Since my friend Denise talked about how she manages her breath during difficult yoga asanas recently in her blog, I thought I'd discuss the same topic today, but from another perspective.
Just last night in class with David at Inner Sun Yoga Center in Wolfville, he mentioned the breath in relationship to the purpose of a yoga practice. He said, "the purpose of any yoga practice is to reach balance." So to carry that to the breath, when you are in the midst of your asana practice you might find that you hold your breath or place your tongue against the roof of your mouth during difficult moments. Both these things point out that there is strain in your practice. This holding the breath or placing your tongue against the roof of your mouth is sometimes so subtle it is difficult to detect. You really have to pay attention, be self aware, to sense it.
There are other bigger signs of strain, the face is like a neon billboard for announcing strain. Your forehead creases, your eyes bulge, your mouth pinches, etc. Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar mentions that the head and neck are to remain passive during yoga asana practice. So forget all those facial signs of stress and strain. And when you notice the more subtle tongue lifting or the holding or your breath, that is when you say to yourself, "Ah, I'm straining. I need to back away."
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You literally lesson the intensity of your approach to whichever asana you are doing. You either back away, shorten your stance, come down from an inversion, raise your self up from the deepness of a foreword bend, or you can completely stop doing the asana. I find it better to just back away from the intensity of your approach. Then you can clearly see the difference between strain, and good effort without strain.
"Effortless effort." That is what Iyengar states as the approach to take towards your entire asana practice. You try your best, but not to the point of strain. You find the grace, the stillness of the moment within the pose.
Like in your life. Find the grace amidst the hectic experience of being on this planet this very day. On the subway, on the commute, in the kitchen, in the corridor, in the meeting, in the field, in the classroom, in the market, find that moment of being at peace.
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