“Prayatna” - intelligent effort - in yoga group classes
Yoga in the west is often associated with unusual postures, or seen as relaxation, or as a mixed bag tinted with Hinduism. People often say things like “yoga is for acrobats and contortionists” or “what’s the use of putting my body in odd positions?” or “I find yoga annoying”. Oh, how many derogatory comments yoga attracts and how many people attack it and put it down! But I must admit these comments are well founded. I must confess that had I not found a good yoga teacher I would have also criticised yoga.
For a start, the postures –so often thought of as yoga - are but the tip of the yoga iceberg. Out of the total of 195 aphorisms of Patanjali’s yoga sutras (the most important yoga text) only three of the aphorisms talk about yoga postures. In the ancient Vedic tradition, the postures were considered as just one of the basic tools of yoga. In olden times, people lived without the benefits of modern medicine; the most vulnerable would die defenceless against disease, the strong would become stronger, going to fetch water, doing the washing, working in the fields…they were active enough to have no need for yoga postures. Today in our sedentary society, yoga postures are an important tool in the practice of yoga; understanding one’s body from the inside, strengthening it, making it suppler, stimulating digestion, learning to breathe etc., these are all challenges in themselves…..but most people think that the postures are just about making you more supple. Lets face it, yoga is poorly perceived and understood.
Yoga began to develop in Europe during the 50s. In good faith, some people who had seen experienced yogis in India practising in the street simply came back to the west and tried to teach what they had seen. Others string together postures without realising that the order in which they are practised is important. These are some of the reasons that I think have contributed to the devaluing of the image of the yoga posture in our modern world, giving it the label “acrobatic”. Behind each practice, each posture there is an objective, an intelligent idea. The study of postures, the construction of a yoga sequence and the application of the tools of yoga are subjects that are very far reaching and profound. They take a long time to be learnt, requiring both experience and practice.
Aphorism number II. 47 of the yoga sutras of Patanjali explains that the posture of yoga is “mastered when all effort is relaxed and the mind is absorbed in the Infinite”. It is on this notion of intelligent effort – prayatna - that I would like to place the emphasis in this article. It shows how important the teacher is, in the teaching process. Indeed there is no single way of applying the yoga postures, there is no single way of threading postures together and all of the postures are not useful to everyone. But above all, according to the teacher Krishnamacharya “It is the posture which should serve the person and not the person who should serve the posture”. What can be done so that yoga can effectively serve the person? The starting point must be that of observation, either of the person or of the group, in order to define a possible objective. The objective could be to “do the headstand”, “understand one’s breathing” “be aware of one’s body”, “become calmer”, “get more energy”, “unify the group” etc. The potential objectives are so numerous that it is impossible to make an exhaustive list. Only the demonstration of their diversity is important.
However for each participant the means used to achieve the chosen objective are different. Let us take the simple example of “relaxation”. For certain people it is impossible to relax before having completed ten or so postures, whilst others only need to do one or two gentle postures with simple arm movements. Furthermore many different parameters need to be considered when choosing the practice sequence: age, strength, capacity, lifestyle, philosophical approach, interest….. This is exactly why yoga is above all a holistic tool, which considers the person in his or her totality. As for group classes, they must/should be helping each individual to achieve their own objectives, by working within their own limits, yet within the parameters of the group.
Given the diversity of the objectives and means, intuition, knowledge and experience on the part of the teacher is imperative to tailor the exercise to the specific needs and capabilities of each student. It is clear that within Patanjali’s notion of “intelligent effort” there are basic rules, a grammar of adjustment of postures – but this will be the subject for another article……..
Philip Rigo
Translated by Sally Trickett
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 jorge del mar
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12-MAR-2010 |
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muy bueno el articulo. gracias
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