Buttocks Gesture?
Prashant class always deserves its own recap, even if I do not catch everything he has to teach, what he has to impart is so important to how we approach our practice of asana and our practice of yoga overall.
Of course, we start with the outer body direction…stretch here, align this, extend that. But it is important to understand the WHY of these instructions, WHAT those actions are giving to us, and HOW we are receiving them. Last class he set the stage for the “community mindedness” of asana. We are not just this body, this mind, and this breath. Each and every aspect, nook, and cranny, the things we see, and the things we don’t are what make up what Prashant often refers to as “the embodiment”. He also has been changing his language a little more specifically, using “you” and “yours” to refer to this community collective of activities within any asana. The self is one thing, but all the rest is something “else”. It is all the “something else” that we are tasked to learn from within our yoga practice.
Today he made a joke how what he (and every “teacher” of yoga does) is a “scam”. We give RIMYI money, or we give money to our teachers for their teaching, when in reality the true teachers lie right there within ourselves. Of course, money is necessary to keep a building and lights on, to keep our tradition alive (parampara), and our Sangha (yoga community) gathering strong. However, his point is that we put a lot of stress on the importance of the external teacher, when our internal teachers must also be found out and listened to more closely.
Yes, we do require external guidance in the system of yoga, but how many times have you been told how to make some posture happen? How to use some prop? And where have you taken those instructions? How many times have you looked at any posture as a community of gestures, actions, receivers, doers…teachers? To Prashant’s point, anything that he imparts to us in a class is merely a fraction of what there is to ultimately learn from our inner experiences.
This morning he also talked a lot about “gestures” and “mudras” (energetic locks or activity) and how each and every asana houses within it countless of these. In his humor, he pointed out that we focus on the external gesture of any position or asana like we spend time looking in the mirror at our face or appearance, but when was the last time we actually “looked” to our buttocks for information or wisdom? The buttocks has its own gestures and mudras that are equally important to the embodiment as every other aspect of the community.
So many aspects of asana are there and so much is housed within us. Underneath the yoga outfits we wear, there is a universe to explore and learn from, to connect to and gain wisdom from. How much time do we really take listening and exploring and probing our own depths? Or, are we always seeking to “do” something more or “do” something else?
In writing about this class, I am asking myself what role do I play as teacher and what role do I see my teachers having for me? Prashant does not claim to be a “teacher”, but a student who shares his knowledge from study. He knows he is not an expert on anything or anyone but himself. However, he paves the way before us, explores himself so that he may draw up some instructions to help us find our own way. But no teacher can “do for us”. Yoga is a SELF study, developed for SELF transformation.
Being a teacher and a student are parts of our Sangha, our yoga community where we share and pass on knowledge and information. And Sangha is an important part of yoga life. The coming together in class and practice sparks inspiration and opens avenues of learning we may not think of as individuals. The Sangha breaks our individual barriers and holds us accountable in study and practice. In Sangha, we come to listen and learn. RIMYI holds that important place as the center of our Sangha.
Prashant is ever realistic as well. He reminds us often that “whatever we catch we catch, and whatever we don’t, better luck next time!!” I did a little shopping in the RIMYI store today and am now armed with the few books I do not already have (thank goodness most are small). So, maybe next writing I will have some more words of wisdom, but if not, better luck next time!
