Liz asked…
Posted in ashtanga yoga, Uncategorized on 12/02/2009 05:31 am by karen“What’s the goal? Is the goal to be able to say, ‘I can do any posture you throw my way’ or is it to find peace within our minds and bodies no matter if that’s 3rd series or just the standing sequence?”
I vote for a still mind no matter what the pose.
I think stopping students [when they get to a pose they cannot do in the sequence -- and by "do," I mean physically and psychically] is a way to get people to chill and be present, rather than always galloping forward. I don’t think teachers have magical insight, but I do think they are experienced practitioners who can offer something of a mirror. I like to learn from their experience. And I like to “put down” my idea that I’m running the world for a little while and be a student. (In “real life,” I get stuck in thinking I know more than I actually do. That illusion — and the impulse to sustain it — is a HUGE pain in the ass. I think it’s probably my biggest problem in life.)