At that time my knees did not come to the floor in Baddhakonasana so he put one hand on one knee and one foot on the other and one hand on my head. He pushed down on my knees and then he started to push my head outwards.
During the discussion there was an interval of cross talk and commotion, and during this time Guruji looked at me, and for a moment it was as if it was only he and I in the room.
One of the most important maps is visualization or imagery. So that rather than being physical first, you approach practice from a place of imagery or visualization. This is one of the most fascinating aspects to the work.
To practice Isvara pranidhana is to endeavor to live your life from the perspective that everything under the sun shares a benevolent, invisible, cohesive, inescapable connection with everything else.
'Nothingness merged with nothingness', the zero position, Samastitihi this is where IT happens, where I befriend you, the mind horse, I get control of the reins that direct you and the ungraspable becomes graspable.
Look to this book, study this book, marry this book, obsess over this book, consume this book, love this book, bow to this book, become a connoisseur of this book, appreciate its subtle bouquet, its heady nose, its earthy, chewy flavors...
That is one of the main reasons for practice—to inspire yourself. It's not only discipline, determination, toughness and stubbornness that gets me on my mat each day…
Its not extreme. It doesn't mean there aren't physical or mental benefits but it's like trying to fit a square peg through a round hole.
Asana practice can teach me the necessity of allowing thought to be born out of bodily awareness, out of feeling, sensing, and perceiving in a very distinctly animal way.
Pattabhi Jois demanded that his students follow his method with clear and strict accuracy, but he achieved this partly by tolerance, understanding, smiles, hugs and overall benevolence.
