Recently, I've been struggling to keep up the practice of actually going to classes, learning from teachers; the usual yoga thing that most practitioners think of as having a regular practice. Being the father of a two-year old, who is a handful to say the least, a full time job, teaching yoga one lonely class a week, trying rather intermittently not to disappoint and/or irritate my wife too much, and attempting to re-ignite Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training after a three year absence, has made things a bit strained, emotionally and physically.
I did manage to get to The Yoga Shala www.theyogashala.com.sg for some Mysore practice about a month ago, and of course, it was great. The best thing about practicing under experienced, certified Ashtanga teachers is that they have a full scope of possibilities available, and always ask for a higher tier, with not even a hairline of space open for excuses.
There's simply no room for "if you feel like you can't do something, just take child's pose". If you can do A, try for B. If B, try for C...and in Ashtanga, there's an entire alphabet of increasingly difficult options; physical, psychological and spiritual, waiting for you to start chipping away at.
I was all geared up to go yesterday, and for the life of me, couldn't find a taxi, grab car or grab share, to pick me up. I'm terrible at way-finding, and didn't trust myself enough to go via public transport and on foot. As it happens, my wife is sick, my son is lovably exhausting, and I can feel my bi-monthly plague-flu coming, right on schedule, so heading home may have been the best option actually. Next week, assuming I'm not on death's door, it's on like Donkey Kong.
As an aside, or maybe beside, I have friends and batch-mates from my YTT in 2015 who are constantly posting group pictures on social media of themselves at various yoga studios and events, grinning and sweaty after a yoga-booty-ballet-core-vinyasa flow class.
I feel like I should be jealous of the class goers and event participators. Having a social life that doesn't involve toddlers and other, equally exhausted parents discussing poop looks like fun.
In the end though, I'm more confused as to why they keep going to these classes. Why does anybody? After the stringent discipline of Ashtanga, and I'm not criticizing those who love those practices, everything else seems vacuous and disconnected.
A collection of flexibility training and some not-actually-very-difficult bodyweight exercises. Fine, I guess, but really, if you want to get stronger, lift weights. Heavy ones. Squat, and dead-lift, and bench. And eat a lot. That's the secret formula right there. I like my yoga with a big slice of deeper insight.
To summarize, I'm waiting with baited prana; for the day when my son wants to get on the mat. Jiu-jitsu mat or yoga mat, I'll take either one.
- Michael
I did manage to get to The Yoga Shala www.theyogashala.com.sg for some Mysore practice about a month ago, and of course, it was great. The best thing about practicing under experienced, certified Ashtanga teachers is that they have a full scope of possibilities available, and always ask for a higher tier, with not even a hairline of space open for excuses.
There's simply no room for "if you feel like you can't do something, just take child's pose". If you can do A, try for B. If B, try for C...and in Ashtanga, there's an entire alphabet of increasingly difficult options; physical, psychological and spiritual, waiting for you to start chipping away at.
I was all geared up to go yesterday, and for the life of me, couldn't find a taxi, grab car or grab share, to pick me up. I'm terrible at way-finding, and didn't trust myself enough to go via public transport and on foot. As it happens, my wife is sick, my son is lovably exhausting, and I can feel my bi-monthly plague-flu coming, right on schedule, so heading home may have been the best option actually. Next week, assuming I'm not on death's door, it's on like Donkey Kong.
As an aside, or maybe beside, I have friends and batch-mates from my YTT in 2015 who are constantly posting group pictures on social media of themselves at various yoga studios and events, grinning and sweaty after a yoga-booty-ballet-core-vinyasa flow class.
I feel like I should be jealous of the class goers and event participators. Having a social life that doesn't involve toddlers and other, equally exhausted parents discussing poop looks like fun.
In the end though, I'm more confused as to why they keep going to these classes. Why does anybody? After the stringent discipline of Ashtanga, and I'm not criticizing those who love those practices, everything else seems vacuous and disconnected.
A collection of flexibility training and some not-actually-very-difficult bodyweight exercises. Fine, I guess, but really, if you want to get stronger, lift weights. Heavy ones. Squat, and dead-lift, and bench. And eat a lot. That's the secret formula right there. I like my yoga with a big slice of deeper insight.
To summarize, I'm waiting with baited prana; for the day when my son wants to get on the mat. Jiu-jitsu mat or yoga mat, I'll take either one.
- Michael