soft blanket just for your cat either.