19/09/2017
A view worth sharing.
"No Pain, no Yoga" Sri K Pattabhi Jois
On pain, Injuries, suffering and a few more things...
Picture by Dragos Grama. (Minor surfing injury causing major Asana limitation)
Maybe that was the best answer Guruji came up with, over the years, when students kept complaining about their "pain".
If we consider practice as a mirror of our life, we all know that life without pain is not real and you can only avoid it for so long. Many times, avoiding the inevitable will transform that minor body "pain" into a major life suffering. Practice is not a tool to create your ideal pretend, imaginary world or the image that "you" want to see. Good and bad, pain and pleasure, are different sides of the same coin of "All is Coming."
You can use makeup and even facelifts to try and change the image you see on the mirror. You can use as many "filters" as you want. Maybe your image "looks" better and you will have the sensation that you are more beautiful. Will that change anything substantially? Inside you are the same person.
To study anatomy and "mixing" it with Yoga, is similar to using makeup to look prettier. Same goes with trying to change the practice to avoid that pain or injuries that are not even there yet.
I have noticed that students do not keep their legs straight anymore, they bend the knees in every pose, even during Sun Salutations. I am not sure who's "Asana tutorial" this new approach comes from, or who is the "Famous Teacher" making this and some other changes to the Ashtanga practice. Guruji, Sharath, Iyengar and Krishnamacharya were always very strict about having the legs straight, knee caps pulled up. Unless, you are pregnant, you are very stiff or suffering from extreme back pain, why should you bend your knees? Why are so many flexible and potentially strong practitioners keeping that "lazy bent" attitude towards the practice? It is OK to be lazy, but one can do that at home! When you step into a Yoga Shala you better get your act "straight"!!!
I am not saying that one should not tell a "particular" student to bend his knees if "he / she" needs to. Mysore style should be adapted to each individual, but to set such nonsense as a "rule" is just not the "correct method."
Ashtanga Yoga is designed to clean and align your body and your mind as fast as possible, so you can access and have a glimpse of Truth. Why should one "waste" time? Why not just go for it?
Guruji's quotes are often taken too literally. When asked about Samadhi, he always said: "Many life times!"
The fact is that no one knows if there is such a thing as "many life times," and why would any one make such an effort, knowing that Self-realization was not attainable? My interpretation is that by saying that you basically could not "attain it," in one life time, you automatically give up the fruits of your action and just take practice! Regardless of the outcome of your effort.
Spiritual ambition will rack your mind and physical ambition will rack your body. To find balance takes time, sweat and often also pain. One should know that by taking this practice seriously, you will walk between the edge of Pain and Pleasure; you will experience this in all realms of life.
I have experienced major body pain in my years of practice, so intensely that I could only get out of the bed to teach and go back to bed afterwards.
At one point I submitted myself to a full body MRI. It was a crazy experience, specially coming from such an alternative background where no one in my family ever took vaccines, antibiotics, ate meat, etc.
The results of my MRI were inconclusive. I had no herniated discs, no misplaced bones and the doctor said that my spine looked amazing!!! Yet, I had extreme contractions on my rib-cages, to the point I could not breathe. Practicing was impossible to bare! I also had such pain in my sacrum, for more than two years, that it was impossible for me to lay down in "Savasana."
The problem was that, deep inside, I knew the truth! And the truth was that I was living a lie and no amount of Yoga would "heal" me. Yoga was pushing me to make changes in my life! I was practicing to change it. Yet the idea of "change" caused me extreme fear and anxiety. I knew what I had to do. I had to change in my real life. It was easier to push deeper into my physical practice and avoid making the changes all together. The "future pain" of life changes were too scary!!! I was doing what society expected and whatever "ideal" I had imposed on myself, but the Yoga had other plans for me. You do not use Yoga to control life! You surrender and sometimes take a beating! A warrior goes to war! You can only hide behind fancy Asanas for so long. If truth is what you want, you will have it. Truth hurts and Truth is painful only when you don't accept change! When Yoga bites you hard, it teaches a great lesson: That you are not in control!
Yoga shows you the truth and your reality, not the fantasy you want. One should be willing to access it. Fantasy is very appealing, yet in life, reality is what we get. If you choose the path of Ashtanga Yoga, not only Asana, but all the 8 limbs included, with the Yamas and Niyamas that we tend to avoid. You better give up on all those pain killers and all those things society uses to "numb" us. Yes, life changes! Life will beat you hard! There is nothing you can do! And like everything else, that shall also pass, that body pain will pass, that anxiety will vanish! And we will not be young forever! We shall all pass one day. You will not see the light, if you are not willing to walk on your darkness! This practice is the real deal and you can only "fake it" for so long.
Now you tell me if there really is any "Yoga Anatomy Course" or any "changes in the practice" that truly gives you a "deeper" understanding of your body that will allow you to "dodge" the inevitability of dealing with pains and your own Karma in this lifetime. More than that: How relevant is your pain and your constant complaining about it? To be able to do this practice is a great gift and too often we take it for granted.
We should be more appreciative to all our Yoga pains and learn with them. There is no growth without pain. There are so many people in the world experiencing war and real suffering. Lets be thankful!
You have one life! One shot! It is up to you to make the best of it. Complain less and get real.
Blessings,
Tarik
