Eyal writes here about contradictions in concepts that we are taught by our teachers. Why does one teacher say an action or adjustment and another teacher say the opposite? How do we decipher among confusing or contradicting applications?
At RIMYI, the teaching is always changing, instruction is dynamic, and learners are taught to break out of patterns of how things 'should' be in order to live moment to moment through the exploration of yoga. Guruji was so special because he had a way of breaking habits in order to explore unknown territory.
Applied home practice is the key to dig through instructions and find out how to cultivate actions. For example in Tadasana, I have been focusing on cutting the inner heels back to help roll the fronts of the thighs in and to spread the sacrum.
After a few years of doing that action, I was instructed to cut the outer heels back, which Geeta taught at the 2015 Convention. At first I was caught off guard and thought "this is not what I learned." But I stopped being resistant to change and opened my mind to try it. I realized that I was over-doing cutting my inner heels back. That action was making my inner knees go back too much. This was happening in Tadasana, Uttanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana and Inversions. Coincidentally, I was in the midst having inner knee pain...ding ding! Time to change. Time to apply what is needed to counteract this over-act and Geeta's teaching was right on target.
Now, I am focusing on cutting my outer heels back to bring the inner knees forward, this is going to help my knee pain because the knee ligaments and ankle bones are more aligned. It is harder to roll the inner thighs in while cutting the outer heels back....Ah-ha, the excitement to be challenged was sparked! When counter-actions become more complex, the fascinating building blocks of Iyengar Yoga help ignite infinite knowledge of exploration.
Iyengar Yoga teachers have a special way of instructing how to rejuvenate and balance practices so we are not stuck doing the same things over and over. This is the art of evolution!
Let us continue to erase the chalkboard of the mind and explore with open-intelligence and an open-heart to embrace intuitive guidance that projects us to discover unknown territories beyond preconceived notions. This is creativity in action!
At RIMYI, the teaching is always changing, instruction is dynamic, and learners are taught to break out of patterns of how things 'should' be in order to live moment to moment through the exploration of yoga. Guruji was so special because he had a way of breaking habits in order to explore unknown territory.
Applied home practice is the key to dig through instructions and find out how to cultivate actions. For example in Tadasana, I have been focusing on cutting the inner heels back to help roll the fronts of the thighs in and to spread the sacrum.
After a few years of doing that action, I was instructed to cut the outer heels back, which Geeta taught at the 2015 Convention. At first I was caught off guard and thought "this is not what I learned." But I stopped being resistant to change and opened my mind to try it. I realized that I was over-doing cutting my inner heels back. That action was making my inner knees go back too much. This was happening in Tadasana, Uttanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana and Inversions. Coincidentally, I was in the midst having inner knee pain...ding ding! Time to change. Time to apply what is needed to counteract this over-act and Geeta's teaching was right on target.
Now, I am focusing on cutting my outer heels back to bring the inner knees forward, this is going to help my knee pain because the knee ligaments and ankle bones are more aligned. It is harder to roll the inner thighs in while cutting the outer heels back....Ah-ha, the excitement to be challenged was sparked! When counter-actions become more complex, the fascinating building blocks of Iyengar Yoga help ignite infinite knowledge of exploration.
Iyengar Yoga teachers have a special way of instructing how to rejuvenate and balance practices so we are not stuck doing the same things over and over. This is the art of evolution!
Let us continue to erase the chalkboard of the mind and explore with open-intelligence and an open-heart to embrace intuitive guidance that projects us to discover unknown territories beyond preconceived notions. This is creativity in action!
