Striving for Grace

I can't believe that we've already finished more than a week of the challenge!

I had a good class tonight. I didn't think about heat or sweat or drinking water. Many of the postures were a bit of a struggle, but I felt good throughout the class. No dizzy feeling, no excessive thirst, no feeling unbearably hot. Maybe I am finally figuring out the right hydration and electrolyte thing.

The lady next to me whimpered like a puppy during half-locust.


Our state Yoga Asana Championship is tomorrow, and one of the competitors demonstrated her set. It included an incredibly beautiful and graceful standing splits. She posesses natural flexibility, but it is her long-term, dedicated practice that allows her to execute the posture with such grace and stillness.

I decided that one of my new goals for the Challenge is to focus on bringing more grace to my practice. I've tried to muscle my way into many a posture, grunting audibly as I kick out in standing head to knee, grimacing through awkward pose, and even, I'm sure, whimpering at some point. I am finally getting a little glimpse of what the instructors mean when they talk about ease and stillness. You can learn a lot by watching an accomplished yogini or yogi.

Which is why I am so dismayed to have encountered some Bikram-bashers complaining about the Asana Championship. At a non-Bikram style yoga class that I taught today, a gentleman mentioned that he'd seen news about this competition, and another student launched into an indignant diatribe about how competitions are un-yoga-like, not spiritual, etc. I wish that I had been prepared with a better response. Sometimes I truly hate straddling two yoga worlds. I told the class that asana competitions have been held in India for a very long time, and also that people have squabbled for centuries about what yoga is and isn't. The indignant lady said, "Oh, yes, and isn't that funny, because 'yoga' means 'union.'"

Well, yes.

I think that the Championships raise awareness about yoga. I think the Championships are inspiring, especially to kids and to yoga students. I would think that anybody who loves yoga or sees its benefits would be happy to see yoga promoted and made visible. If you've noticed what a stressed-out, unhealthy, increasingly obese and sedentary nation we are becoming, I would think that you'd love to see attention drawn to an activity that can calm the mind, refresh us, heal us, and keep us strong.

I don' t get what's so objectionable to the detractors. Do these people hate spelling bees too? They make a competition out of learning to spell, and some kids have more natural aptitude than others, but nobody gets really far in the spelling bee without hard work. Does this process somehow demean kids who are innocently and nobly engaged in learning to spell and write?

I guess you can't please everybody, huh?

I probably ought to try to extend that focus on stillness and grace to what goes on in my head, the things that annoy me. "Let no one steal your peace."