yoga and philosophy

I do generally not talk about yoga philosophy and the story of “asana”s (pose) in group yoga classes. The answer is so simple if you want to learn the reason of it. I usually teach group yoga classes at gym clubs and new students always show up in classes. I think what would I feel if I were in their shoes. I imagine myself in a gym club joining my first ever yoga class, assuming that yoga is “simple, easy and stretches the body.” And I imagine myself in a yoga class in which the teacher talks about something, which is totally nonsense to me. I think of my own first yoga class as a student. I remember myself thinking “body is body, can body have a language, can it talk, is it possible for parts of the body to express a special emotion” and wishing the class to end particularly when I was lying down in “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose). I remember begging the god to end the class immediately. Maybe because of this, I do not talk about philosophy in group yoga classes at gmy clubs. But sometimes I feel myself totally turned inward and eager to talk about philosophy. Last week was such a week.

When students asked to stretch both back muscles and hip mucles, I decided on the peak pose as “kurmasana” (tortoise pose). This “asana” would stretch both upper back muscles and shoulder girdle as well as hip muscles and would be a class that would make all students happy. Usually I talk about the peak pose and which muscles would be strengthened or stretched for that pose at the beginning of the class. I informed the students again in that class. Maybe it was because of the books I had been recently reading or subjects I had recently been interested in, I did not know the reason but I started to talk about philosophy all of a sudden. Turning inward, harmonizing the body, mind and soul, slowing the breath down and then calming the body down. After calming down the body, watching the breath and keeping the mind on the body by watching the breath. Of course, I was saying the same things at the beginning of all yoga classes but that day, something was different. Only deal with yourself, close the eyes and turn inward, live inside your body not outside, cut links with the outside world for at least a few moments and just focus on the body and the breath.

After stretching the parts of the body that should be stretched for the peak pose, it was time for “kurmasana.” The tortoise pose was a pose in which we bent forward and turned inward. As how tortoises turned inside, got into their body and home when they felt afraid or take some time alone, we got into our home, return home and body and turned inward. I ended the class saying, “instead of just focusing on the outside world, just watching the outside world and being interested in it, sometimes we should live in our bodies, turn inward and feel our inner self.”

When I showed up in the evening yoga class, I was planning to teach a core strengthening class. However there were new students in the class and therefore I decided on an easier class and picked a hip opener pose as the peak pose. What is challenging in a group class at a gym club is the new students who join their first ever yoga class besides the old students. You always want to please both the new and old students and make them get the most benefit from the class. That evening was really challenging for me. I decided on a hip opening sequence because it would be easy for everybody to perform however I picked up a challenging pose as the peak pose in order not to offend the old students. “Hanumanasana” (monkey pose). This pose required the opening of groins, inner thighs, hip flexor muscles as well as hamstrings. We opened up the required muscles in the first half of the class. “Hanumanasana” was an “asana” which told about devotion, loyalty and love. It told us the story of a person who tried to do and achieve something with loyalty and devotion to help his friend. It told about how an impossible thing could be achieved when you loved and devoted yourself to a friend. It was a story that talked about making a giant leap forward with love, devotion and loyalty and turning back with another giant leap forward. Maybe our leap was minor that day, maybe it was not so giant when compared to our past leaps. Maybe it was better than the previous leaps. What was important was to make the leap. What was important was to take action. What was important was to make leap with devotion, loyalty and love. To take action, to make a giant leap forward and take step with love, devotion and loyalth not only in our daily lives but also in yoga classes… To take steps and get to somewhere with pure love and without being negatively affected with ambition.

At the end of that day, I realized that I should give priority to philosophy in group classes. Students could join other group classes in gym club and get physically strong and stretch in those classes. What was important was to honor and refresh our souls and minds in yoga classes, which could be only done with more breathing exercises, meditation and philosophy. To turn inward like a tortoise and to take steps, make a giant leap forward, take action and overcome obstacles with devotion, loyalty and love like “God Hanuman.”

can you always please everyone?

I like to be in interaction with students in my yoga classes. I like to take their needs into consideration and teach a class in line with their needs. However, sometimes students can make different requests for the class. In such a case, I do not know what to do. If I teach a class in line with one of the students’ request, then the others can feel sorry. This was what I experienced in one of my students last week.

When I entered the studio, some of the students had already come and settled down. After chatting a while, I asked them if they wanted to practice a certain “asana” (pose) group that day. A few students said they wanted to practice a hip opening sequence while one of them said she wanted a back focused class. I can hear you say, “ok, the majority wants a hip opening sequence. Do what they want.” Under such a circumstance, I decided to do something totally different not to hurt any of the students. Then something came up in my mind. This “asana” was really good for both a hip opening and a back relief sequence. The problem was solved. It was time to begin the sequence.

After the opening meditation, we warmed up the bodies with “surya namaskara” (sun salutation) series. That day, we had to stretch hip flexor muscles, groins, hamstrings and shoulder girdle for the peak pose. We stretched hamstrings with “uttanasana” (standing forward bend), “padangusthasana” (big toe pose), “paschimottanasana” (seated forward bend). In order to stretch groins and hip flexor muscles, we used “ashwa sanchalanasana” (high lunge), “anjaneyasana” (low lunge), “prasarita padottanasana” (wide-legged forward bend) and “half frog”. We stretched shoulders with “garudasana” (eagle) and “gomukhasana” (cow face) arm positions and by interlacing hands behind the head.

It was time for the peak pose. Could you guess the peak pose? Yes, it was “kurmasana” (tortoise pose). Before the peak pose, we warmed up hip flexor muscles with “upavistha konasana” (seated angle pose). And then came “kurmasana”. The hardest part of the peak pose was the internal rotation of the shoulders. I recommended students not to push themselves hard and to step back if they felt any problem in their shoulders.

To neutralize the spine, we bent backward with “setu bandhasana” (bridge pose). We relieved the spine with twists and ended the class with “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose).

It was a challenging class for me. I was planning to teach a class in line with the requests and needs of students and I was almost pleasing some of them but hurting others. Luckily, I could teach a class that pleased all the students that day. But I would not be so lucky all the time. But we cannot always make everybody happy, could we? This was the lesson I took from that day’s class.

returning home

When I went to class that day, I was planning to teach a class focusing on arm balances. Sometimes it happens to me. Does it also happen to you? You decide to do something but conditions and circumstances change and you cannot do what you have decided. Mostly, it happens to me in classes. Whenever I plan an advanced class, many new students show up in class. And I ask them whether this is their first yoga class and guess the answer. Of course it is their first yoga class. It happened again when I decided to teach a class with an arm balance pose as the peak.

There were as many as new comers as  the old and experienced students. Therefore, I should teach a class that would both satisy the old and experienced and the new. The best choice would be forward bends as our spine was more used to bending forward than bending backward. However, the peak pos should not be an easy forward bend. It should force the students a bit. “Kurmasana” (tortoise pose) could be the best peak pose for that class. Yes, definitely! The peak pose would be “kurmasana” and we needed to stretch inner thighs, groins, hamstrings and shoulder girdle to try the peak pose.

It would be a “vinyasa” class as usual. After warming up the bodies with “surya namaskara” (sun salutation) series, we added in-between sun salutation series some asanas in order to stretch and strengthen the parts of the body that needed to be stretched for the peak pose. In order to stretch hamstring muscles, we did “uttanasana” (standing forward bend), “padangusthasana” (hand to big toe pose), “hasta padasana” (hands to feet pose). To stretch the shoulder girdle, we interlaced fingers behind our back in “uttanasana” and kept the arms away from the body. We joined the hands in the back in “virabhadrasana I” (warrior I) and bent the body inside the front leg. In “virabhadrasana II” (warrior II) we used the arm position of “garudasana” (eagle pose) and in “parsvottanasana” (pyramid pose) we kept the hands in reverse “namaste” (prayer) pose.

To stretch the groins and inner thighs, we used “ashwa sanchalanasana” (high lunge), “anjaneyasana” (low lunge), “parsvottanasana”, “water bug”, “prasarita padottanasana” (wide-legged forward bend) and “malasana” (garland pose).

Once we sat on the floor, we continued to stretch the hamstrings, inner thighs and groins. With “half butterfly” and “half frog”, we first bent forward on the extended leg and then we folded in-between the two legs. With “mandukasana” (frog pose), we stretched the inner thighs and groins more and we were so close to the peak pose. With “upavistha konasana” (seated angle pose), we stretched the inner thighs and inhaling we lifted the bodies up.

It was now time for the peak pose. We kept the legs in “V” shape. Exhaling, we bent forward in-between the legs. We rolled the shoulders back and we placed the arms beneath the knees. The palms were facing the floor and the finger tips were facing backward. We rolled the shoulders more and we also rolled the spine to deepen in the pose. And this was “kurmasana.”

There was a student whom I believed could do this pose so easily thanks to her body structure and flexibility. And yes, I was right. I looked at her and saw that she was totally in “tortoise pose” enjoying the pose. She totally turned inside, closed her down and as one of my students whose views I appreciate the most said: “She had turned back to her hidden garden.”

As we had folded forward throughout the class, we had to neutralize the spine with backbends. We relieved the spine with “ardha purvottanasana” (reverse table pose) and “setu bandhasana” (bridge). We laid supine and put the soles of the feet on the ground and “pelvic tilted” to relieve the spine more. Then we hug the knees and rolled the spine to right and leg and front and back (apanasana). Then “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose).

We ended the class with a long resting pose. Once the students came to “sukhasana” (easy pose/sitting pose), I told them that we bent forward, turned inside and had a class with full body-soul-mind integrity. At that moment, the student who could fully do “kurmasana” was in front of my eyes and I went on saying: “As how a tortoise turns inside, turns inward, gets into its shell and returns home when it is afraid and having a difficult time, you also turned inward and returned home today. Body, soul and mind a whole and at home. You turned back to your hidden garden. Maybe you have re-lived your past, what you have lived so far, reviewing your feelings and thoughts and cleaned up. Purified… Maybe you still have to review your hidden garden and add new things or get rid of some things. What about reviewing your home and hidden garden from time to time?”

what would your answer be?

We always like to practice challenging asanas in our yoga classes. Either in our own yoga practice or in any class we join or we teach, we mostly focus on backbends, deep twists, hip opening poses, balancing and arm balancing poses and inversions. We do no prefer forward bends. However, I like and prefer forward bends in my own practice. Yet I mostly focus on backbends, deep twists, deep hip openers, balancing and arm balancing poses and inversions in the classes I teach. Therefore, last week’s private and group yoga classes were an exception.

Last week, I wanted to have a different experience in my classes. I do not know whether it was because of spring felt throughout the week. I wanted to make a change as we mostly practiced challenging asanas and tried the same asanas in almost every class. Last week’s peak pose would be “kurmasana” (tortoise). I had made up my mind. So, how would I prepare the bodies for “kurmasana?” I should have stretch the “hamstring” muscles as well as shoulders and hips. The shoulders had to be internally rotated and abducted and scapula should be pushed to the hips. The coccyx should be pushed backward and one should bend forward from the hip joint. And at the latest point we had reached, we should round the spine (flexion). If we assume that we would do the peak pose just in the first half of the class, I should prepare the bodies for the asana till the peak pose came. In the second half, we should do counter-poses to relax and relieve the spine and then rest.
After the opening meditation, we sat on the knees (virasana) or in “sukhasana” (easy pose) and started to stretch the shoulders. We used the arm position of “gomukhasana” (cow face pose) and we rolled the shoulders back. We then stretched the scapula with the arm position of “garudasana” (eagle pose). Then we lifted the hands to the level of the chest waited for five breaths and then bend forward with eagle hands position and stayed there for five breaths. Thus, we had opened the scapula. We laid face down and used yin yoga’s “broken wings” in order to internally rotate the shoulders and stretch the scapula more and more.
Following a “vinyasa” (flow), we stood in “tadasana” (mountain pose). We warmed the bodies up with a few “surya namaskara” (sun salutation) flows. In-between “surya namaskara” flows, we added some asanas to prepare the body for the peak pose. In one flow, we stayed long in “uttanasana” (standing forward bend) and in another flow we interlaced hands in “uttanasana” and tried to keep the arms away from the body as much as we could in order to stretch the shoulders. Moreover, we used “eagle arms” in “virabhadrasana I” (warrior I) and “virabhadrasana II” (warrior II).
In-between the flows, we added “padangusthasana” (hand to big toe pose), “pada hastasana” (hands to feet pose), “parsvottanasana” (intense side stretch pose) and “prasarita padottanasana” (wide-legged forward bend) in order to stretch the hamstrings. In “prasarita padottanasana”, we interlaced hands behind, kept the arms away from the body and continued to stretch the shoulder girdle. At the same time we were stretching the groins as well. In order to stretch groins more, we used “ashwa sanchalanasana” (high lunge), “anjaneyasana” (low lunge) and “parsvakonasana” (side angle pose).
We stretched groins more with “malasana” (garland pose) and yin yoga’s “water bug” and “half frog” poses. “Upavista konasana” was the last preparatory pose before the peak pose. After staying for five breaths in this asana, we rolled the shoulders, put the hands below the legs, rounded the spine and tried to get into “kurmasana”. Some of the students had a flexible spine but tense hamstrings. Some of them had flexible shoulders so they could easily got their shoulders and arms under their legs. Some of them had tense “hamstrings” so they bent their legs a little bit. Some with tense shoulders could not rotate their shoulders internally but just a little bit. Everybody experienced the peak pose within his/her limits. As much as his/her body allowed. Without comparing himself/herself with his/her neighbor. Only by turning inside.
Why do we always prefer challenging asanas in our yoga classes? Why do we always focus on doing, achieving and succeeding? What do forward bends teach us? Why do we love or hate forward bends? My mind was full of these thoughts when ending the class. Forward bends calm us and help us get into a meditative state. They help us turn inside and realize what is inside ourselves. Forward bends can be hard for some people due to body limitations. Because of unflexible and tense spine, hamstrings and hip muscles. Forward bends can be challenging for some others due to mental aspects. Forward bends mean acceptance. Forward bends mean surrendering. Forward bends mean staying silent and calm before others and keeping the “ego” silent. Forward bends means disciplining the self, the ego. Even though they are a group of asanas which many of us can easily practice within the limits of our bodies, forward bends can be mentally and spiritually challenging. Have you thought of this aspect of forward bends before? Why is bending forward difficult or easy for you? This was the question that we had to answer at the end of the question.