I am feeling very open this evening & a little sore after this morning's Mysore class . Since I haven't practiced at the yogashala for over a week , Jorgen & Lila gave me several " welcome back " adjustments . Very welcome indeed. Bring it on , hehe.
Kino MacGregor has a wonderful & insightful blog post from Mysore dated Jan. 9th entitled " Sraddha's Birthday Conference ".
It is a lengthy one & you can read it in its entirety here : http://kinoyoga.com/the-brave-yogi-conference-notes-from-mysore-funny-student-questions-memories-of-guruji/.
The points that were raised by Sharath in her post that rang true were the notion of parampara as described in sastra , the Bhagavad Ghita + the Four D's needed for correct yoga practice : devotion , dedication , discipline & determination.
" Once you realize the transformation that can happen , you will get a beautiful experience of the practice but it is something that should happen slowly.
When you get older and wiser in your practice the meaning also changes to a deeper spiritual practice."
These are attributes that have always attracted me to teachers with tradition, or even advanced students ; I can always figure out who their teacher is , their lineage.
The underlying message is that if you have the right teacher with parampara , there are no doubts , gray areas , fears , anxieties , injuries or other neurosis. Which is what the physical practice of hatha yoga is meant to alleviate . None of this randomness & arbitrariness that floats around the media & blogosphere.
Same can be said for Bhakti Yoga when your Guru has parampara.
And sadhana is the deeper spiritual practice . Hari Om Tat Sat.
Image via Light on Ashtanga Yoga / Tom Rosenthal
