Pasasana see ya later
Posted in ashtanga yoga on 04/10/2007 07:44 am by karen***
sthirasukhamasanam
***
Verse 2.46 from the Yoga Sutra. Sorry, Sanskrit Scholar, for the lack of accent marks 
Desikachar translates it as: Asana must have the dual qualities of alertness and relaxation.
And he adds: There must be alertness without tension and relaxation without dullness or heaviness.
I read this a couple of days ago and though Volleyball Guy talks about it often, I was for some reason quite struck with it anew. I think perhaps because it not only informs asana practice, but also how I am trying to balance my mental state these days.
Farewell practice this morning was lovely. A little underlying preoccupation/tension in my mind, but not too bad. And in what felt like a bit of a gift from the universe, I managed little fingertip binds on both sides of pasasana, and even had my heels down. It was ugly, of course, but still, it’s always delightful to puzzle through the mechanics a bit and come up with some semblance of a pose. Now that I think about it, I can honestly say that it is my favorite part of practice. Not so much the “perfecting” (as if!) of poses, but that first time when you go, “Oh, so that’s how this goes!” before you teeter and crash out of some crazy, twisted facsimile of an asana.
Triumph of the human spirit and all.
Hmmm. Perhaps I’m channeling My Gift, who is always cheery and ironic when she is excited. She’s been very happy lately: she and a friend found a little house to rent just off campus, and she got a job this week at a veterinary clinic. And she went to a Bikram class, which she adored. I know folks talk about how they dread seeing their children grow up, but I don’t really get it. I love watching My Gift grow up!
Okay, off to work. Last day before my “vacation.”