Why Ashtanga Yoga
by Sam Glannon
I have a secret to tell you: when you come back to class after a period of not having been physically present due to circumstances beyond your control, I can tell just by watching you whether or not you have continued to practice in the interim. This is largely because I have psychic powers.
Pretty cool, huh? Ok, I may have exaggerated. In fact, I don't have psychic powers, but I do have experience to go on, and well-developed powers of observation. Suffice to say, I can tell just by looking whether you kept with it or not. In recent weeks, I have seen several of you return to the studio with more developed practices than you had when you left, even after not having a teacher in the intervening time.
You must be aware by this point in your Ashtanga life that we practice in a way that is fundamentally different from the way yoga is otherwise taught in the West. We do a set series, we have a vinyasa count which makes explicit what one is supposed to do for every inhale and exhale from start to finish, and we teach these things progressively, moving on only after students have assimilated the material. At a glance, this may not be as immediately gratifying as other formats. There are always days when one really might prefer to do something different, to stray away from the series, to skip over something, or to escape from a feeling of difficulty in any number of other ways. In these moments, the constancy and repetitiveness of the series can be at once a challenge to one's fortitude and a blessing in that it helps to keep you steady.
Why am I telling you this now? To emphasize this: we are not merely trying to spoon feed you some sugary yoga substance in our teaching. We are trying to co-create with you a practice which you can take with you into the world for as long as you choose to maintain it. In circumstances such as we have endured this year, the value of this approach becomes obvious. There is tremendous depth in the series and in the vinyasa, and the repetition of the same material can become a teacher itself in the absence of some human individual to serve that role. Beyond that, we think of you not as incapable beings who must be led by the hand through your yoga, but intelligent agents who can adopt our method and comprehend the information it contains in both intellectual and embodied ways. I encourage you therefore to not lament the time spent in self-practice or practice at a distance. You can learn things in this way that you might not in the room. We will still exist to support you, both virtually right now and in-person again in the future. Learn the lesson which is presented to you in the moment, even if it is not the one you expect or want. In this way you can extract the nectar of all experiences, whatever they are.
