But yoga is not not a physical practice.
Yep.
The obsession with “exercise yoga” in the West, and in New York City, had me rebelling against the physical aspect piece of the practice for some time now. The part called asana. I don’t want to be an exercise teacher.
And also, the great transformative power and beauty of this practice can get distorted for me, in classes where the heat building and acrobatic elements of yoga practice are emphasized more so than the spiritual and energetic aspects.
I have been in a great rebellion around it, for some time.
I have preferred meditation. I have preferred teaching a slower flow. I have stayed away from guiding my students to a place of massively releasing their sweats. I have preferred to teach a more subtle practice.
And right now, something is shifting for me.
I am getting something.
The gross physical body is a map of the subtle and energetic bodies. And there are deep benefits to the physical practice, in its way of targeting the parts of the body that correspond to the pieces of our life that are out of balance.
For example, building strength in the thigh muscles – like the quadriceps brings a grounding quality to life.
As my teacher, Wendy Newton reminded me the other day, there is a reason why asana is included in the 8 limbs. It’s not a mistake.
Kriya techniques are for bringing awareness to the movements of subtle energies in the body. They are highly effective for tuning to the unbound field and re-sourcing our energy system.
I prefer to teach Kriya.
But there is also great value to asana.
We need both.