Thursday, September 22, 2005

What? a yoga post?

Haven't had one of those in a while! Well, this'll be short. I simply wanted to note for posterity that Matthew "gave" me Kurmasana and Supta Kurmasana this morning and ouch! I hurt.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

why the quotes?

Anonymous said...

Actually, that's a great question and I sat here and pondered a bit before making any motions towards the keyboard.

In traditional Ashtanga (as practiced by Matthew, my Ashtanga teacher) the student moves through the series one asana at a time and is instructed or given the next asana when the teacher deems the student ready. I feel it is a worthwhile system and since I’ve been practicing with Matthew I have actively participated in the process and respected it. Well, I still practice short form and will go past my “stopping” asana occasionally during led classes. Practicing with Guruji in NYC being an excellent example. My practice has truly benefited from Matthew’s guidance. He’s a phenomenal resource and an inspiraction.

That being said, I personally have a history of raging against tradition and orthodoxy. When it comes down to it, across all of my phases and interests, a consistent personality trait is heathen. Of course, over the past couple of years, especially as yoga has become integral in my life, I’ve learned to appreciate both the way in which knowledge is transferred and the student teacher relationship. That doesn't mean that old habits just go away though. The old DIY punk in me constantly reacts against a great many of my surroundings (corporate hell in particular) and the traditional process of instruction in Ashtanga is not immune. Sometimes it strikes me as being hierarchical. It is probable that my use of quotes stems from this.

At least that is what I can up with after reading your comment. Actually, the quotes were inserted without any thought whatsoever, so they were practically rendered at a sun-conscious level. Thanks for causing me to go a bit deeper into this.

Anonymous said...

of course, that should have been sub-conscious, but sun consciousness sounds pretty cool.

Anonymous said...

Hey Gregg

I thought thats what was going on. Thanks for the honest answer.