Summer 2013 - The British Wheel of Yoga : South East Region

IS IT ALL ABOUT THE ASANAS
slow quietness. Unless her body was
occupied she felt threatened; she could not
permit herself to be and unless she was
doing she felt extremely uncomfortable;
she was reluctant to wait with patience
and allow her body to respond naturally,
intuitively, in its own time.
When teaching yoga it has to be
remembered how different we are from
one another and how different we are
from one day to the next. We need to be
sensitive to each student and to what they
understand from and in the practice, as
well as what they themselves need to help
their development.
It is a very long road from the basic
nuts and bolts of anatomical instruction
of postures to involved pranayama
techniques and ultimate quietness – and
often the student who most needs slowness
and stillness is the most resistant to it.
Some of us need to travel extremely
slowly if we are ever to arrive.
DILIGENCE
Discipline is a frequently used word in
respect of yoga practice, whether of asana
or meditation, and it can be off-putting!
Perhaps diligence is kinder and more apt.
It implies the attentive care, the steady
effort and the perseverance we use
throughout our practice. If we are
working in yoga with an enquiring mind it
becomes an evolution, a continuous
reawakening of the senses.
This consistent reminding of the mind
to re-enter the body, to watch the
movement of the breath, is a practice for
everyone, at whatever level. The simpler
it becomes, the more advanced the
practice.
No one person can tell you what is
right for you; in the long run it is you and
only you who knows what is right for your
body. There is no one way to approach
yoga, no one way to practise a posture, no
one breathing technique. Question it,
change it, play with it. Follow yourself.
You will never lose the joy of
self-discovery – with or without asana.
There is something rare and unique
about yoga which ought not to be
smothered by the weight of too many
rules.
n A new tutor for the SE Region, Virginia
Kempster will be teaching a day on ‘Feeling Yoga:
Using the Scaravelli Gravity, Breath, Wave Approach’
in Surrey. See page 25 for more details.
NEWS SOUTH EAST SUMMER 2013 13