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On the Way to William Penn House for Tuesday Night Yoga Practice
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Can One Be Shy and a Successful Yoga Teacher?
I have wondered over the years, as I see the emphasis on being buoyant, outgoing, and cheerful as the hallmark of a fun yoga teacher, whether it is possible to be a successful yoga teacher in today’s society if one (like me) tends toward introversion and shyness. I recently heard an internationally recognized teacher say that the way to know if you are a successful teacher is if your classes are consistently doubling in size. Ever-growing classes are certainly important to help the teacher and the studio pay the rent, but is that the key measure of individual success? I think part of the sense that the measure of success is a burgeoning group of people attracted to the teacher is our societal premium on extroversion. A more introverted teacher may not seem as cuddly and fun outside of class, but may have other things to offer that in fact grow from his or her tendency towards introversion.
Check out this article for some perspective on introversion in today’s society. What are your thoughts about this in the context of yoga?
What is Beauty? (and “Ankle Loop”)
When I was meditating this morning, the last lines of Keats’ ‘Ode on A Grecian Urn’ welled up in my thoughts: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” How odd, I thought, for this to appear, as if out of nowhere. I have been contemplating this week on what it means to be refined, but not in the way of an aesthete. Rather, as I have been concentrating on the Anusara alignment principle of “ankle loop,” I have been thinking about how deepening our practice with repeated exploration and study we are able to refine our understanding and the flow of energy within us so that we can be more connected to ourselves and each other.
As I understand the essential structure of the Anusara principles, the “loops” are really tertiary principles. The primary principles are those of “attitude, alignment, and action,” which are the principles of how we practice. The secondary principles are the fundamental physical and energetic principles — “opening to grace, muscular energy, inner/expanding spiral, outer/contracting spiral, organic energy.” The loops serve to refine the secondary principles. Ankle loop, for example, which starts at the base of the shin bone, travels down the back of the heel and then back up through the arch, energizes the foot, lifts the arch, supports our stance and helps us focus muscular energy. When we are feeling challenged finding as much muscular energy in our feet and legs as would be optimal for a full expression of the pose, we can use ankle loop to refine our understanding and practice of muscular energy in the legs. Keeping in mind the primary principles of practice, though, the refinements should also always lead us towards the heart and not just get us into details. Getting more sophisticated and refined, likewise should not lead us to disdain for that which is unrefined.
Funny, then, that the aesthete’s call to beauty should arise in my meditation while I have been consciously thinking about refinement. What does it mean to appreciate and study refinements, but still honor and delight in a novice’s full expression of “attitude, alignment, and action” as much as an impeccably aligned and skillful pose that does not reveal a yearning for spirit? Beauty may be truth, and truth beauty, but what is “beauty?”
State of the Garden
The grapes are starting to bunch, and for the first time, the kiwi is covered with buds. Two of the tomato plants have their first flowers. Snow peas are climbing up the trellises. Carrots, spring onions, radishes, and beans are sprouting. There are plenty of cool weather greens and herbs for eating already. The red roses are blooming. I pray for sufficient rain.
