Sunday

So- I had another fun day at home yesterday. Kelly and I made yummy veggie sandwiches for lunch and splurged by eating them with some fantastic Kettle Chips and Ginger Brews. (I know, pretty radical- potato chips and ginger ale! We are pretty wild here in the Sell household.)

Then we walked downtown where there was a Western Swing Festival going on which was kind of fun to see and to listen to. I restrained myself from buying a very nice turquoise necklace that I wanted. (I mean really, ANOTHER necklace?!) It was a really mellow scene with some pretty impressive musicians.

Then I did a long yoga practice while Kelly went on a bike ride.

At the end of my practice, when he returned from riding, Kelly came into the studio to work on his handstand and pinca mayurasana. He does this a few times a week, partly as shoulder therapy for his separated shoulder and also because he got frustrated with not being able to do these poses in class. So anyway- he did a free-balancing pinca mayurasana for the first time yesterday- just kicked up to it without ever touching the wall. It won't be long now before he doesn't even use the wall as a safety net. That was cool to see. And he even balanced a bit in handstand.

One of the things that I have learned in Anusara Yoga and why I love teaching yoga is that I get as excited to see someone else "get something" as I am when I can do something new. I just love it. It always thrills me. (I know, I know, I know, perhaps "thrill" seems like a strong word for such a thing but really, it's the little things that do it for me...) But this is the whole thing about yoga that is fantastic. Through the body we really get to make the unknown known to us in an obvious and immediate way. We use the means that we "know" (our body and our principles) to take us into the unknown (like how in the world to balance in pinca). Then with devoted practice over a long period of time the unknown becomes known to us. We glimpse larger domains of Possiblity.

And so while balancing in pinca mayurasana is an obvious and relatively mundane example, the implications are really huge. Given the teaching of the Tantra, the body is a microcosm of the Absolute. The invitation of self-knowledge and self-study (through asana, relationship, meditation, self-observation, etc.) is that we become more known to our selves and from this knowledge we enter into Self-Knowledge and Self-Study. How many times have you heard some concept or ideal or principle explained and thought to yourself -" Oh, that is just like in yoga when we....(Fill in the blank)." Happens to me all the time. We begin to navigate between domains more skillfully.

My friend DK and I were talking at the Certified Teacher's Gathering and he said that to him the whole thing is about mastery. He told me that if you master one subject, then you realize that the principles of mastery apply to all subjects. He was a professional surfer and he has an exquisite understanding of yoga- not because of his study and practice of yoga (although he has that for sure) but because of his time spent mastering surfing. (DK is an awesome guy and I invited him to come to Darren's workshop since he and Darren are friends so maybe you will meet him then. Oh yes, a commercial- sign up for Darren's workshop. It's gonna be great.)

So anyway- we are not just doing yoga is my point. We are learning principles of mastery through yoga. All right then. More later.