1. Just show up.
2. Don't worry about memorizing anything. Your aim is to show up every day. The rest will come automatically. No one in the class cares if you know what you are doing. The teacher doesn't expect you to know anything. Just show up. (And remember to take off your shoes.)
3. Each morning you will wake up and some days you will feel good and some days you'll feel bad and the thing is to get past the ups and downs of the mind and just show up anyway. This isn't the kind of thing where you think to yourself "oh, I feel nice today I think I will go to yoga". Nope. The yoga bit is showing up regardless of how you feel because feelings are always changing. Philosophically, this is the identifying with the unchanging Yoga Sutra thing. Try to get right away that it ain't about the asanas. Just show up.
4. Or maybe think about the asanas as where your body is located in space. So rather than your body being at home, take it to the shala.
5. Build up your daily practice with the mantra of "slow and steady". There is no rush. There is no finish line.
6. The first month (actually, the first few years) is all about trying to establish a habit. That is one of the reasons why you start with a small amount of time. It is much easier to show up for perhaps twenty minutes each day than 90. This is different than going to a 90 minute yoga class. This is about a daily practice as part of the rest of your life. Start small. A little each day. This is the traditional method for learning and practicing Ashtanga yoga. We aren't changing a thing because this really does work.
7. It is ok to know nothing. It is ok to feel uncomfortable. It is ok if your ego gets bruised. Be willing to learn. Just be a student.
8. Yoga is not friendship time. Yoga goes beyond that. You can leave all that at the door. You don't have to say good morning or be in a nice mood. It really isn't about that. Your teacher isn't supposed to be your friend. Your fellow students are busy learning and practicing just like you are. Let the space be more. Let the energy be raised.
9. Just show up.
10. Keep showing up.
2. Don't worry about memorizing anything. Your aim is to show up every day. The rest will come automatically. No one in the class cares if you know what you are doing. The teacher doesn't expect you to know anything. Just show up. (And remember to take off your shoes.)
3. Each morning you will wake up and some days you will feel good and some days you'll feel bad and the thing is to get past the ups and downs of the mind and just show up anyway. This isn't the kind of thing where you think to yourself "oh, I feel nice today I think I will go to yoga". Nope. The yoga bit is showing up regardless of how you feel because feelings are always changing. Philosophically, this is the identifying with the unchanging Yoga Sutra thing. Try to get right away that it ain't about the asanas. Just show up.
4. Or maybe think about the asanas as where your body is located in space. So rather than your body being at home, take it to the shala.
5. Build up your daily practice with the mantra of "slow and steady". There is no rush. There is no finish line.
6. The first month (actually, the first few years) is all about trying to establish a habit. That is one of the reasons why you start with a small amount of time. It is much easier to show up for perhaps twenty minutes each day than 90. This is different than going to a 90 minute yoga class. This is about a daily practice as part of the rest of your life. Start small. A little each day. This is the traditional method for learning and practicing Ashtanga yoga. We aren't changing a thing because this really does work.
7. It is ok to know nothing. It is ok to feel uncomfortable. It is ok if your ego gets bruised. Be willing to learn. Just be a student.
8. Yoga is not friendship time. Yoga goes beyond that. You can leave all that at the door. You don't have to say good morning or be in a nice mood. It really isn't about that. Your teacher isn't supposed to be your friend. Your fellow students are busy learning and practicing just like you are. Let the space be more. Let the energy be raised.
9. Just show up.
10. Keep showing up.
YYMysoreProgram (1920 x 1080).m4v from Yogayama on Vimeo.
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