Support

My subject today is support. I remember being at the Iyengar Yoga Association conference in Toronto. During the time I was there I listened to a lot of stories about people’s trips to India. These stories were not just about their adventures in India but also about the support they received from their life partners left at home. Being in the situation of owner/teacher of a Yoga studio, I have made sacrifices of not being able to travel to India as often as I should have. When I did go I always had the support at home so I could go.
A support in asana practice gives us the opportunity to learn what we couldn’t without it. This is also true of the support of the partner at home when we go away. Personally speaking this is also true of the support I get from the students that attend my classes; I’m not only talking about the average student who plunks down their money and attends a session of classes. I’m talking about a community that is growing around the yoga studio because people offer to help in many significant, varied and enriching ways. This has been going on for years now. As the support of a bolster in Supta Baddha Konasana allows me to open my chest, so also the support of the yoga community and the support of my partner in life Muriel Zimmer, a dedicated Yogini herself, allows me to keep the studio running all these years.
Sometimes I feel that we forget that most of us are lucky to have support in life no matter what that support may be. So let’s all acknowledge that support to whoever or whatever is offering that gift to us.