I tell people, “I teach hatha yoga.” People respond in all kinds of ways. One young man, I’d put him in his early 60s, performed a tree pose and said, “like this?” I am so very proud of him. In street shoes no less, beautifully balanced with hands over head. “Yes,” I answered. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I don’t start out with tree. I don’t want toppling trees.
What yoga really is
I teach hatha yoga. The way I explain it is, “I teach the first half of the Astanga.” Now this is a half-truth and I know it, but my grandmother would say, “you don’t start a baby on meat you start ’em on pablum.”
“Hatha yoga” is commonly used as an umbrella term for a lot of different yoga styles. As we go on, I’ll talk more about the different styles of hatha yoga. For now I’ll mention that I study and practice Iyengar, Vinyasa, and Ying-Yang. Those are the styles I’ve seen most often in my community. I don’t see very many Asthanga classes, but I know they’re out there. I’ve never set foot in a Bikram class so I can’t discuss that with anything other than from what I’ve read.
There are many hatha styles. There are also other yoga traditions besides hatha. Hatha is often recommended as being a good place for a beginner to start.
Personally, I teach asana that are part of the sun salutations but I don’t teach the sun salutations directly. I teach vinyasa. I teach breath, focus, alignment.
Hatha follows the Raja or royal path.
Yoga is a discipline
Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutra. I view the Yoga Sutra as a prehistoric self-help book — except that it isn’t prehistoric. It is historic. That’s not the point. The point is that Patanjali is the starting point for most modern hatha yoga styles. He said, coming out the front door, “here we’re going to yoke (verb meaning attach) your head to your shoulders with these sutra.” Sutra literally means stitches, but it’s used by Patanjali — and historically all the other Indian scholars and teachers of his time — to indicate a teaching. No, that’s not an exact quote. I don’t speak their language so I’m paraphrasing.
I will tell you that Patanjali wrote the “yoke stitches” that we use in hatha yoga to attach, or yoke, our heads to our bodies and keep our minds from flying off into the future or being dragged back into the past. How many of you imagined Frankenstein’s monster? What image popped into your mind?
“He who stands with open hands,” is the way I frame Patanjali in my own mind. This is not way he’s usually represented. It has meaning for me. I teach the first mountain, tadasana, as the Patanjali pose — my “tada asana.” I will tell you the right way, but for now — “pablum.”
Patanjali said in the Yoga Sutra that in order to yoke your head to your body with the yoke stitches, there are eight — let’s call them “behaviors” for now. They’re actually called the eight limbs. This is the Astanga. He tells you, 1) yamas 2) niyamas, 3) asana 4) pranayama. Those are the first four limbs. That’s what I say I teach.
The other four are 5) pratyhara, 6) dharana, 7) dhyama, and 8) samadhi.
Where does discipline come in? I’m so glad you asked.
Is yoga a religion?
We start with the yamas. How we treat others. I’m only naming them for now. This is the meditation. This is what you study and think about for now.
1) Ahimsa – harmlessness
2) Satya – truthfulness
3) Asteya – non-stealing
4) Brahmacharya – impulse control
5) Aparigraha – non-grasping
These are principals. They’re commonly taught as “restraints.” I teach them in the context of “sensing opposites.” Their counterpart are the niyamas. The yamas are a code of conduct, or, how are you going to act? They’re talking about how you get along with others. They come out of monastic traditions. People from all over came to places called monasteries to learn from the teachers. Said another way, they wanted to be disciplined or taught. The word disciple shares its root with the word discipline. Discipulus. They came to learn.
But y’all, they were coming from all kinds of places with all kinds of habits and life ways. How y’all gonna get along with each other? My question is: How do I, as teacher, maintain order? They’re not just studying with each other. They’re eating, sleeping, living together.
Also at that time, teachers sent their students to visit other monasteries to learn from them and bring that knowledge back to be shared. You have to know how to act when you’re visiting someone else’s house. You’re representing your teacher.
Let’s take the first concept, ahimsa. I lay out the imagined scenario:
I’ve invited you to visit my home. I’m throwing a dinner party. Here you come to my dinner party armed with . . . what? Did you honestly show up to my front door armed with an MK47? Why would you bring an assault rifle to my dinner party?
The obvious answer is because you don’t trust me. You’re scared that I’m preparing something for you that you’re not gonna like. I’m laying in the gap. I’m setting out the trick bag.
Ahimsa. Are you coming to attack me? I invited you to eat, drink, dance, listen to music, talk, enjoy each other’s company, learn.
The problem here is not who or what I am. The problem here is what you fear I am. You imagine. What you imagine is probably based on a lot of real stuff. It’s still a projection into the future, a “vritti”. It’s not a present moment experience.
Ahimsa. Take the step back so that you can lift your gaze and see clearly what is without illusion. Take a deep breath. I’m unarmed. I’m harmless. You have no reason to fear me. Be present in the moment.
I didn’t find a central “God” figure demanding worship in the Yoga Sutra. Yoga has no loyalty to any faith system now known to exist. Patanjali references “Purusha” in the Yoga Sutra. He kinda leaves it open to interpretation what Purusha is for you.
Yes, yoga has its roots in religion. I’m trying to find the human culture that didn’t cloak health and healing practices in the magic and mystery that is religion. There is a place for spirituality within yoga. There’s also a place for doubt and questions. A place for curiosity.
Experience: Your first asana – standing mountain
If you’re sitting, please stand up. If you stood, you are now in standing mountain. Easy enough? Now, observe. Feel the weight of your body on your feet. Feel which foot you’re putting most of your weight on. Experience your body as your weight shifts. Experience your ankles. Experience your lower legs, shins and calves, front and back. Experience your knees. Take your time with this. All you’re doing right now is observing.
When you’re done, you may be seated. It doesn’t matter how you sit or where you sit but I’m going to assume that if you stood up, you must have been sitting on something. Observe how your seat feels now. Is there something different?
You may repeat this experience as often as is necessary. Done as repetitions,”stand up, sit down” is a sequence that works your legs, your back, and your abdomen. When I link it with breath, it becomes a simple beginner vinyasa – inhale up, exhale down.
When you stood up, that’s standing mountain? Not exactly. Let’s talk about what the alignment in standing mountain, my Patanjali pose, my “tada asana” also known as tadasana.
1) Stand. Your feet should be feet hip-width apart. Stack your joints. When you look down, your knees are under your hips and your ankles are under your knees.
2) Adjust your feet. The insides of your feet should be parallel with each other. It should feel like you’re standing “pigeon-toed.”
3) Rotate your heels. Try to bring them together without moving them. This creates a “lock.” That’s a hip lock or “root lock.” Please notice the effect in your lower back and buttocks. Please notice the effect in your back thighs. Please notice the effect on your abdomen. You can practice this with repetitions. Exhale to rotate your heels together. Release to trigger a spontaneous inhale.
3) Face your elbows. Your palms should face out. Your shoulders should rotate backward and your chest should lift and open. Inhale. Exhale. You may count if you want to, but you don’t have to if you find it’s not helpful. I teach inhale to the count of four, hold for the count of four, exhale to the count of eight. This is a convenience. The key is the slow exhale, twice as long as the inhale. The key is also the pause, hold. This is your deep cleansing breath.
This is only an introduction.
Conclusion
This may feel overwhelming. I hope not. I hope it helps. Take what you need and leave the rest.
We covered a lot of material. Well done. Thank you. You’re a P6 Player now. What is P6? Persistent Practice Prevents P!ss Poor Performance. For the young ones we say, Persistent Practice Prevents Pickle Puppy Pouts. Do you believe that? Then you’re a P6 Player.
This is your (hopefully soon to be) favorite old salty dog Motha Whitt saying,
Peace Out.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars
you have a RIGHT to be here
– from Desiderata