Notes from class emails

Q:  In practice, what is the right use of force?  This came up for many of you at least a little in your responses to the last question, and I am very curious about how you are personally working with this challenge.  The name of the practice -- Hatha Yoga -- can be translated many ways, but one option would be "the yoga of force", which certainly indicates that force is in fact a part -- even an integral part -- of the practice.  How, in practice, do you discern for yourself the right-use of force?  In active physical practice how do you discern the difference between violent and non-violent action?  More subtly, how does this 'knowing' carry over into your daily life, and how is it applicable at an emotional level, and in relationship?  Perhaps still more subtly, do you personally find any overlap between this aspect of the physical practice, and working with anger and boundaries, and with personal and relational honesty?

  (note:  Some of you had positive things to say about other forms of yoga, and some of you had critical comments.  Since they were used to explain how you felt, I left them in.  This is in no way meant to imply that I think, for example, that Ashtanga Vinyasa is "bad" and Kripalu is "good".  Hope you understand.  I'm a fan of all forms of yoga;  the way I teach it is simply the way that it works for me, on the mat.)

" Right now, I choose to just observe force as a physical phenomenon - how it moves one, how it pushes and shifts weight, emotion and spirit.  Behind force, lie the guiding influences of intention, awareness, and breath; so the challenge for me is to discern the right use of force by centering on these influences.  Hopefully, before initiating force in practice, at a subliminal level at least, I thereby resolve the following questions by answering in the affirmative:  Am I in control?  Does this make me happy?  Is this a peaceful act?  Is my breath smooth and even?  Am I comfortable?  These affirmative responses reflect the intention behind my practice; any other thoughts or doubts - my awareness; both of which, awareness and intention, transmogrify into my breath.  Force is then guided by the intention/awareness/breath triumvirate, and ideally equates to a smooth flow of energy in tune with my body and the environment in which I exist.""Generally, in life and in practice, my challenges with "negative" emotion are far more often with either apathy/stagnation, or with depression, often also without an object/reason, just "naturally" what's lodged in my body, and which practice presents in the ongoing process of unfolding.  So, unsurprisingly, I practice Vinyasa over Iyengar, as what works particularly well there is MOVEMENT, the combination of being still inside with the inner experience while externally in motion.  Pranayama, alone, works well also.  Static long holds, though occasionally useful, are not the most pleasant way to "work through" these particular emotional experiences, and frankly, feel a bit like forcing the issue.  Forcing a muscle to be more flexible is not an issue for me any longer;  body as-it-is is (mostly) easy to accept.  Forcing an emotion to release immediately can be more problematic.  Yin yoga, at this point in my practice, for my constitution, feels paradoxically MORE violent than any form of Vinyasa I've ever encountered.  The action of Flow practice allows it all to unfold in what is for me a far more natural process.  What depressed energy needs, most simply, is action.  I feel a great deal of gratitude for asana practice."

"Thinking about force and violent action.  A non-violent action might be one where the breath moves me, plays upon and
within me, elongating and allowing for space in my body and (in my spirit). As if the breath plays me like an instrument.  Any pose that is too forceful for me at the moment, I try not to do.  You have seen me skip some variations of the shoulder stand, for instance.. it is my weaker pose and until I "get" it, the variations may be violent, in an accidental, unexpected kind of way.  And come to think of it perhaps the improper holding of the head, when the neck is not in line with spine (an easier mistake when attempting the focal point outside the body instead of inner dristi), cusps on unintended violence.  I try to keep my yoga in the moment, a moving meditation... all frustrations  and anger are not really present.  And yet, happiness stemming from peace,  almost always spreads across me like a fresh spring water flows into the sea, flooding the salt with sweetness...  Once upon a time, when I lived with the fear of the world around me, I am sure I put myself into violent times and places.  (That was a good time for the 80's aerobics!!  hahah!)"

"I am going to think about the question today and get back at you about it...from the top of my thoughts though, I don't find violent action in my practice... or anger.  It is all I can do not to laugh and smile throughout the practice... it is my space of freedom and heart opening... But I need to look more deeply into the questions...But, my desire at this moment is to let you know how much fun I had in class today... how beautiful and uplifting.  (Are these emotions from which I could step back and watch and not get carried up and away... the same as sadness and grief is something to see, note and step back and watch?  Yet natural buoyancy is a wonderful thing...)"

"I've never taken a Yin class, though when I was going to 7th heaven in  Berkeley a lot there was someone who taught it there...  The way that  vinyasa works, works for me.  It doesn't make intuitive sense to me to sit  in difficult poses for extended periods.  It would seem hard for the body to  bring blood there (what works for me about vinyasa is warming up different  parts before really pushing stretchy stuff, though like you I also need  movement for psychological reasons).  Of course when vinyasa is practiced  poorly it can be very hard on the body (thus all those people who've wrecked  their bodies doing astanga vinyasa who are avid Iyengar practioners in order  to heal themselves).  Anyway, force.  I have learned in my yoga time to pay attention to the  instructors who remind practitioners to back off from things that tweak  joints.  Because I have relatively tight hamstrings and hips I have to be
warmed up properly to hold lotus for short periods.  I used to occasionally get sore on the inner meniscus of either knee from pushing things, and I've learned my limits.  Also, when I really push shoulder strength poses, if I'm not mindful of staying light I get a touch of pinch in my right shoulder, and it just takes backing off a bit and resting.  Another kind of force (brought up by your definition of hatha yoga as yoga of force) could be power/energy/movement force that's in the body and during practice one is learning to use it responsibly.  If I get a tweaky shoulder it's because I'm collapsing a bit and not staying mindful of keeping the joint light when it's bearing weight.  In general I've learned to try and use the whole body in every pose, whether it's being very aware of using the whole hand when it's bearing weight, or lifting the toes to keep the feet alive and engaged even when they're not bearing weight.  That's part of the awareness that is the ongoing challenge during asana practice, but it's most essential for the part of the body bearing weight and what will lead to strong and healthy joints.  So in this sense it's an ongoing effort to harness the energy of the body (the force) and using it to make the practice as whole as possible for the body.  And it's not just body.  Ideally it seems like a symbiotic relationship should exist between having the body awake, alive, in communication with itself, and things more intangible: mind, spirit, the emotions, etc.  A practice using the healthy force of the body should lead to balance with said intangibles."

"I believe physical force should be limited and specific to each individual.  During practice, we should move and engage the muscles, but the force to go into an asana should be based on how flexible we are.  In other words, how much the connective tissue can stretch.  When practicing yoga, each individual should stretch his connective tissue to a point that is tensed for him (its limit), but not tearing it.  In doing so, the connective tissue gains flexibility over time, which will allow a further range of motion.  In reference to emotional force, forcing an emotion or a mental transformation is like telling lies to yourself.  I believe in understanding for a reasonable move of emotions or transformation."

" Force. Violence. It seems most of the folks related it to a physical component of the practice...whereas it was always my understanding that the root of that comes from within one's self. If different emotions come up, especially in hip-openers, that's a release of those stored emotions and usually, once they "release" the next time is not so intense. That's almost surface-level. You can force your body violently into an asana, but shouldn't the asana not only start from the inside (the bandhas) but also on a deeper level of not wanting to force anything? There was one person who talked about the stillness inside while the body was moving, to me, that's the beauty of Yoga. Stillness in movement. Intense movement effortlessly. I tell my classes it's all about the breath, because if you can have the breath fill the mind while practicing, you're not going to hear all the critical, violent, forceful thoughts. Instead, it's going to be like wind flowing through the body. Because if you can move effortlessly and freely on your mat, then taking it outside on the street gets easier and easier. Watching people in NYC practice, then run in, usually more than half the class is gone before savasana begins, that's a great form of physical activity...but Yoga for me is so much more. The physical practice of asanas really should only mirror what you're trying to live in your head everyday. Flexibility. Breath Control. Light-Heartedness. Non-Forceful. Go with the Flow. Enlightening the mind and the body. and of course, always having the corners of the mouth slightly turned up."