Do you think that your headstand or Downward Dog was handed down from yogi to yogi for centuries, or when you're doing the Sun Salutation, you've joined the ranks of yogis who were practicing those same motions thousands of years ago?
Then think again.
When I tell people that I'm the founder of Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, a style I created to draw students back to the powerful experience of their center in every pose--I commonly get two types of reactions.
The first is, "Sounds great! I'd love to try it." The second, though a minority, tends to be quite vocal. They sputter, "How dare you tinker with the classical postures of this sacred, ancient practice? Who do you think you are? Krishna?"
It's a good question, and one I'll answer, finally, here.
But first, a little about my perspective on the poses, and why I think it's perfectly fine to do with them as I wish:
In my teacher trainings and classes, I not only give instructions about the classical poses like Triangle or Revolved Half Moon...in some cases I improve upon them. I do this by showing students who might not be flexible or strong enough to look like a Yoga Journal cover model some effective modifications like bending the front knee in Half Moon Pose so the student can reach the ground and the core can be properly activated.
I don't use a block like some instructors would and allow the straight front leg to potentially override the all-important pelvic and spinal placement. I work from the ground up. Some yogis growl when I take away their block, and their flexibility-first mentality...but most of them get the point when they are fully, finally immersed in their fantastic alignment and energetic flow.
Now, this aspect of my teaching is pretty tame, and usually isn't a problem for the Posture Police among us: yogis who think that any deviation from the poses set forth in books like BKS Iyengar's Light on Yoga is tantamount to heresy. They might grumble, but they'll settle down.
It's when I do any one of the next three things that gets them all up in arms. In any given class, I might, and usually do:
1. Add dancelike, wavelike or martial-arts-based movements to (and between) poses in order to unlock stuck places and reconnect the student to their optimal energy and alignment.
2. Teach poses and sequences that I created and named, ranging from Charlie's Angel's Mudra to Fists of Fire Lunges, Shakti Kicks to Fierce Lion--and many more. These poses add benefits I deem to be missing from simply repeating the same poses over and over. Plus, they're fun to do.
I even teach a turbosharged Sun Salutation I call the Core Salutations, which heats students up much faster, burns more calories on average and builds greater upper body and core strength than the traditional sequence.
Try if tor yourself:
Here's a video of my Core Sun Salutations!
3. Either encourage students to remove postures from their practice that might not be healthy for them or don't personally teach asanas that may be classical, but also have a high injury potential like headstand, shoulderstand, and (gods forbid!) the lotus.
As a general rule, I've developed a rather punk rock approach to yoga practice: I question everything, my teachers, your teachers...even myself.
Assuming that something (say, the way many of us yank our feet forward in Pigeon Pose, getting the shin parallel like we see in books, but sacrificing the knee into a potentially terrible twist) is the gospel truth because you were taught it, even by someone most people have heard of, is unfortunate.
Letting anyone tell you something is right for you when your knee is screaming and your inner teacher is saying "um, actually, for me...this is very, very wrong" is simply not empowering, nor even safe.
Yet so many students allow themselves to give their power and innate body knowledge over to their teachers, because they must know best. And some do. But many teachers have tunnel vision when it comes to the poses themselves, neglecting to instruct towards joint, muscle, and tissue health and instead just repeat the words their teachers gave them
Under the illusion of an "ancient" practice, they have forgotten to question, to re-create...or maybe they just aren't encouraged to.
Read a great article on knee health from Yoga Journal
So it's important to me to have a realistic view of where these poses actually originated, in order to break through their mystique enough to ask those questions.
If I ever wish to add a new pose or variation to my repertoire, before I offer it to my students, I immediately look at it from a clinical point of view. I allow my knowledge of anatomy to trump the classical poses--which, surprising for many people originated not 3,500-5,000 years ago as did many yoga philosophies, but were established much more recently in the early 1800s and were recreated again in the early 1900s.
There is a common misconception that stubbornly remains, which is that the yoga poses are thousands of years old, and that they have existed as one static teaching since the beginning of yoga time.
This could not be farther from the truth. Though a very few poses have been recorded in the ancient texts, they were all variations on seated or supine meditation postures. There was no Triangle, no Downward-Dog. Nope...not even a headstand. In fact, there is no evidence of a traditional practice of yoga postures handed down intact over millennia.
Yoga philosophy and directives about how to embark on a personal path of self-realization have been here for thousands of years. But a specific, holistic, yoga practice of physical and spiritual fitness simply didn't exist before about 200 years ago. And no, I didn't forget another zero on the end of that number.
That's right: most of the poses we do in our yoga classes, whether our teacher is an Indian master or an American one, come from a much shorter lineage than we imagine.
For an in-depth look at the yoga pose timeline, click here!
The first workout-like practice of asanas, or poses, stem from the Sritattvanidhi, a book written in the early 1800's by Mummadi Krishnaraja, a patron of Indian culture and arts.
The manual showcased 122 postures, like backbends and handstands, many of which we still practice today. However, some of the poses were clearly drawn from Indian gymnastics, such as what we know today as Chaturanga Dandasana. Shockingly to some, it wasn't a sacred move handed down from, ancient yoga sages to enlighten the masses. It was a pushup gymnasts used to get stronger.
In the early 1900s, a yoga teacher named Krishnamacharya and later, his world-famous students, B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois, began to formulate their own takes on the Sritattvanidhi poses, and then some. Krishnamacharya pulled some moves straight from British gymnastics, which one of his main students Pattabhi Jois took forward, like the Pendant Pose jumpback of Ashtanga. BKS Iyengar, another famous student of Krishnamacharya's, created his own, very different take on those poses, and he also added his own variations.
Iyengar and the others drew inspiration from the Astanga, or 8-limbed path set forth in the Yoga Sutras, but also from (often contradictory to the Sutras) sources like the Baghavad Gita and Upanisads. Though an inner spiritual tradition may be gleaned from these historic texts, as opaque and esoteric as they can be in their simplicity, the fact remains that the poses themselves were not set forth until much later.
So, a few Indian men basically made up the yoga poses, men who practiced for hours a day and had Cirque Du Soleil-like bodies and aspirations. They travelled around showing their yoga prowess to audiences. Along with their spiritual expression--it was their way to attract more students. They were the yoga celebrities of their day--and still are.
See a video of BKS Iyengar from the 1930s
Today, some classically-bound yogis sometimes send modern teachers the message that it's not OK nor "pure" to take a page from our elder's books, and create our own styles from the inspirations of our time, the anatomical information we have and other modalities we can draw from. This, for me, would be like wearing my grandfather's clothes every day and never being allowed to buy my own or dress the way I want.
Even Iyengar modified his original practice to include props, a slower pace, and more involved alignment instruction.
Yet still, with all the beautiful expressions of the inner life of the yoga path, there is quite a large sect of yogis, die-hard believers in their teachers' styles, who actually become judgmental and angry when they are questioned if what was right for a few people in 1930s India may need (or want) to be modified for our 21st century practice. They cannot see the potential for self-realization or validity in something that doesn't look like what they have been taught is yoga.
The issue I take with this attitude is that if no one could ever create anew within yoga, it would not be here for us at all. And then there's the my-way-or-the-highway perspective that if you've been reading my posts, you know I abhor.
Evangelical yogis are strangling the life out of what should be a shared, and beloved practice. And this needs to stop.
Today, we usually don't do yoga for hours a day--hours a week or month...maybe. We are more aware of human anatomy, and the toll some of the poses can take on our knees, hips and spine. Plus, it's human as well as divine to strive for self-expression, and bringing forth new yoga poses is as natural to us now as when the founding fathers did it themselves.
Like us, they drew from assorted existing sources, as well as their own inspiration. For any teacher to do that as well is only to pay homage to the creative process in which any yoga practice has been brought forth.
As long as the body is aligned to stay balanced, energetic and healthy, according to Patanjali, author of the formative yoga text, the Yoga Sutras, it's a yoga pose. He never gave us a list of asanas, perhaps to encourage us to forever create and re-create them according to our individual ideas of how to be within that universal flow.
Planting a garden, standing still in the ocean, dancing with a child, walking with a sassy sway of the hips, hugging your loved one, my Waterfall Warrior or Core Plank--all are asanas when they keep you open to the flow of life, and more importantly--of love. Love of others, love of yourself, love for what you're doing right this instant.
Some might still argue--because some always do--that the practice as set forth by the founding fathers, is complete in and of itself. The gurus have spoken, and we should need nothing more to keep the body fit, the mind calm and the heart centered.
I'm sorry, but I don't buy it, as a general rule.
For some people, like those who refuse to read modern books, insisting that the only "real" literature is found in the classics, taking this one-way attitude could hold them back from discovering other, equally valid forms of the living, breathing practice as today's teachers are offering it. For others, who have tried other forms and choose a classical form because it's what gets them to their bliss, then more power to them.
I would say that if for you, a more "classical", set practice feels fulfilling, then by all means, stick with it. After all, the point of yoga is to connect to your awareness of the unity of all things, and become fully immersed in the powerful vitality and wisdom of your present moment.
But for me, the classical moves are not enough. Of course, I could go to an Ashtanga class, and get to an inner place of unity with my true nature. I could get present and still my mind. However, my heart would not as happily be in it. It is not my preferred vehicle for self-knowledge, transformation and expression.
I could also meditate just fine inside a prison cell, though I would prefer to be in Central Park. Sometimes, the environment we each resonate the most with helps us more quickly reach that place we all seek. Who can say where that spiritual park is located ....except for themselves only?
Sitting in the park, surrounded by birds and lovers and trees would add a dimension of joy and aliveness that I would have to try to inorganically manufacture in a place that was not as inspiring to me. And I prefer not to waste my time getting where I need to go.
And believe me, though I fully respect any other style of yoga, and the master teachers who founded them (May Sri K. Pattabhi Jois rest in peace), as much as I do my own, and though I know that classical styles ARE that park for thousands of people--they do not appeal to me, for me.
My yoga is my innermost self manifested in a dance of spirit for the world to see. What I am on the inside--fierce, powerful, natural, flowing and free, comes out through the shapes I make with my body. The students who resonate with this dance come to me because that is who they are also, and my form of expression is in harmony with theirs. So it becomes them.
Many students are attracted to styles like mine, or those of Shiva Rea, Duncan Wong and other modern yoga pioneers who bring their own flavor and often, their own specific movements to yoga. Yet some people won't even try a form that is outside "the right way". There is as much inherent benefit, on a spiritual, mental, emotional and physical level from poses that your knowledgeable teachers created in 1930...or last week. Just because they are newer doesn't make them any less sacred, or effective.
Not being "allowed" to bring forth the practice as we feel compelled to is restrictive to our very spirits, and if we cannot move with the river of Shakti, our creative flow dwindles to a mere trickle. The practice of diving headfirst into one's potential and moving that inner strength and fire out to light the world takes many forms, and it will take many more as time marches on. It cannot be frozen in time.
In the end, it's not this or that pose that makes it yoga, as much as the quality with which you come into the form. We no longer need constrict the yogi's options to only what has been taught. We are released from seeing only the past forms as sacred when we remember that the asanas, no matter how old or young, are simply vessels for that which is already inside. And like a jar of fireflies, we are free to choose the containers that best captures our spark.
So when you approach your yoga practice, make it your own. Listen to your body, try new teachers, move outside the box--off the mat, even--and see where your energy needs to take you in this precious moment. You never know what you'll find when you dissolve any ideological walls and boundaries that are restricting you from uniting with your true nature of being totally, utterly present to your own love of life.
Only when we let go of the belief that yoga, or anything for that matter, must remain static in order to be pure, are we free to work together to create our most life-enhancing future, filled with community, integrity, individuality and grace.
Follow Sadie Nardini on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SadieNardini
Love your YouTube videos and enjoyed reading this piece. Wished I lived in NYC I would definitely practice with you occasionally. Need to practice my Shakti kicks more often.
Since the ultimate point of all Spiritual Paths is freedom, it is required of anyone seeking to find their own way. It therefore makes sense that there could be no one set way for any practice since humanity is a vastly diverse group. In one of the early issues of Namarupa (http://www.namarupa.org/) there was an article that said what we consider Indian spiritual thought was affected by and affected The American Transcendentalist movement during the mid-ninetieth century. I have recently read that American Yoga is affecting how Yoga is taught in India. Nothing wrong with any of this since we are all on the same path and we are all one.
Namaste,
avid
Ashland, OR
I appreciate your post, and agree with you that we all influence one another. I have had many students from India tell me that they love the way Americans have created within the body that is yoga asana. And of course, many non-Indians revere the way that India does it so well.
We can take from our different traditions what best serves us personally to rise up and shine, and that becomes the yoga. Nothing is without change save our abiding center anyway--so why not play with it, and let it morph and grow as we do.
Namaste--keep practicing those Shakti Kicks!
Sadie
However, I must respectfully disagree with your contention that the "first workout-like practice of asanas, or poses, stem from the Sritattvanidhi, a book written in the early 1800's..." In fact, the first book on the subject is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, dating back to the 1400s and based on earlier Sanskrit works. This book includes information on how to prepare for practice, foods to eat, what to avoid, where to practice, techniques of pranayama, how to work with mudras, and a series of 15 asanas that are still practiced today. There are many translations of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika available, and it can even be found on the internet for free.
There is an image of Shiva found on the ancient Pashupati seal that is dated back 8,000 years. On it, Shiva is shown in a yoga-like pose. It may be a coincidence, but the position is difficult to draw so it must have been meaningful to the artist. It quite likely indicates that some form of yoga was practiced at least 6,000 b.c.e.
Again, I agree with your direction and complement you for your stand. I hope you will look deeper into the history of the system you so obviously love.
Thanks for your comment.
The 15 poses set forth in the HYP were mostly seated poses, meant to prepare the body physically and energetically for meditation. They can hardly be said to be the precursors for the variety of poses we see today, and yet think of as ancient, or classical. The spiritual, dietary, mudra, mantra, and other aspects of Hatha Yoga were there, but the practice as Krishnamacharya created it did not stem in large part from these texts.
I encourage you to read the article I included from Yoga Journal, if you need more historical facts.
As for one pose that Shiva was depicted in, that also simply cannot be taken as proof that there was a strong, set series of poses such as Trikonasana , Surya Namaskar and all the rest that people practiced as a standardized physical expression of yoga like we saw stemming from the 1900s.
With all the minute detail of every other aspect of yoga, we can at least make an educated guess that these sequences created in the 1800s were really a product of their time, as well as one that intended to maintain the inner life and outer practices of yoga as set forth by the classical texts.
But thank you for your compliments, and I'm glad you saw value in the article!
Your writing resonates with me as being from an open minded master. Doctrine and Dogma too often replace spirituality for so many practioners of various philosophies. I studied Danzan Rye Jujitsu after experimenting with Karate and Kung Fu. The open and enlightened perspective drew me to that art . The key difference was Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki's approach (I learned from a 2nd generation student) which was open to addition or deletion. Students are allowed to attend to their own limitations rather then risk injury following a rigid routine.
If you rely upon the rules, you're still not there.
RR
I love what you said: " doctrine and dogma can replace spirituality..." so true, and so powerful a thought.
Movement is movement, until you put your soul into it---then it's yoga. It doesn't have to be from this or that master--just has to be YOU.
That said, many masters have an energy that you can be inspired around...but in the end, it's all up to you to sink into that inner space from which all true yoga flows.
THE GURU IS THE SELF, I would say...and all great masters will tell you that they are just reminding you through their self-attainment of what you already know, and are capable of yourself.
Thanks for sharing!
Really love this article. So glad you are fierce, flexible, and free to speak your peace. Thank you again for the love that you share with us all, within your wisdom. Namaste
Namaste.
Om, Shanti.
Peace
I've done a fair amount of yoga in a few different styles, and the best thing they all have in common is to teach you to listen to your body and respect its desires and limitations.
Coming from the East with its tradition of teacher veneration, it's remarkably easy, even for Westerners, to realize that the most venerated teachers are usually those who take all the learning they can - and then break the rules in any way that seems necessary.
Even within the most regimented practices, the good teachers are those who know that yoga begins when you stop pushing and pulling and invite your body to a conversation with your mind.
All the first teachers of anything were punk rock...and they continue to be so, Any time we innovate, we travel somewhere unknown, and to do that we must question the status quo.
Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for the love! I'm honored to have taught you. I know your future students will say the same things to you!
Sadie
It's just me and my flashlight. Glad you appreciate!