My class had been lying in a beautiful semi-supine position,
breathing gently just to be there, tuning in and scanning their bodies to see
how they were feeling that day in body and mind. All was calm.
In preparation for what was to come, I suggested they bring
their knees over their chest and hug them in close, perhaps with a little
circling and gentle rocking. Suddenly the serenity was disturbed by a
thunderous anal raspberry. Not for nothing is this position called apanasana,
the wind-reliever. There was a pause before she who dealt it said, ‘Sorry,
girls. Just getting the energy moving!’ Thus the tension was broken and we were
given permission to laugh.
Something else that cannot be controlled, no matter how we
try, is when and where we drop off to sleep. On one occasion, I suggested to a
habitual snoozer that she might try to relax on a chair, rather than lying
down. I hoped it would help her to stay awake. I guided the class to that point where I stop talking and
they take themselves to a place of stillness. With every out breath, my
chair-bound student leaned a little bit further to the left. I crept over to
her, not sure whether to wake her up or just get ready to catch her. Just when
she seemed to have reached tipping point, she righted herself and started to
lean the other way. She continued to move precariously from one extreme to the
other, never quite toppling and never opening her eyes. At the end of the
session she declared herself to be satisfactorily refreshed.
It’s amazing what a body can do when it’s uninhibited, so is
it possible that we put up obstacles in our yoga practice that our body would
overcome if left to its own devices? If you know you have creaky knees, for
instance, do you shy away from postures that challenge them because you think
you won’t be able to do them? Do you tell yourself you can’t balance and instead go
straight to the wall for support whenever anyone says ‘Tree’?
Stop thinking about it and simply trust your body.
It might just come up trumps.
