Day Three

Well, we had a pretty incredible day, all things said and done.

We started off the day with a commentary on the Guru principle. We went into a back bending class that emphasized Inner and Outer Spiral in the legs. While we were on our lunch break several people shared with me and Darren about the act they felt a bit overwhelmed so we started the afternoon with a talk about the process of transformation and how difficult it can be at times.

Darren gave a great teaching about how the best way to learn a language is to take a few class and get a few basics and then to go immerse yourself in the culture. He said, "Imagine that you and a friend are classmates in the language class. You go to live in a foreign country for a while and your friend stays and learns in the classroom. For the first few months you would be totally struggling and really feeling like you knew nothing. Your friend would be home learning how to conjugate verbs, increasing their vocabulary, getting A's on the tests and feeling great. But if you fast forward two years into the future, you would be totally fluent in not just the language but in the culture of the place as well. the difference in your education and expertise would be pretty profound."

He continued to teach that just like the story about learning a language, The Immersion is not just a yoga class or workshop but is an immersion into the culture of Anusara Yoga. As such, it is a step way beyond the average Tuesday night class where you do some sun salutations, some standing poses some hip openers, maybe a few back bends and then go on your merry way with no adjustments, corrections and so forth. And while we certainly spend sometime "in the classroom learning to conjugate verbs" (metaphorically) a lot of the Immersion is about diving deep into the practice and learning directly by encountering how deep and rich the practice is and how much you have to learn. And it can be overwhelming at times. Scary at times. Exhilarating and inspiring at times.

People had a chance to share with one another about how the process was affecting them and then we did go "into the classroom" for a lecture on The UPA's and some other fine print. We have a big list of questions to get through but I do think we are going to be able to get through it by the end. And if not by the end of Phase One then we will have Phase Two to continue the work. That is what is awesome.

We ended the day, as usual, upside down with an inversion practice. Darren and I remain completely committed to setting people on the path of inversions in our trainings. Today, a 5 minute headstand and a 7 minute shoudlerstand. Yahoo.