03/17/2024
It is hard to find balance between “Tapas” (the fire of the practice, discipline, commitment) and “Vairagya” (detachment). Ancient yogic teachings say we should do the work but not get attached to the fruits of our labor. And yet, when we fall in love with Ashtanga yoga, it is not uncommon to develop more and more attachment. Everything revolves around this practice, we are getting fixated on the stop asana, measure internal depth of the practice by external progression in the sequence. When you think about it, it actually takes us away from the whole point of yoga.
Over the course of past few years, I’ve been drifting more and more towards Vairagya. Until one day I realized it was hard to connect to my Tapas. So this trip to Mysore was about reminding myself what it is that I love about this practice, what maintains my own fire. At the same, I didn’t want to be caught up in competition, “yoga politics” and chasing external results. Let go of all that, and still find intension, honesty and meaning in every breath and movement is not an easy thing to do. But it is so necessary.