How Your Practice Serves You

A little while back, I came across a lovely quote from Krishnamacharya: "Do not worry about how well you do your yoga practice. Focus on what the yoga practice does for you."

When I look back on my modest years of yoga practice, I can see that for many years I practiced yoga in such a way that I was robbing myself of the joy and freedom that yoga has to offer. Instead of accepting the limits of my body and my situation and exploring those realities, I would attempt the poses with the fantasy of an alternate reality.

Rather than investigating the situation in which I would find myself, I would slip into the mindset that I wasn't quite "there yet." Once I "got there" THEN I'd be doing yoga...

It's so easy to be concerned about how our poses look, or how we're doing compared to other people in class... but the truth is that we're doing our own yoga. We do yoga for ourselves so that we may serve others. In its truest form, the yogic life can bring us closer to ourselves and others. When the internal dialogue is one of competition, comparison, judgment, and impatience we serve neither ourselves nor others.

So, I loved this reminder from Krishnamacharya - next time you practice, notice how the practice is serving you. What feelings and responses is it generating in your mind, your heart, your energy level? How do you feel after practice? How do you behave after practice? Think about what you discover in answer to these questions... how is your yoga practice serving you?

The Value of Actually Practicing

This summer I decided to be a bit more organized about my home practice... and I made a list of poses I wanted to be sure to work on. These poses are ones that are really hard for me (ie. nearly impossible!), but that we work on in class from time to time. I had realized that since they were so hard for me, I didn't practice them very often. In truth, it seemed almost ridiculous to bother with practicing them - that's how hard they felt.

Well, I decided to practice them anyway. And to my utter amazement, I've found out a thing or two. I've only begun to see the tip of the iceberg, but in just a couple months, these "impossible" poses have begun to find their way into my practice and into my body. I've discovered ways to feel lighter, calmer, optimistic, patient... even in the face of such big challenges.

It's almost embarrassing how much this amazed me, but it's a wonderful reminder to me about the power of practicing - no matter how fruitless it seems like it might be! Keep plugging away with patience and persistence, and doors slowly open.

These two articles are from a newletter of yoga thoughts by Amey Fearon Mathews on yoga practice. They seem related so we published them together. Special thanks to author Amey Fearon Mathews. Amey began studying yoga in 1994. In the last few years I have been studying primarily in the Iyengar tradition, though she has done various forms of yoga including kundalini and vinyasa yoga. In teaching yoga, it is her goal to impart to my students a sense of enthusiasm, curiosity, and acceptance towards their practice.

Amey shares elements of yoga which have most held her attention, and which have helped her to feel increasingly optimistic about herself, others, and the world at large with each year that I practice yoga. Her practice has evolved into a complete commitment to living with the principles of yoga, following (as best as she can) the eight fold path of yama (ethical behavior towards others), niyama (observances in one's relationship with self), asana(postures), pranayama (breathwork and awareness), pratyahara (drawing of senses inward), dharana (concentration and focus), dhyana(meditation), and samadhi (connection beyond self).

Her primary teachers have been Sharon Gannon & David Life, and Kofi Busia.She teaches in California at these places:

Yoga Within
8035 #27 Soquel Drive
Aptos, CA 95003
and
Center for Yoga and Personal Growth
716 Capitola Ave., Suite 1
Capitola, CA 95010

To learn more, see Amey's website http://www.yogawithamey.com or reach her via email at amey@yogawithamey.com .

All rights reserved by author
Copyright Amey Fearon Mathews