I'm am really proud of my recent accomplishment of passing my Level 2 assessment.
I'm really glad I did it and that I didn't fall prey to the negative thinking of, "I'm too old to be doing this ."
Or,
"Why bother, I won't earn any more, or my students don't care if I am a Level 1 or a Level 2 teacher.
But, I care. I want to keep going, to learn, to study and improve. I feel stronger, more fit and flexible. Because of the tapasya (effortful study) I was able to do some things that I have wanted to do for a long time. And, I don’t mean only in asana practice. (That’s a blog post for another time.)
And I want to bring my students along with me. Not that they have to be able to do more advanced poses. But, who knows, they might! I want them to get excited about connecting their mind, body and breath to improve their health and well being. I’d like to see them improve their posture, their breathing and their state of their mind.
When I did an Anusara teacher training years ago, we were given a manual. In the index of that manual was an entry that said, “How to tell if your yoga practice is working - page xx.” I was curious, so I flipped to that page. What it said was, “You know your yoga practice is working when you are more comfortable in your own skin, your relationships are better, and you are not bothered by the ups and downs of life.” (I’m paraphrasing, I don’t remember exactly what it said, but that is the gist.) It didn’t say anything about asana.
About a dozen years ago I was in so much pain I was considering giving up teaching yoga. My practice hurt and I could see that my students had similar issues: shoulder pain, back pain, hip pain, etc. And, moreover, I wasn’t improving in my practice, and neither were they. Something wasn’t right. My yoga wasn’t working and I needed to do something else. That’s when I went back to my Iyengar roots. I’ve been working with my mentor now since 2017. And during that time, not only have I felt better, but I have also gone through 2 levels of assessment!
What does this mean for my students?
I want you to care. I want you to get excited about exploring the possibilities that lie within you. I want you to get that these precise instructions and movements of the body are freeing. I would love for you to experience the freedom and bliss that I get when performing an asana with every ounce of my being.
Mr. Iyengar has said that it is a waste of time and effort to do an asana incorrectly. I believe that. He has also said: “ Extension means the creation of space, space leads to freedom, freedom leads to precision, precision leads to perfection, perfection is truth and truth is god.”
When I see a student doing an asana incorrectly, I want to help them understand how to work with their body and mind. I want them to understand that being corrected in class has nothing to do with their value as a person. I like being corrected when I go to class. A verbal correction, use of a prop or a physical adjustment is like trying to remove the blinders from someone’s eyes and mind to get them to see what is right in front of them.
A lot of my students are around my age, some younger, some older. I want to urge you to practice. Don’t give up on yourself. “The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It is about using posture to understand and transform yourself.” ~ BKS Iyengar
I have certainly been transformed by this process.
One of my teachers recently posted on her newsletter the following quote from BKS Iyengar:
I’d like to keep going and in three years to go up for my Level 3 Certification. Are you with me?