No Goals, Just Follow Your Edge

NO GOALS ,  JUST FOLLOW YOUR EDGE
AND DON'T BE SURPRISED
TRANSFORMATION OF YOUR BODY-MIND-SPIRIT JUST MIGHT HAPPEN


     My fires are turned on tonight with one of my pet topics. One that really I feel with all my heart.  To make sure my heart and not my own ego is at the end of my pen I made sure that I did a few minutes of yoga breathing and a very gentle stretch to my legs. Then I cooked a fantastic vegetarian dinner suitable for a hot hot Perth night.. Devilled eggs(sorry vegans) which is hard boiled eggs cut in half .Then you take the yoke out and mash it with mayo and hot english mustard. Now the wonderful part you take the yoke mix and re-stuff it in the halved eggs.. so pretty and yum.. To add to this I made potato salad and got the potatoes just right for a change. Mixed in chopped onion ,dill pickle, dashed some Caesar dressing in to the mix and some savoury mayo and chilled it… Just what a veggie person needs.. So the yoga and the breathing and some meditative mindful cooking have led me to a place that my pen was not red hot and over-excited and had a bit of clarity to it..
    
     On one of the yoga sites I follow and read a student had written in for advice. She felt the class she attended was too easy and needed a more advanced class.  The yoga page it appeared in answered it very well .  For me it stimulated a topic I feel is a deep part of my own yoga.. No Goals Just follow your Edge.    
       
     I studied with B.K.S.Iyengar for years and also many other wonderful teachers.. Over time my teachers have given me the gift of  feeling that the heart of yoga is that there are no goals.  When you no longer feel your edge in a pose the beauty is that you can always find a way to feel that edge or go deeper in the pose.. As long as you are in touch with the edge you get the benefits of the pose. There are obvious ways in which a class must be titled out of fairness to the student and teacher. If everyone in the class is doing headstands and handstands the teacher needs to take them to their edge and would find it difficult to integrate a new student to yoga in the class. As well a first time student might be intimidated by all the poses that at this time they were not ready to try. That doesn't mean they are more advanced they are just learning new poses as they have already learned many others already.  I actually make my older longterm students and teachers attend at least one new persons class a week,to just stay in touch with where they started. I guess that is a danger sometimes  that without proper guidance people can get caught in just doing the poses that are more and more advanced and getting bigger and bigger heads becoming real yoga heads. In  Astanga classes I attended with Tim Miller in Encinitas I found him so refreshing as even the most so called advanced were kept humble and he taught all kinds and ages with great respect  and it was the hardest and most comfortable Astanga class I have ever done. Its sad in Mysore now that after class  they all hang out and compare who is the best yogi and yoga body . I know this is not everyone nor is it limited to Astanga this yoga head thing , it can thrive anywhere.   When I attend a class that is not at the pace Im used to, it is  my responsibility to go as deep as I need to . Also my responsibility to stay open and  enjoy the meditation of the class. All yoga has something to offer. After all sometimes a soft class is wonderful when you have been doing full on classes.. Like a vacation to just breath and relax in the poses with out dealing with hundreds of details.  The same of course goes for a very full on or class with many poses new to me. It is my responsibility to only go to my edge  and not be goal oriented. Not only will this prevent injury it keeps me just where I need to be in yoga and in that pose in that mindful moment.

     Most of all I feel such empathy and sadness for the teacher and student in the class this person walked out of. Not only is that pretty rude it speaks of huge ego...  I think I would recommend that this person goes back to basics and start with the breathing and then move very slowly onwards as along the way much yoga has been missed... Much love and peace to all who do yoga of all kinds and styles and all levels of practice it is by unity that we can transform and change this world and bring peace. Judgement can only cause us the grief of comparison and insecurity unto ourselves, which is most likely not the way to enlightenment.  Lets take a breath for Karma and send that teacher that was walked out on lots of love and respect as I'm sure they are a really great yoga teacher.

Love  From Sam Not Perfect just doing his Yoga