Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27 Parts 28, 29 and 30 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34
Q. Why did it take a year and a half before I first went to a Shala?
My reasons for not going would have changed over that period. In the beginning it wasn't something I even considered. I started Ashtanga with a book from the library. At first I was just doing a bit of yoga in my living room, guys out here don't tend to think about going to a yoga class, a gym perhaps or swimming but rarely a yoga or fitness class, just not something you consider. It also took a few months before I became serious about what I was doing.
But once I'd begun to feel committed to the practice and more aware of the Ashtanga tradition, why didn't I search out a Shala then? It crossed my mind of course, Googling Ashtanga I'd come across a couple of places in London that taught it. I live outside London but it would only take me an hour at most to get to a Shala on a Sunday.
I think I was probably a bit body conscious. I was in my 40's and more than a bit overweight. When I would practice, I would feel heavy and awkward, my breathing ragged, I would get very hot and very sweaty, not something I felt like sharing with a roomful of strangers.
Another reason was that I wasn't confident about what I was doing. It wasn't just that I was new to the practice but that I wasn't even sure I'd be able to DO the practice. I couldn't reach my ankles let alone my toes in Sury A, as I said, I felt awkward, clumsy too. I know, your Shouting out, 'But that's the point, that's why you go to class, to a teacher, everyone is the same, nobody expects you to be perfect in the beginning!' You know what it was, I didn't want to make a fool of myself.
Another reason is.....I don't like teachers. (I'm hearing Chris Rock in my head ' I said it , I went and said it'). It's not that I dislike teachers as people but rather I dislike teachers as teachers. Now I say that, having been a teacher myself. I've been a school teacher, I taught for a bit at a University, I've taught in language schools and I've even taught teachers to be teachers. Perhaps it's because of that, because I'm always observing how others go about teaching rather than what it is they're teaching. But I've always been the same, preferring to try to teach myself a language rather than go to a language class or how to play an instrument. Though I have studied martial arts and had no problem with going to a teacher there.
Most likely I'm just a bit of a control freak and don't like giving up that control to anyone else. I like to work at my own pace which is sometimes faster sometimes slower than a teacher might teach it. I like to jump about here and there as I see fit. Become obsessed with something for a while and then something else, work it out myself rather than have it explained, perhaps you've noticed.
If I'd gone to a Shala early on I probably would have been fine, same as if I was studying a martial art but having left it for so long the control freak aspect of my character had begun to take.......control.
What made me want to go when I finally did go?
I think eventually I began to feel much more comfortable in myself physically and confident in my practice. I'd lost quite a bit of weight and had started to do full primary. I was much more flexible, stronger and fitter, I knew I could do this. But I was also aware that there were a lot of holes in my practice that it was untidy in places. I could pretty much do all the asana but they needed a lot of improvement. I could catch my fingers in Marichyasana D but that was about it.
I'd become very serious about the practice and wanted to progress. I'd also begun to entertain thoughts of going to India, to Mysore. Surely if I wanted to go then I would need to have my practice tidied up. I'd also heard on the net a lot of good things about some of the teachers in London as well as appreciating what I'd learnt from Swenson, Scott and Sharath, on their DVDs.
Next: First visit to a Shala, What did I think of it? Why did I stop going after only two classes?
Q. Why did it take a year and a half before I first went to a Shala?
My reasons for not going would have changed over that period. In the beginning it wasn't something I even considered. I started Ashtanga with a book from the library. At first I was just doing a bit of yoga in my living room, guys out here don't tend to think about going to a yoga class, a gym perhaps or swimming but rarely a yoga or fitness class, just not something you consider. It also took a few months before I became serious about what I was doing.
But once I'd begun to feel committed to the practice and more aware of the Ashtanga tradition, why didn't I search out a Shala then? It crossed my mind of course, Googling Ashtanga I'd come across a couple of places in London that taught it. I live outside London but it would only take me an hour at most to get to a Shala on a Sunday.
I think I was probably a bit body conscious. I was in my 40's and more than a bit overweight. When I would practice, I would feel heavy and awkward, my breathing ragged, I would get very hot and very sweaty, not something I felt like sharing with a roomful of strangers.
Another reason was that I wasn't confident about what I was doing. It wasn't just that I was new to the practice but that I wasn't even sure I'd be able to DO the practice. I couldn't reach my ankles let alone my toes in Sury A, as I said, I felt awkward, clumsy too. I know, your Shouting out, 'But that's the point, that's why you go to class, to a teacher, everyone is the same, nobody expects you to be perfect in the beginning!' You know what it was, I didn't want to make a fool of myself.
Another reason is.....I don't like teachers. (I'm hearing Chris Rock in my head ' I said it , I went and said it'). It's not that I dislike teachers as people but rather I dislike teachers as teachers. Now I say that, having been a teacher myself. I've been a school teacher, I taught for a bit at a University, I've taught in language schools and I've even taught teachers to be teachers. Perhaps it's because of that, because I'm always observing how others go about teaching rather than what it is they're teaching. But I've always been the same, preferring to try to teach myself a language rather than go to a language class or how to play an instrument. Though I have studied martial arts and had no problem with going to a teacher there.
Most likely I'm just a bit of a control freak and don't like giving up that control to anyone else. I like to work at my own pace which is sometimes faster sometimes slower than a teacher might teach it. I like to jump about here and there as I see fit. Become obsessed with something for a while and then something else, work it out myself rather than have it explained, perhaps you've noticed.
If I'd gone to a Shala early on I probably would have been fine, same as if I was studying a martial art but having left it for so long the control freak aspect of my character had begun to take.......control.
What made me want to go when I finally did go?
I think eventually I began to feel much more comfortable in myself physically and confident in my practice. I'd lost quite a bit of weight and had started to do full primary. I was much more flexible, stronger and fitter, I knew I could do this. But I was also aware that there were a lot of holes in my practice that it was untidy in places. I could pretty much do all the asana but they needed a lot of improvement. I could catch my fingers in Marichyasana D but that was about it.
I'd become very serious about the practice and wanted to progress. I'd also begun to entertain thoughts of going to India, to Mysore. Surely if I wanted to go then I would need to have my practice tidied up. I'd also heard on the net a lot of good things about some of the teachers in London as well as appreciating what I'd learnt from Swenson, Scott and Sharath, on their DVDs.
Next: First visit to a Shala, What did I think of it? Why did I stop going after only two classes?
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