Sunday, February 17, 2002


sometimes you come away confused. . .and ranting. . .

for example, today -- after years of gentle suggestion -- mr. right came to yoga with me. i thought carefully and took him to a class with a good teacher that i knew well, one known for her ability and good cheer with absolute beginners, for her fun and inspiring classes. sure: her class can be a little crowded, but the regulars there have a great vibe.

and in a wacky fluke, ended up in one of the worst yoga classes i've ever taken in my life! how could this be??

although i told her mr. right was there, she taught the class offering no modifications or explanations. few of the fun regulars where there; instead a group of women who seemed to want to achieve poses they weren't ready for at all. for example, one woman requested -- in a room where basically we're all elbow to nose -- that the teacher demonstrate the correct way to fall out of headstand!

her approach seems like going to driver's ed and saying, "forget about the parking brake: can you teach me how to have an accident?"

wouldn't you think it would be more beneficial if she could practice diligently at the wall or a foot in front of it until she could balance without falling? shouldn't she devote her time to learning how to do headstand correctly and safely? then she wouldn't need to learn "how to fall." instead, she would have achieved her aim -- headstand.

ah, but that might require actual hard slow boring work, doing a little every day in preparatory poses to practice her headstand balance. no, it would be much easier to just "learn to fall"! why bother to master control or grace: tapas, what for? sad to say, the teacher indulged her. . .

it's not about headstand per se or about this one woman or even about a bad class that left mr. right shaking his head in disbelief. don't get me wrong -- i'd like to be able to do all kinds of fancy poses too. instead, i choose a realistic pose, work on the preparations, the poses that will teach you how to get to the full pose, and i just plug away. maybe i take a private lesson or two.

but there aren't any shortcuts in yoga. you have to work to learn new poses. but that work teaches you so much more than just how to bend over backwards until you can set your own rear on your head. or how to fall over on everyone you don't know so you can have the thrill of "doing headstand. . ." that work teaches you that to get anywhere you have to release your ambitions and let your bad habits go begging.

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