This particular excerpt is after a Wednesday practice, the fourth day of practicing in a row. Wednesdays are often my most challenging practices. When David is home I practice under him alongside the other students in the room. When he is on the road, I teach at the shala and often do my third series at my home with Lexter the Cat (if I am lucky and he is visiting me).
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| Lexter the Cat says, "Yoga...yoga everywhere!" |
This is my first post about practicing the third series and sheds light to the gifted teachings of David Garrigues.
Today during my practice, I felt an intense pressure in the room. It was coming from everyone - the students, David, and myself. It was seismic. The pressure for me was mostly in my spine, moving through my pelvis and throughout my body. This pressure can be best described as warm, fluid, awakened, and alert.
David was scurrying around - talking to people, walking to and from one person to the next - in constant teaching mode. Like a child at Christmas, his energy was of pure excitement with what we were all doing. What I witnessed today was just as he described Guruji doing; David told me once, "The room was never quiet when Guruji taught!"
I met David in 2007 at a workshop when he came to Boise. We always kept in touch and I was always fond of his teachings and his maverick approach on practice. Before moving to Philadelphia in July of last year, I had only studied with David during workshops. The intensity he shares during his workshops is the same energy he shares while teaching at the school here in Philly: he is always in workshop mode - even at home.
It is easy to feel the energy of the shala that develops from others' and my own practice as we do our daily practice together. The room is heated, windows shut; outside noises from three stories below at the street are bustling from horns, people scurrying to work and commuting and an occasional loud truck or a sound that only you would hear in a vibrant city like Philadelphia. The sounds inside are much more subtle: focused and intense, talking is limited but when there is language it is sincere and laughable. This is the highlight of being able to practice at a shala with others and with the guidance of a trained teacher - there is an intensity that is coming from you the practitioner, the teacher, and others as well.
David sends us to the edge every single practice. And some of us - send ourselves to our edge during every practice. For me I find I can do this at the shala and at home. Often Lexter the Cat watches me do my third series practice at home - he is usually curious and often joins the show and gets interested, especially when I am in Shalabhasana!
The other day while David and I were working on drop-backs, I went into a bounded backbend higher than ever. The flexion in my spine was mind-blowing and I had a surprisingly strong sense of ease since I felt as though I was skiing.
Yes you read that right, skiing.
To look at my feet in a planted hip-width position and being grounded and solid, I felt as though the same principles of skiing applied to advanced backbending. There was a foundational and solid earthly connection - having my feet (or imaginary boots) firmly planted I am able to fully move the spine in any direction because of it. Add to this, we then heat our bodies often enough that they become maleable - strong and flexible - so much so, like reeds or a bendable piece of wood or grass, we move easily once the channels are open.
We also begin to remember times and experiences from a former time in our lives when we were young, when we were happier, when we were sadder, or when we were at a place of peace. Here we can look through the watcher's eye and see ourselves as it was without emotional attachment; this is what Tim Miller calls being the "looking bird".
During this backbend, I was taken back to a time where I was most confident, most strong, most courageous. This was when I was a teenager and ski racing.
Moments likes these are like weapons to combat the kleshas and the disturbances! Fear, instability, and of course lack of self worth...these are what hold us back from being able to reflect, see our true selves, go deeper, and be more observant. (You can find details about these here - sutras 1.30 and 11.3.)
I do not fully understand what is happening yet in my body as the surges of sensations come and go. I tell people that I am at a beginner's point in my practice and in my life. Every day the third series gets easier yet some days it is so challenging, that I find myself stalling to start the series staying in Parvritta Trikonasana (revolved triangle) for twenty breaths. "Not yet! Stay here!"
One way I become more connected to myself before I begin the third series is that I always do five Namaskar A's and five or even sometimes, seven B's. I want to be solid in these nine and seventeen movements so that I am stable and confident in my breath and in my spine. These foundational places set the tone for everything that happens later in the practice to unfold in the correct way. Especially upward dog - working this asana alone will carve out a pathway into the backbending universe that is tangible.
Ask me in three years and I will maybe be able to share more about this practice. Right now it is all about getting to know it. With this said, I hope Lexter the Cat isn't jealous since I call my third series practice my new "bestie".
The pressure cooker will happen whether you are practicing primary, intermediate or third series. It is the intensity and wisdom YOU put in your practice every day, it isn't what you are practicing. It is an intimacy between you and the practice and how you are doing it, and with what type of intention.
If you want to join a shala and bring your practice to another level, of course practicing at a shala will automatically offer this to you: the electricity of a gifted teacher like David, the students who will practice around you, and the lineage seeping into your being, will make your journey easier.
Yet do not rely on any of these alone. You must find a way to seek practice for yourself and be able to create your own pressure cooker. If you can and have this type of bhakti for practice, you are bound to have a healthy practice that will sustain you for years and years - and you too will cook your way into greater self reflection.
You may even have unusual epiphanies like mine and think your backbend is just like skiing.
Practicing with a gifted teacher like David is fully worth your time and energy. This summer, David will be teaching for the summer here at home in Philly. To study with him and find out more about what he can teach you about yoga, click here to learn about Davidji.
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| Here's David, getting ready for a Sunday talk and a KIRTAN! |
