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| Hi all,
Just had a conversation with someone the other day and thought that it would be interesting to post a question here about it.
A friend was saying how she feelis like an 'old croc' as she seems to have a few things wrong with her at the mo, (knee problem, lowerback/trapped nerve-possibly sciatica-, and high blood pressure)
The question arose when someone said that because she does so much exersise (meaning yoga classes mostily, she goes to about 6 a week) 'that it happens.' -not the high blood pressure necessarily, but the injuries)
Now, as yoga teacher I know that these injuries shouldn't happen if there is good awareness during practice of alignment and of personal limitations etc. But, for someone who perhaps is still learning and goes to lots of different classes with different teachers, could this be true? Both the injuries (lower back and knee) became apparent after yoga classes she attended.
People seem to gradually build up injuries because their alignment is slightly out or they push themselves beyond their edge. I have even heard another teacher say that 'her knees were beginning to go' Something that I found a bit alarming coming from a teacher.
The statement 'if you do alot of yoga, it is not unlikely that you will notice injuires' is something I would like to open a debate about....what are your views? Is yoga the main culprit or is it just that it makes one more bodily aware and 'brings them to the surface'? |
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| In general, I think the more exercise of any kind you do, the more likely you are to develop an injury... just based on probability. However, sitting around doing nothing is also likely to have a detrimental effect on health, probably more so!
As far as yoga goes, I would not have expected consistent, accurate practise to, of itself, produce wear and tear injuries. Of course a newbie over-doing the amount of practise time relative to their fitness level or the experienced practioner pushing too hard are bound to get injured.
Personally, I've been practising yoga for about 5 years now (4 Sivananda, 1 Iyengar). In that time, I've wrenched elbows, knees and sprained ankles. I also twisted a shoulder. All when falling out of a pose, usually when mucking up a transition. All pre-Iyengar. There's a message there, I'm sure, about correct alignment and muscle control  
Against this, I haven't had my bursitis/inflammed achilles issues play me up since going Iyengi and have had only minor twinges with my dodgy sacro-illiac that the osteopath soon unkinked.
I work in IT and was used to tension headaches at least three times a week (at least due to tense shoulders/rotator cuffs from all the keyboard use). I've only had one since taking up yoga!!!
I've also recently discovered the benefits of using seated twists to release my hyper-active sinuses when stuffed with infection.
I guess like food, medicines, air and water, to yoga or not's a case of chosing your poison rather than being able to avoid issues altogether?
Fee
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| Firstly, there is so much more to yoga than just the practise of asana.
An asana class (which most people call yoga) could be considered exercise and exercise can be classed as either regenerative or degenerative by the nature of the activities involved.
A person is far less likely to injure themselves in a yin yoga/restorative yoga class than they would practising a vinyasa flow/power yoga style in a class environment.
Obviously not all asana classes are the same (though that may not be so obvious to a beginner!) Certain asanas will strengthen the body while others may cause an existing injury to worsen or even create a new injury if the techniques of entering/exiting the asana and it's apropriate alignment are incorrectly taught.
As loli mentions, these injuries shouldn't happen if the student has a good awareness during their practice and knows their personal limitations. In my experience of the popular power yoga style classes, they seem to attract people of a more competitive nature who are either unaware of their limits or choose to ignore them (the 'one more rep' syndrome!)
In my opinion, if asana practise is causing a person injury, then they are definately either practising incorrectly or are being taught incorrectly (or both). |
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| for me, the main culprit is two fold: poor teaching and poor learning (egotism on the part of the student).
a lot of teachers in my area do not teach alignment in a safe, effective manner IMO. thus, their students--even if practicing with the same teacher so often--end up with repetitive motion injuries.
with this, a lot of other teachers are very good at teaching alignment in a safe, effective manner, but the students will not listen. they either A. aren't body aware, or B. push farther than they should (often with improper alignment, as a modification helps build proper alignment). To toot my own horn, it is this sort of incident that i run into the most--and i tell the student that they will injure themselves if they continue to do it that way. After the third warning from me, i stop mentioning it to them. When they become injured, they then come and ask me about it.
when a student takes from many teachers over time, instead of a single teacher predominently, it's difficult to get consistant instruction on alignment and therefore difficult to discern which modifications are most appropriate or will work for the student. thus, the student is usually confused by the information that s/he is recieving and will do a posture incorrectly--without egotism necessarily--and injure themselves that way.
thus, i think it is best to take from a single teacher for a time--to learn the basics of alignment--and go from there. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | zoebird - 2006-10-26 9:28 AM
After the third warning from me, i stop mentioning it to them.
I don't get this. There is one asana in the Bikram series that I have a very hard time with, mostly because of habit. I can't tell you how many times I have been corrected in class over the past 4 years. I'm so happy that I have a teacher who does not think like this, because I don't do it on purpose or to be a rebel, its a bad habit that I'm trying to break. I will say the last 2 years or so have been much better, and she'll make a comment to me after this asana, "Cyndi, you've been really working on that"...but every once in a while, the habit will slip back in, and my teacher very kindly corrects me,  |
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| cyndi:
there is a difference. I will continually fine tune and correct a student in the same poses for years if they are open to the correction.
if the student instead insists on continuing in the wrong direction, or refuses instruction, then i stop telling them after the third try and let them work it out on their own. I have a number of students who come to me after they've studied with another teacher for quite a while. this teacher does nto teach chaturanga dandhasana. everyone who comes out of her classroom into mine does a very strange version of the pose--usually dangerously incorrect.
i'll correct the pose--and many students will learn it within a few practices if they are willing. but i also have students form her who are very dedicated to her style or what have you, and when i correct the pose, they'll say "well, in Rachel's class . . ." and i'll say "ok, though i would prefer this because i fear that you might injure yourself. . ." and if they insist three times that they are doing it properly, then i let it go. eventually, they injure themselve,s then they ask. |
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| After practicing yogasana for over 16 years [limiting discussion to physical yoga] I have to say that if you only practice physically and do not practice mentally you will injure yourself.
If you use yogasana as a form of rehabilitation, then you won't simply be physically practicing.
Physical practice, separated from unity with the rest of the organism, is not yoga.
I've injured my body in so many ways, however it wasn't yoga.
Car accidents, Bike accidents, Competitive Wrestling, Competitive Weight Lifting, ect.
Yoga, in my opinion, will heal. Maybe this is where the debate comes? Some folks may say proper yoga, and yoga with proper alignment.....In my opinion it is either Yoga or Not Yoga.
Yoga heals, Yoga doesn't hurt.
If it hurts, it ain't yoga, son  . |
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| zoebird - 2006-10-26 10:34 AM
if the student instead insists on continuing in the wrong direction, or refuses instruction, then i stop telling them after the third try and let them work it out on their own.
Sounds like a good compromise, some people just won't listen. Sometimes this is a good thing, since not all information is good. 
i'll correct the pose--and many students will learn it within a few practices if they are willing. but i also have students form her who are very dedicated to her style or what have you, and when i correct the pose, they'll say "well, in Rachel's class . . ." and i'll say "ok, though i would prefer this because i fear that you might injure yourself. . ." and if they insist three times that they are doing it properly, then i let it go. eventually, they injure themselve,s then they ask.
Have you spoken with the Rachel? Seems like a good way to fix things right at the source....
BTW, I agree with Steve, if you're hurting yourself, you're probably doing it wrong.
However, I wonder about repetitive injuries. That is to say the sort of thing were impromper alignment or use results in a problem that appears over time. I don't think anybody's form is perfect, so I can see these sorts of things appearing over time. I think the best way to avoid them is to avoid doing the same asanas over and over again, and get some variety in your yoga diet. |
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| gj:
while i never do a posture 'perfectly' i do a lot of modifications to make sure that my alignment is appropriate and leading the body and energy body toward the full, correct, "perfect" expression of the pose. though, it can be argued that the 'perfect' alignment for the pose is the modification which aligns the energy and physical bodies appropriate for deep healing. I've never had a yoga-related injury.
as to talking with rachel (not her real name), i have spoken with many teachers about this many times--about the importance of alignment and the risk for repetitive motion injury--injury that can become very severe dpending upon the pose. most of the other teachers believe/think that i'm 'too rigid' and 'not interested in the 'flow' of yoga' and so on. I have n o idea what they're takling about. Ok, i get the rigid thing, it's the second thing i don't get. So essentially, i have agreed to disagree and i let rachel teach as rachel will, and when her students get injured she sends them to me--and i fix help them fix themselves.
the reason that i stop after three tries is because if i continue i'll only frustrate the student. I have had this happen before, and only once have i had to admantly state to the student that he had to stop a certain movement. when he would sit, he would sit in a hero-pose type position with his feet flexed and toes pointed outward toward the walls. while he insisted that he'd "sat like that his entire life" i finally told him that i couldn't have him sit like that in my classroom due to insurance reasons, and he finally acquiesced. But honestly, it took a lot of badgering (which i don't like to do) and whining and arguing on his part to get to that point.
I don't think that dynamic is condusive to learning (on teacher or student part) individually or for a group. So, i move on to those students who are willing to learn. |
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| GreenJello - 2006-10-26 12:46 PM
However, I wonder about repetitive injuries. That is to say the sort of thing were impromper alignment or use results in a problem that appears over time. I don't think anybody's form is perfect, so I can see these sorts of things appearing over time. I think the best way to avoid them is to avoid doing the same asanas over and over again, and get some variety in your yoga diet.
This seems like good advice to me, but not one that seems to come down to the people in the valley from on high.
I tend to do the same routine, but certainly with differing intensities and breaths[time in any one asana] during any given week.
Each and everyone of us has a responsibility to be concious of our own well being.
Yoga, when practiced as Yoga, is a true foundation for this, IMO. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | I feel there is an "art" to correcting a student, and from everything I've read so far, experience and lack thereof is the key element.
As I stated earlier, my instructor will correct me a zillion times and that is perfectly okay and EXACTLY what I expect from a teacher. The asana that I refered to is one that I did in fact learn from someone else. The interesting thing is that I KNOW that by doing this asana how I was taught originally, is injuring me, but my body does not know that, even though I experienced the injury. My body now that I do KNOW, and have been corrected all these times, is re-coding itself and it takes time and practice. It also helps to have a teacher who won't give up on you and not only that, is very diplomatic in the correction process, but most of all is not a chicken to make that correction where I am concerned. She doesn't let her students run the show...this is her class. On the other hand, there are some asana's that she clearly points out that it is perfectly okay to do differently, because some asanas are flexible in this respect.
GJ, doing asanas over and over again is not bad. That's is just total BS. I'd rather make an effort to master the asana's that I need to and the ones that work for me, than dabble around and get no where. Which is why I chose the Bikram series. However, I do other Hatha yoga asana's, but I keep my practice very simple. Variety can be good, but depending on the student can also be very unpractical. |
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| And a debate you shall have, I am sure.
You're asking if yoga (asana) can be a catalyst for injury. Yes. There is in fact a purported rise in injuries stemming from yoga practice. I do not believe this is something inherent in yoga (asana) itself. That is to say it's not built in, comes with the terrotory or you take it or leave it.
I believe the quality of instruction has declined significantly. Trainings are shorter, some only a week or weekend. The curriculum of these trainings isn't comprehensive enough, and teachers often go "into" yoga teaching for a variety of reasons including "increasing their income". It also seems like the rare teacher who takes what they do seriously enough to study in their off hours, continue their education, and refine their skill, no matter how many decades they've been teaching.
Sure students can go at it pretty hard. But I believe duty lies with the instructor to teach in such a way as to mitigate (not eliminate) injury possibility. It's about safety first and I can tell you there are numerous teachers in this city, where there are 20+ studios, that do not place safety first and would not have the slightest idea what "safety first" means relative to an asana practice or sequence.
I also want to drop in this quote from Jonnie:
jonnie - 2006-10-26 3:08 AM
A person is far less likely to injure themselves in a yin yoga/restorative yoga class than they would practising a vinyasa flow/power yoga style in a class environment.
While I normally agree with Jonnie and find his postings to be thoughtful and well directed, this particular piece I'm going to take exception with. Here's why. Holding a pose over time without proper alignment will damage connective tissue. Yin and restoratives have students hold poses for longer periods. Yin Yoga, to my knowledge, doesn't instruct alignment. So students lying around in poses for four or five minutes without alignment instruction are VERY likely to sustain damage.
Certainly there will be some things that come up even in a practice where safety is over-engineered. The body is the diary of our lives and things do get written there. So it's possible for things to bubble forth to be dealt with. But I think the degree, amount, and nature of today's yoga injuries are most preventable.
The one other thing in this thread is the piece about instructing willing students and correction the unwilling. I think it's dangerous territory for those of us who teach to have a predetermined number of times that we will correct a "stubborn", "resistaant" or "unwilling" student before we let it go or move on or stop. Frankly, some students should be told only once, others three times, and still others ten times and this is the approach we should adopt as instructors - to keep at it, come back to it, find other ways, even with the dogmatics, lest we become part of their flock
Edited by purnayoga 2006-10-26 5:56 PM
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| zoebird - 2006-10-26 1:38 PM
as to talking with rachel (not her real name), i have spoken with many teachers about this many times--about the importance of alignment and the risk for repetitive motion injury--injury that can become very severe dpending upon the pose. most of the other teachers believe/think that i'm 'too rigid' and 'not interested in the 'flow' of yoga' and so on. I have n o idea what they're takling about.
Sounds like an egotistic counter offensive. Can't remember the name for such phrases, but you'll often hear them from people who are feeling pretty insecure and on the defensive.
the reason that i stop after three tries is because if i continue i'll only frustrate the student.
\
But honestly, it took a lot of badgering (which i don't like to do) and whining and arguing on his part to get to that point.
While Gordon does have a point about not giving up on difficult students, I think it's a waste of both the teacher and the student time if it's going to be a clash of wills. It's one thing if they don't get it, it's another if they won't.
GJ, doing asanas over and over again is not bad. That's is just total BS.
No, but doing them wrong over and over again without giving the body time to heal is bad. As gordon has pointed out, instruction is on the decline, and it's hard some times to know all the subtles of the various asanas, so it's best to switch from asana to asana. I also think that continually practicing the same asanas over and over again is bad for holistic growth. If you're only strengthing part of the body in some ways, you're going to be over developed in some muscles, under developed in others, which is a recipe for disaster. Not sure how balance Bikram's series is, but I'm guessing it's not perfect (just because I've never heard of any thing that's perfect). |
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| Hi Purna,
Thanks for the feedback on my post.
Both my Iyengar and Ashtanga teachers are very strict with alignment, though I must confess to never actually participating in a yin yoga class. My experience of yin yoga is purely academic and I just assumed alignment is part of their process.
Your point that students holding poses for four or five minutes, without alignment instruction are very likely to sustain damage makes complete sense. It really comes back to the point of more comprehensive teacher training and continuing education.
I love your quote about the body being the diary of our lives.
Jonathon |
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| Thank you everyone. This has all really helped my thoughts on this, it is great to have this forum. I have to agree with Purna about the Yin yoga. My experience with it was absolutely appalling.(See 'Shocked and Confused' thread)
A very good point Johnnie made about the teaching of yoga as a whole, not just focusing on the Asana. If students practice with the Yamas and Niyamas in mind for example it will be alot safer.
There is a danger with students who will do postures that they should not be doing as they don't want to feel 'left out' or 'noticed' even. The said friend with the injuries has told me that when she goes to other classes she will join in with Virasana and Supta Virasana, for instance, (which I will not let her do with her injured knee) as she doesn't like not joining everyone else. (I do think that all my explaining/nagging/pleading with her is getting through now though...finally) I do think that certain postures will never suit certain people and should not be a 'goal'. Anatomically some people should just not go there with some postures. Alternatives are necessary to give people so they don't feel 'left out'. It has become apparent through my friend that some teachers don't always give alternatives.
As for are keeping variety in practice, I have to agree with GJ. Some postures reach parts that others miss within a 'genre' for example, different twists etc
With routines that are very repetitive, alignment only has to be slightly off for RSI to happen. This I notice with Surya Namaskar in Chaturanga in particular. I am constantly reminding people not to let the head of the arm bone dip lower than the elbow to protect the rotator cuff (That was a tip from YogaGuy ages ago and when I went to John Friend he also talked about it.)
I could write more on this but unfortunately have to go now. Will be back later.
PS An idea for the people who will not listen to correction (after the third time etc) Perhaps you could ask their permission to take a digital camera to class and snap them in their poor alignment and then show them why/what they are doing wrong and how dangerous it is? (have a quiet word with them before class or something and see if they are up for it first?) This is something I have only done with my private students and it has been a great learning tool.
Namaste
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| I think pictures are a wonderful idea. I had a couple snapped a while back, and got some great feedback from the forum. Sometimes the student is just stubborn because they're not seeing what you're seeing. |
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| cyndi:
there is a difference between a body that has the posture wrong with a mind eager to learn and a body who has a posture wrong and a mind that is unwilling to learn.
no amount of diplomacy or other behavoir is going to encourage the mind to learn (from me or anyone else). thus, allowing the student to have his/her own lesson and experience by allowing them their ego-need to be right, as well as my own lesson of letting go of the ego-need to correct them, letting go of the ego-need to be 'in control' and so on, is part of the art of teaching yoga. there are lessons in teaching for both students and teachers.
students do not 'run' my classroom, nor am i afraid to teach them. ask students in my area and they'll tell you that i'm the toughest, strictest teacher around and yet i'm also the kindest and most diplomatic as far as giving instruction. if a student eager to learn, they get away with nothing and, as i said, i'll correct and help them refine postures for years because i am eager to teach.
If soemone is not eager to learn, then nothing i can do will make them eager to do so, so i wait until they are. |
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| to the "rule" of number of times to offer instruction:
three times is more of a general rule than a hard and fast one. it's always individually defined. sometimes, once is enough; other times i'll keep working it until the person becomes completely resistant or opens up. when they come back to the next class, it's reset--i'll try again.
this doesn't mean that i dont' give the student any attention in class either. every student in my classes gets individualized instruction. most students will take instruction in any number of postures, but have some attachment to their way of doing a given pose. I'll use a number of techniques to try to encourage them to the right posture--but if they are resistant, that's theirs to overcome. it's part of their lesson.
I'm willing to allow lessons that i am not teaching to be learned through class and practice.
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purna:
the issue of teacher training is really huge. you brought up all themost salient points--but it is a mahor problem here as well. the other problem that i see is inexperienced students becoming teachers through quick teacher trainings. when i first started looking for training 11 years ago, the requirements to take the training were 1-2 years of dedicated, daily practice with a letter from a teacher that demonstrated that you'd been taking yoga classes during that 1-2 years. Today, teacher trainings will accept students who have taken no yoga classes, or one or two at their studio, who have no experience or home practice, and train them as teachers. So, you end up with really inexperienced yogins who become really, really inexperienced teachers.
and the safety issue--nto being able to define it even--is huge.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Personally, no matter how you define this zb, I still think there is an inexperience issue here, on the teachers part. Furthermore, I also think there is a little bit of ego issues as well. Like the teacher who may be slighted because the student won't learn HER way because she's taking a yoga class down the street with Ms. Kimberly so she only gives you 3 try's and your out. There are many aspects to ego. A teacher with a need to correct a student is not an ego issue, it is a teacher doing her job. Please.
This is not what yoga is about. Unless of course, this is the western version of yoga, |
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| the construct of feeling 'left out' or 'noticed' is an ego-process on the part of the student. not all ego-processes are bad, ego gives us an active will. so that can be healthy. but we also know that ego can be dangerous--and this is such an example.
i agree that teachers should give multiple options for difficult postures. when i'm giving more advanced postures to my more advanced students, i make certain that the less advanced or newer students have somethign to do or work on. i explain that what they're doing is the foundation or building block to the more 'fancy' posture and that, with pracitce and time, they will be there too.
I also explain that even though i've been practicing yoga for many years, i still practice many, many modifications because it helps build the posture over time. I find that this also disengages the ego construct of needing to 'be able to do the pose' to 'fit in' and what not. It gets students 'off the hook' of needing or wanting to achieve ppstures before they're ready, because their own teacher is "admitting" that she does modifications so it 'must' be ok.
i'll also tell them about my process. it took me about 5 years to learn chaturanga dandhasana (no one taught me), and when i finally decided to really study, work on it, ask for help form teachers, etc, it took me a lot of work to learn it. from this, i came up with a method of teaching it in which students tend to learn the posture in 2-6 weeks. so, they're 'fast tracked' comparatively to me--and i share this with them as well. BTW, just this semester of classes, i had an entire class get it in one class! pretty amazing!
i talk about how wrong posture alignment can injure them, what sorts of injuries it would cause, and wht that could mean in terms of physical therapy, yoga asana progress, and simple pain. i talk about how to avoid these incorrect postural alignments by letting go of ego-needs to 'achieve' poses, that ego-need and 'affluenza' need to 'collect' postures.
most of these things can be done in class, for the group. at some point, all of us suffer from some form of egotism in regards to yoga asana or other aspects of practice. bringing up one student's chronic problem or struggle (without indicating whose problem it is) and sharing with the class the problem and the solution will help all of the students learn the pose. Finding new ways of communicating the same ideas also helps, as does repitition.
for me, the camera option would take too much time. while i think it's a great option for private lessons, in a classroom setting it may nto be as practical--and it might also make other students uncomfortable. So, i would be wary of this use in a classroom--but if it's something that your classroom is open to, then certainly do it! i believe it can only help. |
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| cyndi,
i respectfully disagree with your assertion due to your inexperience in regards to my classes.
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| Purna and Zoe - As I read your posts I shook my head in agreement. I connect with everything you are saying on this topic.. I find that this is the hardest thing about being a yoga teacher. I teach vinyasa which I think tends to attract a more type-A personality.. There are sooo many people who don't get out of their head and they compromise so much just to get into something.. At the beginning of my class before opening breaths, I talk about this and how it entails releasing judgment, in turn allowing you to get out of your head and into your breath.. I ask them to set their intentions for the class and suggest that one of their intentions is a focus on what CAN do, rather than what they can't do, which will allow the mind to stop chattering and will help link the dots to their yoga practice. I am constantly repeating in my classes, "Rome wasn't built in a day - neither should your yoga practice." I give options and try not to call them modifications.. No matter how many times you correct people, sometimes they just aren't ready to hear you. Sometimes it takes an injury to put one's yoga practice into perspective.. It kind of pushes them to confront that, "now why am I practicing on this mat and who is my practice for?" reality. In turn that can trigger some deeper stuff.. I don't agree with constantly bantering - it's just a waste of energy and it has taken me a long time to detach from that one person who is an injury waiting to happen. There are others who need my corrections so I'd rather spend my energy on one who needs it.. My last resort with the one who is not open to a correction is while he/she is in the posture I will silently make a physical adjustment using a very light touch and usually coming from behind so it's not too much of a distraction. No words are spoken. I usually start the adjusment on a part of the body where the "torq" is not happening, and then I get to where the root is.. 9 times out of 10 they awaken.. When that happens I wipe my hands clean - I got thru.. If it doesn't,my peace of mind is knowing that it will happen one day - perhaps in my class. Perhaps 10, 20,30 years from now.. |
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| The debate rages, does it not? And where is the Op in all this mess?  Nowhere to be found!
It is of course true (to degrees and in layers as all truths are) that the belief systems of students (adult students please) are very tightly woven. This tightly woven fabric makes it very difficult for ANYTHING to get in. So what. You just need to know this as a teacher. The cocoon is snug.
Some things will get through. Some will get through because the student is ready for that particular appetizer. Others will get through via repetition (and the student also being willing) and still other things will get through with growth and education of the student. The good teachers keep trying - not knocking themselves out and draining their energies but continuing the process they are committed to in the first place, teaching.
What is or is not ego on the part of the instructor is not for third parties to say - unless of course you've chosen to study with that third person and therefore it is completely appropriate for that sort of assessment and feedback. But much like a chess match we are not to kibbitz from the gallery.
it would be difficult, both logically and psycho-socially, to justify a teacher's NEED to "correct" (though I prefer "adjust") a student as not being of ego. It may be a responsibility but it is not a need. And in the case where it is responsibility it is not uniformly so. It is case-by-case.
There's nothing wrong with adjusting a student, when the student needs adjustment, the adjustment will help, and the adjustment is done in a bio-mechanically and energetically sound fashion. But every student does not need "individual attention" in order to be taught, in order to learn. Nor does every student that might be adjusted get adjusted. It is appropriate to adjust the students first who are in harms way, safety issues. Then, and only then, do you assess the others.
Edited by purnayoga 2006-10-27 3:47 PM
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| I'm here!!!!!!
I posted on the end of page one, before GJ. Then this page 2 grew really quickly.. I'm still reading..... |
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| daniel:
your perspective is really good. i think that focusing on the breath and releasing judgement is a relaly important part of practice--very helpful for those who are 'in their heads' a lot.
it's partly why i'm drawn to vinyasa in my own practice--the process sets me on a path out of my head and into the moment, the moment of flow, and the lightness ofs imply doing or being--whether it's modified or not.
yeah. . . |
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debate?
