After a lovely warm, quiet teachers’ practice yesterday, I got to thinkin’, I did. There are so many qualities of yoga that we can either ramp up or dial down: contemplative, enthusiastic, sweaty and rockin’, disciplined, et cetera ad infinitum as far as I can tell. That is, I have yet to truly discover the limit of “what is yoga” in terms of the essential quality of a class.

Yet we keep thinking that we can expect a quality out of our teachers or styles that will remain consistent, and I suppose we’re right to do so, since we’re smart and busy people and we deserve to spend our time and our energy in a way that actually rewards our intention [to contemplate, to get sweaty, &c.] It’s a short step from expectation to limitation, though. Or to put it another way, what you think you want out of your yoga can be a trap. And what you think a certain kind of yoga “should be” can also be a trap.

Anusara Yoga consists entirely of straight-legged lunges. That's all you're gonna get to do.

Students are always asking, “What is Anusara Yoga? What make it different from other kinds of yoga? Why should I go to that class as opposed to another style?” It’d be disingenuous of me at this point to pretend that I don’t want them to come to an Anusara class, or that I don’t care what style they practice. Of course I care. I didn’t shift my teaching and my training in this direction randomly; I chose it based on its merits and its pragmatic results both in my personal practice and the manifestation I saw in our community. So I get this question and I’m somewhat nonplussed even though it’s like the simplest, most reasonable question to ask. I think, Should I try to “sell” it since I believe in it so deeply? Or should I tell the truth, which is that the style is defined only by our limited beliefs about it? (more…)

I’m venturing into the wyld interior to visit their vibrant yoga community and hang out for a couple of days…wanna come with?

Oh man, it looks so warm and pretty in this picture.

March 5-7.  The workshop’s overarching theme is the cultivation of a living practice, just in time for Spring.  With the good weather of the February stretch in full swing on this sunny afternoon I’m feeling particularly inspired.  Please contact Pauline Livingstone at www.missionyogastudio.com or phone her at 250.764 .4482 for more details or to enrol.  See you there!