Day #8 - Flavour of the Month

I observed a class with Raya this morning at 5.45am. It was a real struggle to get out of bed, but well worth the effort.

The thread was clear and strong and I want to share that with you.

Last time I was in Pune (2 years ago) there was a theme in the teaching from all the teachers that I picked up.

It was about enjoying our practice. Loving it and being passionate about it, not robotic.

I have only been here 8 days and already this month’s theme is coming across strong.

Is it a coincidence the teachers are all talking about the same thing? Is it just that I am picking up this thread because it resonates with me?

I will never know.

First Prashant, now Raya.

There is a strong message coming across about the asana not being fixed.

This morning it felt like Raya taught one pose only, rather he taught many poses but all with a similar structure.

Triplets of poses.

Utthita Parsva Padangusthasana, Vrksana, Trikonasana

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, Parsvottanasana, Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana

He finished the class talking about the fluidity of thought in every posture. If we restrict the asana to one structure or shape we are going wrong.

There are multiple, multiple, multiple of every asana and there are similarities of structure between asana.

To explore in our practice, not just to do random things differently, but to look for the commonalities in the asana, to understand what is gained and lost with the different variations.

For example all the hand variations in Paschimottanasana and then to practice those hand variations in Utthita Hast Padangusthasana and to find the similarities, the link and to better understand the postures.

So a bit like an Indian restaurant menu there are many things to choose from, many of the dishes have the same base and you need to figure out which go together.

What better way to do this than in our own practice.