My thoughts are still brewing on my overdue follow up post on the rasas and limiting our diet of anger and other emotions. I know it’s overdue, because I just went upstairs to yell at my neighbor for being noisy. There’s some rasa for you.
But in the mean time, while I avoid dealing with that, here’s something for you to think about:
“Your asana should make you pay attention. You want to feel a little uncomfortable.”
I heard this recently while on vacation, taking class at an unfamiliar studio. I was at first put off by this suggestion, party because I felt like the teacher had just given me a rather uncomfortable hands-on adjustment. And I was on vacation – the whole point was to be comfortable. I was in class that day to feel good, to relax, and stretch my travel-weary muscles.
But he was right. Asana is often uncomfortable not only because our muscles are tight, but because holding poses can bring up emotions and memories that we might want to push aside, or we might not like realizing that maybe we could work a little harder, or differently. If our yoga is so comfortable that our mind is wandering and we aren’t paying attention, what is it doing for us? (The exception of course being restorative poses, that are designed to help us let go and not be uncomfortable).
What do you think? Have some of your best or most interesting yoga experiences been when you’ve been a little uncomfortable? How do you know that you’re crossing the line from paying attention and instead injuring yourself, or focusing too much on achievement?
