writing after 3 green tea lattes.

Most Sundays here Sharath holds conference. He will talk a bit as we listen and laugh then there is a time for questions. Beware if you ask a question though, you may get more then you wanted back. He might explain why we do so many asanas “1^st practice asana to stabilize body and mind. Without this how can yoga happen? For that (yoga) you need to discipline this body and mind.”

We take asana so yoga can happen, Sharath says. It reminds me of something I read perhaps in Shadows on the path “you can use a stick to point at the moon but don’t confuse the stick with the moon.” For me asana is very much the stick. I genuinely do not give a shit what someone who sees my practice thinks. First they must not be minding their dristi and second it’s the stick, for real people.

I take asana so that I can see my shit more clearly, in that book he (abdi assadi) says one of my very favorite things “you can not clean your face by splashing water at the mirror”. I sit still so I can observe what is happening inside so I don’t get confused and blame those around me for my crazy. When the asana talk becomes too much I have to sit and observe what about this steals my om shanti and how I can have more compassion (first for myself then for others). I work hard, I am not lazy and would be very disappointed if the whole reason that I stand on my head is to be able to stand on my head.

I believe that through the asana practice I am cultivating equanimity. That a sign this asana practice is changing me is that as I am able to do things I was not before there is no disturbance inside. It’s abiding in the deep-rooted joy, the knowing we all have a buddha nature. I give my very best to the practice but believe that would be of little value if I were not giving my best at seeing child who needs love in every person I stand in front of. Also the one inside me.

If you do not take practice it is hard to explain how asana brings about these changes, it is an experiential understanding. “Asana is the foundation of spiritual building” Sharath tells us. You need “devotion, dedication, discipline, determination”.