We had class last night and this morning with Geeta. She is just such an amazing teacher.


Since people so graciously commented on my last entry about "vicarious" learning and so on, I have yet another lesson to share. This morning in class we were on the floor in supta baddha konasana. (Yes, Jessie, I know, you are going to be expecting a lot more lying down in addition to the increased time devoted to savasana and its many variations!) So we are lying down with the soles of our feet together and our knees bent out to the sides and Geeta says to turn the inner groins from the inside out. I grab my outer thighs to try to turn my thighs more outward. I am also looking around at the people next to me to see if I am doing it right and before I know it she is looming over me. "How are you going to find your inner thighs by looking at someone else? Do you not know where your inner thighs are?" She grabs a hold of her inner thighs and say, "These are the inner thighs. Didn't I say to grab your inner thighs and turn them out? Your thighs-grab them and turn. Don't look around at others for your answers! Do what I say. If your teacher has not showed you something then you do not know. You only know what you have been taught. You must listen and do as I say."

And, not surprisingly, the way she meant for the action to be done was a lot more effective than what I was doing! (And, incidentally, the person I was looking at was doing it wrong also) So the seemingly simple asana lesson, when taken off the mat translates into a lesson about self-confidence, self-trust and looking within for answers, and a lesson as well about how to improve my studentship, my adhikara, all of which is more intersting and useful than simply "how to deepen a stretch".

I love that about yoga. Truly, it is a revelatory process. If I pay attention- not just to what I do but to what I fail to do and even the way I do and fail to do, I can leanr so much about myself and the ways I can grow.

Another gem from this morning's class. Geeta adjusted a woman's shoulders and then came back around and she had "lost the adjustment".
Geeta: "Why are your shoulders lifting?"
Woman: "I didn't realize what happened."

Geeta: "I know that. I am making you to realize. This is self-realization after all. I am making you to realize what you are doing."

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