Q Dear Yogi Marlon,
I've been very fortunate to study with an extraordinary teacher in my hometown for 10 years. It saddens me to know that he is moving very far away, but it saddens me even more that I am unable to continue to learn a full range of yoga techniques from any other teacher I've met. Why do most teachers only teach postures when they teach yoga? How do I continue?
“Anonymous”
Los Angeles, CA
A Dear Robert,
Iyengar's quintessential encyclopedia, “Light On Yoga”, which provides extraordinary detail on asana, also outlines a multitude of alternative yoga techniques in its first chapters. Two textual cornerstones of yogic study, Patanjali's “Yoga Sutras” and the “Hatha Yoga Pradipika”, dedicate surprisingly little text to asana. Yet if exercise alone is all one desires from yoga, I recommend one respects that and searches for a teacher who understands yoga was not designed to be an hour and a half of boot camp-like practice. Just as an appetizer is intended to stimulate not satiate one's appetite, when asana is truly successful it lessens maya to the point of enticing a conscious desire for spiritual blossoming.
Yet the question lingers why so many well-meaning yoga teachers place undo emphasis on being an entertaining DJ, who call out postures and hammer student's bodies into exhaustion, never thinking to employ the now nearly extinct pratyhara. The fifty minutes of standing, lateral postures, whose pure muscle-building focus is quite common in American classes today, is reminiscent of the pumping craze of 80's aerobics. Over time, this overly brahmana approach antithetically dissipates shakti reserves, when containing or accumulating shakti and promoting sattva are more authentic yogic goals. Without a fitting balance of langhana techniques, this focus also disregards another basic tenant of yoga, which is to return one to the homeostasis of prakruti. One wonders why is all but an occasional mention of ujjayi is absent from curriculums, which are ubiquitously devoid of pranayama. Why deny students the powerful tool of bandha practice? Can it be that so many who teach yoga simply, yet sadly, have not been taught more themselves?
It seems Georg Feuerstein's wagging finger concurs in the documentary, “Yoga Unveiled”, as he warns that the West's increasingly abbreviated definition of yoga puts the 5000-year-old tradition in danger of being lost. Continuing to omit yoga techniques beacons back to the Nicean Council, who extirpated many Christian teachings claiming they were too complex for the uneducated masses to understand. There is a reasonable fear that our society's fragmentation of yoga will result in a once-sacred tradition stripped of its deep spiritual value and devoid of its intrinsic mystical ability to empower the individual soul.
With more practitioners in America than India today, I believe the responsibility of accurately carrying the torch of yoga is “karmically” in our collective, American laps. In light of your desire to “go on” and learn a full repertoire of yoga techniques, “Anonymous”, I suggest you ask teachers to specify which techniques they have practiced proficiently. Study only with those you believe have tremendous knowledge of a great variety techniques and the desire to articulately teach them to you. Here is a list of techniques, which I personally consider to be a basic foundation of yoga essentials.
Asana: a full range of brahmana and langhana postures
Pranayama: kumbhaka, ujjayi, viloma, pratiloma, nadi sodhana, sitali, bastrika,
Pratyhara: withdraw of the senses
Dhyana- one point focus, precursor to meditation
Meditation:
Kriyas: kapalabhati, bhramari, etc
Laya Yoga: chakra-awakening techniques
Bhakti yoga: devotional practices including chanting
Yamas and Niyamas: ethical & lifestyle guidelines
Bandhas: 3 internal locks: jalandhara, uddiyana, mula
Lastly, let me offer the thought that a diligent focus on yoga is advisable, and trusting grace to unfold it is wise.
Om shanti,
Yogi Marlon
If you have a sincere interest in trying yoga and are minimum 50 lbs overweight, please email me at questions@askyogimarlon.com with BIG YOGA in the subject line.
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