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.
One of yoga's GREAT gifts is to show you your limits, To show you that despite thinking you are giving everything you have to give it is not enough.
Sharath spoke about each of the 6 classic yogic cleansing practices and concluded that Ashtanga practice achieves the same benefits and thus largely replaces these practices.
Balancing in a full squatting position is one of the most important and challenging aspects to this posture. The feet are your foundation, they are directly in contact with the earth.
