Tonight in our final Standing Poses class session, of the yoga Advanced Studies Program, Gay White read portions of our papers out loud as we were in restorative poses. This was a wonderful way to listen and absorb the ideas of our classmates and to reflect on our own writings. Here is my paper.
Svadhyaya is the Niyama I am selecting to explore in
relation to the Standing Poses class because it reflects my intention for
participating in the Advanced Yoga Studies program. Through the practice of
yoga it is my goal to develop a deeper understanding of both myself and of my
community. According to B.K.S Iyengar, the meaning of Svadhyaya means self and
study or education.
A statement Iyengar makes that resonates with me is, “When
people meet for svadhyaya, the speaker and listener are of one mind and have
mutual love and respect.” I take this to have two meanings. The first is that
you are both teacher and student when learning about yourself. The second is
that when you are learning from another, or providing instruction, you should
have compassion for the other, and for yourself. This becomes a conversation
that can at times be spoken instruction and other times a silent exploration of
self.
This dynamic internal and external dialogue has taken place
for me in this course because of the challenges of the poses and learning
Sanskrit. Standing poses are some of the most difficult because they involve
balance, often while rotating. This becomes a mind game at times, where you are
both teacher and student, talking yourself into, and sometimes out of, being
able to move into a pose.
The benefit of taking this class with a group of people and
being instructed, is that we are creating a community of practice. The learning
process is highly supported, allowing us to find balance both in our poses and
in our student/teacher internal/external dialogues. We are here to support each
other in finding balance.
I believe it is essential for us to struggle through the
learning of both poses and Sanskrit. Adopting these new movement and language
vocabularies are almost a right of passage that must be explored in order to
advance our understanding of the Asanas, as well as understanding ourselves. It
is not a simple journey.
As Iyengar states, “Philology is not a language but the
science of languages…Yoga is not a religion by itself. It is the science of
religions, the study of which will enable sadhaka the better to appreciate his
own faith.” As students we are on that same journey in the Advanced Studies
Program. We are following the path of learning and adopting new movements, new
understanding and new languages. At the same time we are teaching and
supporting each other as we build our community of practice.
Through this Standing Poses course I have found new
understanding of myself. My strength has increased, my understanding of Yoga
has improved, and my faith in my teaching and learning has developed. Instead
of pushing away from a challenge, I embrace it and look to my peers and my
instructor for deeper meaning. It is this combination of being student and
teacher that allows me to understand how much there is to learn.
