Yoga Teachers Training – Ultra Beginners

Some of the yoga asanas can be a challenge, such as Sirsasana (Headstand pose) and Adho Muka Vrksasana (Handstand pose) for Yoga teacher wannabes. And when we were told to observe the Master when he demonstrates the more difficult asanas, this is what I have observed in the earlier part of our training.
Ask a yoga practitioner about Dristi, they would explain that it is a soft gaze, focus or awareness that keeps you attentive to what your body is doing in relation to your breath and your mind. That is easy to understand, but in reality, this is not the case in practice in the beginning.
When our Master does the asanas, it is a breeze and our expressions are always in awe, in admiration. While we watched, unaware we were performing an asana already. Please allow me to explain.
Our eyes for one, is ever roving, when I foolishly believed within that it is fixated. What more when we watch our Master in action. We are in moments, performing the ‘Eyepoppingsana’.
Yoga for beginners is hard work. I literally meant hard work all over. We have the ‘Murkha Bulldogsana’. This is not new. The cringing, the frowning, the nose flaring breath, the woos and the ahs…are one asana by itself. I thank GOD I managed to walk out of classes without added wrinkles….lol
How about Pranayama? The names of the various breathing techniques are enough to drive me breathless! There is one that is probably forgotten, the ‘Pranamucus’ (‘An’ means movement and ‘pra’ is a prefix meaning constant. Therefore, prana means constant motion.) A constant movement of flow of the mucus. It is absolute a flow with nature and nothing to be embarrassed about. Detoxification indeed!….lol
As we progressed and refined our asanas, we have gotten better and the asanas in the Ultra Beginners training long forgotten. We are able to smile serenely as we perform some of our asanas now and feel a sense of calmness as we ‘Tidursana’ (Tirdur in Malay means sleep) instead of Savasana. Literally dozing off from physical exhaustion, which is the ultimate in non- attachment after practice. In Savasana, a ‘posture of a corpse’ and to pretend you are dead takes a longer time to achieve than Tidursana……naturally, ah…..heavenly.
The above asana names are a fabrication of my own self silly imagination and not representative of what is taught in Tirisula Yoga Centre. You see, yoga has evidently done wonders for me….creatively free flow….lol
Yours in yoga
Zareen Tia
200Hr Yoga Teacher Training HopeFool
(6 July to 20 October 2013)