Commitment

How deep does your commitment go? I've had at least 5 discussions since I've been back from Chicago, and that was only this past Saturday night I got back, its Thursday, with as many people about the behaviors of yogis in the community here in St Louis. Talking about others in groups, rolling their eyes in the presence of someone they deem less of a being than they themselves purport to be, talking behind the backs of those they are friends with in person, and now the new age has added Facebook postings of their own craziness, texting and other stuff. It seemed that each discussion ended up in a study of commitment to me, how committed am I to my yoga practice. Yoga practice not just meaning asana practice, but also the ethical practices of yama and niyama, which are said to come into play once your asana practice has taken you beyond just the physical and tapped you into spirit. So, lets start with asana. I just studied with Kino Macgregor in Chicago, a most inspiring young woman who at the age of 33 is working on the 4th series of ashtanga yoga already, having been certified by K. Pattabhi Jois at the age of 28, which in itself is quite a feat. She also has branded yoga mats, mat covers, clothing and all sorts of stuff, all I think of as being so committed to her practice that she has built a passion that is drawing in the abundance of the universe to her. She is quite the amazing woman, and teacher. So in her dvd in which she practices the 3rd series, she mentions, "now at this point you're physically tired, its time to draw from spirit to make it through the rest of the practice." I heard this and was like, hmmmm, not sure what to make of that. So in my practices since that first viewing (I've watched it like 5 times) when I get to that level of exhaustion, I take a deeper breath and I feel myself go deeper, deeper into what you ask? Deeper, just deeper, I feel my inner body, organs, bones, breath moving through me, and then when I really get my bandhas engaged and my breath flowing, something else comes in and then I pull from there to make it through and man I almost make it through with more vigor and intensity before. Now when I was practicing before, 2000-2007, I was pushing through that point physically. And then was tired the rest of the day and sore. Now I feel invigorated and high, high on life and high on this connection to this deep inner being. I used to get this from KUndalini Yoga, so maybe my exploration in that practice during 2008-2011 really taught me how to get that grip on it, but it being mostly a sedentary practice, my body almost always still hurt, but not from opening, from lack of mobility and my lower spine was compressed the majority of the time, my strength was lower and my awareness of myself at the physical level was lacking. But I will always be greatful because that practice taught me commitment and to dig in deep to spirit to make it through. So, from this deeper inner experience I've found myself being super observant of the yamas and niyamas in my life and how they are manifesting in my speech, in my actions, and in my teaching most of all. I'm wondering if these people I've been hearing about, and hearing with my own ears are that deeply committed to their practice, to their inner practice. Not just doing asanas and pushing through them physically to get this amazing body and physical openness and strength, but digging into spirit whilst moving through their asana practice, so as to create a deeper inner experience during the practice, which will eventually manifest itself in the rest of the day as well. I am friends with one studio owner here in town, I work mostly for her. She is known to be scattered, changing her mind on a dime, that type of thing, and sometimes crabby or even mean. But I get along with her, I understand her and support her and now I know why. People may be perceiving her to be these outer expressions but she is so deeply committed to her inner practices that sometimes her outer lacks. I am better at allowing my inner to inform my outer, so can see the translation into my own life, but she not so much. We've all noticed that she's much better lately and thats great, but either way, I know where she's coming from, so I love and support her and see what she's doing, I get it. So when we're practicing on our mats, lets notice what comes up, how it feels and where we have to go to be able to move past or through it, and then take that thing and move it into our non-mat yoga practice, shall we? I'm in deepest appreciation for all that is happening in my life right now, after 11 years of teaching I'm seeing such amazing things manifest for myself finally, that I couldn't be anything but in appreciation. So maybe, lets start there. Appreciate that person that cuts you off in traffic, appreciate that crabby guy who bumps into you in the store and just grunts instead of apologizes, etc. All these things are showing you how you don't want to act, so you will know how you do want to be, with others, and most importantly, with yourself. Namaste, much love to you all!