Disclaimer: This article does not seek to be the ultimate and absolute explanation about the topic, but aims to paint a portrait of the main obstacles that concern Yoga practitioners nowadays.

Being able to perform extreme body shapes is often taken as a certain sign of social authority amongst the yoga practitioners. Living in a world where values and principles are increasingly more absent, the race for social status becomes a merciless fight. Consequently, this ambition and achievement-oriented mindset, can easily become infused in what otherwise would have been intended as a spotless practice.

However, the dynamical and rhythmical system of Ashtanga Vinyasa can become profoundly intense and could prompt yoga practitioners to become blind and fall into the trap of their own egotistical desires. While Ashtanga [Vinyasa] Yoga as a system is a tool for development of consciousness, if not properly used, it will either not work or will be harmful in some way.

This article begins discussing how the teaching approach shifted along the decades at the Mysore shala. It then examines the physical conditions with which the individuals begin their Yoga journey. Subsequently, it explores the practitioner’s mindset regarding identification and what constitutes the right attitude.

Although asana is the third limb in Ashtanga Yoga, it became the doorway for a large number of people to plunge into this fascinating practice. It was thanks to Pattabhi Jois, whose approach was to teach asana first, that the pupils would get mesmerized with this archaic method. There is no doubt that a regular asana practice strengthens the body and the mind, as stated in the “Hatha Yoga Pradipika” Verse 17:

“Prior to everything, asana is spoken of as the first part of hatha yoga. Having done asana one gets steadiness (firmness) of body and mind; diseaselessness and lightness (flexibility) of the limbs”.

Consequently, all those quick accessible benefits possibly mark the cause for the rise in popularity.

Contrary to general belief, the practice of Ashtanga Yoga is not merely the asana practice. To the surprise of the many, I have witnessed mind-scattered and deeply troubled people practicing advanced asana series. Moreover, I have seen once an extreme case of what I called “asana collectors”, demanding the teacher to fulfil the expectations for what he had planned to learn in that trip. Even though these are extreme cases, there is a tendency for ravenousness in the world in general, as well as in the yoga world.

It’s certainly worth referring to a sort of dogmatism or stiffness by some, in the Ashtanga’s system approach. The “one rule for all” used as a template into which everyone has to fit in order to be able to advance through the sequence is a clear example of that. It stands as a set of pre-requisites that should be fulfilled with disregard for a number of factors like body constitution, essence of the posture, and overall quality practice, to name a few. Under such circumstances, an individual with short arms and fleshy thighs cannot possibly grab the hands in Marichasana D. As a clarification, I would like to mention that I’m not against the structure, but my claim is based at the absence of individualised procedure. Therefore, by inference, this would naturally lead to either a dogmatic approach or an ignorant teacher. Furthermore, I’m led to think that this approach potentially comes forth for another reason, as we will discuss next.

In order to understand the following aspect, I need to provide some context first.

Here, G.I. Gurdjieff on knowledge as something material:

“One of the first characteristics of materiality is that matter is always limited, that is to say, the quantity of matter in a given place and under given conditions is limited. Even the sand of the desert and the water of the sea is a definite and unchangeable quantity.

…

But we know, even from an ordinary observation of life, that the matter of knowledge possesses entirely different qualities according to whether it is taken in small or large quantities. Taken in a large quantity in a given place, that is by one man, let us say, or by a small group of men, it produces very good results; taken in a small quantity (that is, by every one of a large number of people), it gives no results at all; or it may give even negative results, contrary to those expected. Thus if a certain definite quantity of knowledge is distributed among millions of people, each individual will receive very little, and this small amount of knowledge will change nothing either in his life or in his understanding of things. And however large the number of people who receive this small amount of knowledge, it will change nothing in their lives, except, perhaps, to make them still more difficult.

But if, on the contrary, large quantities of knowledge are concentrated in a small number of people, then this knowledge will give very great results.”

P.D. Ouspensky’s “In Search of the Miraculous, Fragments of an Unknown Teaching”, 1949.

It’s common knowledge that one teaches as he is taught. In fact, this was required by Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois to their own students. When Pattabhi Jois begins to teach westerners in the 70’s and 80’s, the students arriving to the old shala every morning were very few, maybe a dozen. This fact created the circumstances for those students to have more chances to get a substantial knowledge. Accordingly, they had an individual approach and extra opportunities to learn about the “why’s” and the “how’s”, and overall, they could spend more time with their teacher, absorbing the instruction and creating a higher quality bond with them.

My experience with these, now “senior” teachers, is that they really integrated with the learnings, not so much because of their long years of practice, but because they were taught in the right circumstances.

On the other hand, the students that arrived to Mysore in the late 90’s and early 2000’s had an entirely different experience. By those years, Ashtanga became popular in some pockets around the world and as a result the numbers in the shala had risen. In consequence, the teachers at the old shala were overwhelmed and decided to limit the eagerness of the newcomers by setting certain standards along the sequence of postures. This decision not only lead to a uniform teaching method, but opened the doors to an unlimited number of ways to “cheat” in order to pass the criterion. As the reader already would have concluded, there was a meaningful shift in the general attitude from both sides, teachers and students. Although this is the prevailing attitude, it has to be said that is not absolute. But, if it continues in this line, it may transform a method for self-study into an automatic, meaningless ritual.

Having established the general circumstances and causes, it is now possible to examine some of the nuances in the plane of the effects.

First of all, lets analyse the situation regarding the physicality.

Many are born with more physical problems than others. Then there are those who were athletes as kids and spent part of their youth practicing a physical discipline, and finally, those that have outstandingly capable bodies and have practically no obstacles in bodily performances. In other words, the outset of the asana practice in the individual comes from different backgrounds which at the same time, inevitably leads to different outcomes. It’s worth mentioning that an individual with a capable body may not have any substantial “lessons” to learn in a certain sequence of postures, whereas those with body limitations would have the whole “syllabus” awaiting them with exactly the same arrangement.

Does this means that they’ve learnt the same, passing through the same sequence ?

Did they achieve the same level of consciousness when they finish the same sequence ? Do they even share the same perspective ?

One possibly could argue the questions mentioned above, since they neither learned the same [although they practiced the same] nor [most likely] share the same perspective.

Another point worth considering in the world in general, and especially in the Yoga world, is the identification of our essence with our body. Patanjali explains it in the Yoga Sutra 1.4:

“Some other times, (when not in the state of Yoga) one identifies with the fluctuations of the mind”.

To “identify” is to take two (or more) different things and conceive them as the same. As beings with a generally distracted mind, we get hooked in the game of identification most of the time. Identification with the nationality, name, income bracket, race, culture, profession, trend, status, and a gargantuan etc more, makes the everyday life mindset of almost anyone on the Earth. Because identification happens often, it consequently creates attachment which at the same time results in suffering.

By the same token, there is a perilously thin line that separates a practice that strengthens the identification with the body, from the one without it. As yoga practitioners we should strive to keep the practice unstained through honesty (satya), discernment and self-study (svadyaya).

At the same time, he reminds us to not only diligently practice, but to equally detach. Yoga Sutra 1.12:

“These thought patterns (vrttis) are mastered through practice (abhyasa) and non-attachment (vairagya).”

Detachment of the fruits of the practice, the mental coloured patterns, and the pairs of opposites (pain and pleasure, attraction and aversion, etc…) are a fundamental part of the practice to gain equanimity.

And last but not least, the question of the attitude. As stated by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra 1.14:

“When the practice is done for a long time, uninterruptedly and with the right attitude, it becomes rock solid”.

But, what constitutes a “right attitude”?

That is a delicate question to answer because from my perspective the right attitude is transferred by sympathetic resonance rather than by words. It would be the result of spending time with the teacher and soaking yourself in their presence. It’s a sort of learning that happens in a non-linguistic manner.

For the purpose of bringing a better comprehension, a more concrete explanation may be necessary. The right attitude contains elements of honesty, patience, sincerity, attention and devotion. It’s the balance between determination and detachment, between healthy skepticism and an open-minded willingness to learn while remaining neutral and unbiased. The right attitude definitely does not come from arrogance and rigid skepticism, but not from naivety nor gullibility either.

It places more weight in the “how” and “why” rather than in the “what” and escapes automatism. It sees the things for what they are and not for what you would like them to be. It is not inhaling and exhaling and creating tension, but rather creating extension. It does not react, but responds, and does not pet anyone’s ego. It seeks impeccability in your own eyes rather than external approval.

Perhaps the right attitude is the attitude of a warrior. As Carlos Castaneda puts it in “Tales of Power”:

“The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn't permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him.”

The asana practice can (and should) have a dramatic effect on the expansion of the consciousness, but only if specific prerequisites are fulfilled. Just as the artisan spends time and attention to detail in his own works, the teacher and student must be aware of the fine nuances of their own mindsets and ego desires. This attitude is only learned by the teacher that has knowledge in quantity, and consequently integrates it. As the popularity of Yoga grows by the day, the practitioners of this system appreciate some of its benefits, though not at its fullest. The societal dynamics of our times strengthen the shrinkage of the consciousness, and for this reason now, perhaps more than ever, the need for an additional effort is a requirement for a change in the humankind at large; it is time to sincerely target the Yoga potential for good.

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Cheers !

About the Author

Dani

I realised that Yoga philosophy and Natural Law are based in the same principles which I apply into my life and practice, and I would love to convey you through my classes, courses & articles. I don’t publish to a regular timetable so subscribing to the newsletter is a good way to make sure you don’t miss out anything you might be interested in.

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Is asana proficiency a warranty for spiritual evolution ?

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