Pranayama with Geeta

We had our first pranayama class with Geeta last night which was remarkable in so many ways. It was crowded- maybe 75 or more people in the room. (Those of you who are reading this who practice in Austin, imagine a room 2/3 the size of the big room at Westgate with 75 or more people in it.) One of the first things we did was savasana to prepare for the pranayama. As Geeta talked and worked with our posture she made a particular note of how the thighs need to release. She even gave instructions for the Westerners in the room and their tendencies and the Indians in the room and their tendencies.

Then we sat up for seated ujayi pranayama. as we were all getting settled into your posture and set-ups with the requisite props, she zeroed in on one woman's posture and asked her, "Do you always sit that way for pranayama?"
Silence.
Geeta: Do you?
More silence.
Geeta: Answer me.
Woman: Yes.
Geeta: Who taught you to sit that way? Is that really how you sit?
Woman: Yes, it is comfortable as long as I support my thighs.
Geeta calls the woman up to the stage to demonstrate how she was sitting. The woman assumes her posture on the stage. (She was pretty slumped, certainly by pranayama standards, and her legs were crossed mid -shin with her knees up about as high as her lower rib cage.)

Geeta then launched into a teaching about how comfort has very little to do with seated pranayama. "What does comfort have to do with it? See how I am sitting now? I am sitting this way because it is comfortable for my legs which are paining me lately. No matter what I am doing my legs are paining me so when I conduct classes such as this I am sitting in this position for my comfort. But even when my legs are bad I do not sit like this for pranayama." She motions to the room, "Many of you have been watching me take my pranayama in a chair for the last few months- that is because my legs are not well."

She has someone bring her a chair and she instructs the woman on the stage how to sit in the chair and the effect on her posture is immediate. Then she modifies the chair posture even further and her position improves even more. Geeta then has the woman resume her previous position on the floor. The contrast is unmistakable. Point made- we all got it. (Personally I am so grateful for the teaching and the dignity with which the woman manged herself throughout the episode and gave us an opportunity to learn from her.)

She tells us, "You must understand this as compassion in action. As a teacher it is my duty to address these faults when I see them. I know by looking at this woman she is not experiencing the beauty of pranayama. She does it because she is supposed to and because people tell her to but it alludes her. I must help her. ..." At this point it was almost as if she just started picking up speed. She said,"This is what I was talking about with the legs back in savasana. Where is that man by the column. Let me see him. " (She show the way the Indian man's legs look in savasana and adjusts him. And then,"Where is that other woman by the other column? Let me see her." This is a western woman and she shows us the differences in her legs as compared to the Indian and how to adjust so that the legs and the groins and therefore the nerves can settle.

At this point, it is obvious and somewhat palpable in the room- she has seen everyone in the room and even though 75 people were packed into the hall and there was a feeling of invisibility in that, each of us was seen.There is no where to hide when she is teaching. And as she adjusts the woman she says, "If I keep going I will make her cry. Just like the first woman who started to cry when she had to return to her original posture. And none of you have an answer about why she would cry. She kept herself together but the tears came. Did you not see? Answer me, why would she cry? None of you have an answer, do you? (At this point I feel like crying and I do not have an answer for that either!) The tears come because you taste freedom. What do you suppose it is like to be in a prison for so long and then to suddenly be released, to experience freedom and then be told you must return to the prison? Would that not make you cry? And that is why the tears came when I told her to go back to her first posture. After you feel what your ribs can do, when you feel what your diaphragm is capable of, when you feel your groins release, you know a freedom. Is is not your duty to look for that when you practice?"

I am blown away. I think we all were. The compassion and understanding she is offering in her teaching is tangible. There is not a doubt in my mind that she understands the difficulties of what she is asking of us as practitioners and students, not one doubt that she can look right through me, but not one doubt in my mind that she has the highest Possibility in mind for each of us. I kept thinking that her willingness to face herself and her situation squarely must give her this kind of vision and clarity.

Anyway- she actually suggested the chair modification to me later in the class and it really helped me. (Shock of all shocks, my groins are tight! She said to me, "You are tight in this." I nod. She continues,"I did not ask you, I am telling you. You agree?" I nod again and say, "Yes, definitely." She says, "So use more height and if that does not do it use the chair."

And so I tried more height and it helped but then I started thinking, "Did this really "do it". I have a vision of her coming back over saying to me, "You think that this is it??? You fool! Who taught you to think this way? Everyone come look....) Anyway, I got the chair and I must say it was the first time my groins have ever felt soft in seated pranayama. Ever.

Of course there is more to say as always but enough said for now.