November 2020
Mary Taylor
Q: In all the years you have spent in and with yoga, what is the most important lesson you have learned?
That relationship is at the core of everything and for that reason cultivating healthy relationships is paramount to living a life that is healthy, happy, and rooted in service for others. In our practice, we start with watching simple relationships—like the prana and the apana
Q: What is your definition of time?
Time is change. We become aware of time when we’re conscious of space and we become aware of space most accurately through being in touch with what it feels like to live in a body. Time and space are what Prakṛti is, and together they reveal the truth of impermanence, reality, and the joy of letting go. If you try to hold onto time…well, good luck! There truly is no time like the present.
Q: Mr. Iyengar cautioned against doing Sūrya and Chandra Bhedana the same day. What do you have to say about that?
These prānāyāma practices, like all prānāyāma, should be approached carefully and never with a sense of achievement, grasping or strain. In his book, “Light on Pranayama" Iyengar describes the full, extreme version of these practices. Sūrya Bhedana prānāyāma is inhaling through the right nostril—the sun or Sūrya channel—then retaining, with full use of bandhas. One then exhales through the left side—the moon or Chandra channel—and again retains with the bandhas. Inhale through the right, exhale through the left. In Chandra Bhedana pranayama the opposite pattern is practices; inhaling only through the left, exhaling only through the right. If you practice either of these in an extreme way, it makes sense to not practice them close to each other. Prānāyāma, even more than asana, needs to be approached gently, internally and not with even a tinge of competition or egotistical attachment to success.
Q: What role do sincere yoga teachers have in the politics of the moment? I care for my students immensely and want to serve them in the best ways I know how. And yet, I find my insides are screaming because of the lack of humanity I sense in our country. Do you have any advice or guidance?
Injustice thrives on anger, violence and confusion. So for each of us as practitioners and teachers the best thing we can do—especially in times like these—is to see through our own tendencies toward these emotions. In other words to pay attention to the thoughts, feelings and sensations that grip us and then step back to check habitual patterns of thought, body and emotion that are causing imbalance. Sometimes we must ride the embodied experience and not try to alter it, though sometimes we see we’re rooted in habits that can be shifted. But recognizing our patterns is the first step. This then leads to stability that allows us to see can contribute the most effectively to helping all people learn kindness toward one another.
If you've got a burning philosophical question or one about yoga asana, meditation or pranayama or if you wonder about how yoga intersects with your life, please submit a question here. We'll try our best to answer! We'll publish one or two in our newsletter as well.
