This entire site started ⓒ September 24, 2010 to present day, and all photographs and text herein, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted by David Thomas, a certified Iyengar yoga instructor. No part of this site, or any of the content contained herein, may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without express permission of the copyright holder(s).

Sep 30, 2010

Positioning Yourself

The other day I was cutting the end off of a long piece of wood to make a bookshelf. In preparation I put the wood on a workbench. The wood was so long that it hung over both ends of the workbench so I needed to support one end with something. I used a lawn chair and a water bucket. Then I stopped and realized I needed to get into the right position to cut the wood. I’ve noticed this same thing with my dog Bear.

When Bear relieves himself he doesn’t just squat. He first finds a place. Then he walks around in circles or back and forth until he gets into just the right position, satisfied, he then squats and does his business.

I realize that positioning myself when I am practicing yoga is similar. If I don’t get myself just in the right position then the asana doesn’t present itself in the same way. I find this very interesting, how this positioning of oneself before entering the asana makes the asana so much more approachable. So just like I naturally position myself to cut the wood, and Bear naturally positions himself to do his business, we naturally position our selves to practice asanas.

Take note the next time you practice to see if this is so for you.

No comments:

Post a Comment