This Friday 5th March at 6pm will be the last in the current series of Full Led Primary Series.  We will concentrate on Lightness and Flow.  As usual we will go out for a meal afterwards. All are welcome to attend this class and normal fees apply (all passes are valid).  See you there.

Wednesday 17th March to Sunday 21st March. 5 mornings. Start times, 6, 6.30 or 7am for the Wed., Thurs. and Friday. 9 or 9.30am for the Sat. and Sunday.  We welcome Peter back for another of his fantastic workshops.  Peter is one of the leading proponents and teachers of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.  He is very encouraging and gentle in presenting this powerful form of Yoga in the traditional way. Cost: $125 for the whole workshop or $30 per class.  Book here.

First, Master Asana…

My Guru, Sri K Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India said to me on numerous occasions “First, master asana, then take Pranayama. When you have mastered Pranayama, then take meditation”. What I find amazing (and I think he did too) is that we Westerners seem to think that mastering asana will only take a couple of years, 5 tops and then we will be ready to move on. Samadhi here we come! I began my yoga practice in 1992 and have been practicing asana regularly 4-6 times a week since 1993 and the more I do the more I know I have to learn. Every practice I do uncovers some new subtlety or nuance to some asana. I believe that to master asana takes more than one life time of effort. This may be daunting for some, but I find it liberating. It means there is no pressure. I can take my time and enjoy the process.

I recently read an advertisement for a meditation workshop that had the by-line “do you find that the good feeling you get from asana is short-lived? Want to take your practice to the next level?” There seems to me a lack of understanding there that comes from a lack of guidance. Perhaps the reason that the feeling is short lived is that you need to put more work into your asana practice. How can we know that we have mastered asana and are ready to move on? Our teacher, who has themselves worked through this process with their teacher, will be able to tell us. This is not a decision we can make for ourselves!

Why the need to work so much on asana? After all, as Bryant says:

..from the the 900- odd references to yoga in the Mahabharata, there are only two mentions of asana, posture…… Patanjali himself dedicates only three brief sutras from his text to this aspect of the practice¹.

My feeling is that at the time of Patanjali and the Mahabharata mastery of asana by yoga practitioners was assumed. In modern times that assumption can not be made. We need to start from the absolute beginning. Pattbhi Jois always said that without adequate asana practice a person’s nervous system and the system of Nadis would not be able to cope or get any benefit from Pranayama or meditation. Sure, you can sit there and breathe through the nose blocking one nostril and then the other, but you may be fooling yourself if you think this is the Pranayama of Ashtanga Yoga. This is not to say that there is not benefit from these practices, and indeed, many people do derive great benefit from doing various forms of breathing exercise and meditation practice. But without the strength of body and strength of purpose that regular asana practice gives, you will have a very tall mountain to climb. “Practice, practice, practice” as Guruji always said. And don’t forget to revel in the journey. Enjoy.

6 week course starting 7.35pm Wed. 24th Feb 2010. First 4 weeks at 7.35.  Final 2 weeks start at 6.30pm.  Perfect for absolute beginners or those with very little yoga experience.  Cost: $75 waged; $65 concession. Contact us to book.

This Friday 5th February is our first full Led Primary Series for 2010.  In this session we will ask the question “what is it really all about” and see what answers the practice brings us.  All are welcome to attend this class and normal fees apply. All passes valid.  See you there