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The chitta is like a vehicle propelled by two powerful forces, prana and vasana (desires). It moves in the direction of the more powerful force.

Light on Pranayama

A couple of days ago I wrote about getting back to practice, and mentioned that, as usual, marichyasana B was my favorite pose. Confused left a really interesting comment:

could you say a little more about why you love marichyB? i sure don’t! so i’m curious. for me C is relatively good, A is ok, D is not good but not as confusing as B. what is your secret?? so far my teacher’s adjustments have not enlightened me- they make it look better though. i know i could use more space in the hips, but i’m guessing it’s also my short torso and tight back creating the weirdness. are you someone with more of a long, loose torso? just trying to figure this out a little. i think i did a doubletake when you said you like marichyB.

I spent a little time thinking about it, and I realize that marichyasana B is my favorite comfort pose. It’s like the macaroni and cheese pose of primary. I remember once saying that I loved marichyasana B best, and Crim Girl said it was a favorite of hers, too. So, quite honestly, I just assumed it was a pose that everyone loved. I think I did a doubletake when Confused said he or she doesn’t love marichy B.

I have no idea why I love marichy B the way I do. I looked back in my archives, but as far as I can tell, it is one of the poses that came easy for me — you know, one of the ones you can do as soon as someone shows you. I remember the lotus leg used to offer some resistance, but other than that, the pose was accessible from the get-go. Suffice it to say, there are plenty of other poses that were not accessible right off. So perhaps that’s one reason why I love marichy B.

I don’t have a long, loose torso, as Confused proposed. Hence my continuing attentions to baddha konasana. And my quixotic struggles with pindasana, which I don’t even bother to document, because I have enough problems as it is. On the other hand, I think I tend to understand the origami subtleties of poses rather quickly; I can usually coordinate all the necessary folding in the necessary order pretty easily — though not always to any kind of charming aesthetic effect.

But there’s something more to it. I’ve just always felt safe in marichy B. It feels good to fold up and put my head down and feel the sole of my foot up against my ribs. It’s like a hug. The only place where I feel such sweetness is in the little child’s pose moment after sirsasana.

I guess I’ve always figured I’ve had other lifetimes of asana practice, and that somewhere along the line marichy B and sirsasana (and its subsequent child’s pose) have been my most deep poses over the most lifetimes.

Or maybe that’s crazy talk.

I don’t know that I would call marichyasana B my favorite pose, since there are different criteria for different kinds of favoriteness. It’s definitely my comfort pose. I think at this point, supta kurmasana and baddha konasana are my favorite challenge poses — they’ve required the most change in my body (and mind). I love janusirsasana A, because it feels good and it feels bad in equal parts: it’s the pose that’s most like wiggling a loose tooth. And vasisthasana (which I have not practiced since I started Ashtanga…) is another pose I just adore for no discernable reason.

Tell me more about why you don’t like marichy B, Confused. Is there a pose you have just always loved?

It’s an interesting topic. I suspect most people have favorite poses that they kind of assume are everyone’s favorite. Funny to find out that isn’t necessarily so.