Workout, what workout?

Asana practice is not a workout. It’s a moving meditation, designed to still the fluctuations of the mind.

‘Citta vritti narudah’ – yoga sutra 1.2

It’s not about manipulating the external appearance of your body. No physical routine—no matter how rigorously athletic–will alter the relative length of your bones. Nor is it about sweating away healthy levels of body fat. Asana practice is not about bullying your mesomorph (pitta) body, forcing it into an uncomfortable ectomorph (vatta) shape. These are all examples of ‘wrong thinking’ (bhranti-darshana in Sanskrit).

Conveniently, regular yoga practice is the remedy for such misperceptions.

Done well,

with great commitment and attention,

over the course of an entire lifetime,

the practice can lead to a quiet state of blissful awareness and connection,

called ‘samadhi’.

 

Along the way, you get a fabulously healthy body, a sane mind, and a well-balanced daily life. These, however, are simply side effects.

‘You find yourself with a tremendously fit body, so you can do the great work of your life.’ –Eddie Stern

Three essential elements form the foundation: breath, movement and gaze.

Breathing should be free, normal, organic and smooth. Sounds easy, right? Not so much! We breathe 21,000 times each day, but we don’t do it well. It’s the most basic rhythm of life…and we can’t hold down the beat. This is why we ask you to ‘add audio’ in the opening and closing breathing exercises (Pranayama and Kaphalabhati), so that you can actually hear the pattern of your own breathing, from inside yourself.

To further focus attention, we add choreography to the breathing! Not only must we regulate our breathing over the course of at least ninety minutes, we must also coordinate breathing and movement. Each posture prescribes a specific breathing pattern. So do the transitions between postures.

That doesn’t mean you can speed up and slow down breathing to fit the posture. Movement follows breath. Breathing is boss! That said, we are supposed to move together, as a unified group. Which means that we have to breathe in unison.

(Insert appropriate expletive here.)

Last, but not least, we ask you to control carefully the movement of your eyes. Each posture prescribes a specific gaze (‘drishti’).

There’s so much to learn, to think about, to do. And we’ve only just begun. The practice is much deeper, more subtle and more rewarding than flat abs could ever be.

‘Maybe you came to class because you want a yoga butt. The practice is SO MUCH MORE than that. Let the yoga be bigger than your ass.’ -Leo Eisenstein

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” —Patanjali

 

Come to class. Cultivate a deeply committed personal practice. You only get one chance, one life. Make it extraordinary!

‘You have nothing to lose, but your balance.’ -Chris Fluck