Yesterday I had one of those "don't feel like practicing" moments. I know, I even wrote the post on kicking your butt when you don't feel like practicing, but life has a way with irony and so there I was, facing the mat with no desire or inspiration.
I knew of course, that this was just a mind trick, designed to test that famous quote by Jois "body is not stiff, mind is", because when the mind gets on the way in hard-core way, when it crosses the arms like that and says: "No!" as if it was five years old, THAT is the moment to recognize its inflexibility.
Somehow I came to a truce with it that I would get on the mat without changing into the usual yoga clothes, we would practice in the t-shirt we had slept in and underwear, no need to do fancy stuff.
Literally I was treating the mind as if it was a child. And that is when I heard her protesting, again, that it would not like to see me, never mind the drishti (or pre-determined eye focus point for each point) without my usual shorts! - Can you believe that?
We will do it blindfolded! I blurted - That shut it up. I was only able to do the standing sequence with the blinders, by the end of which I was too sweaty and they came off, but while they were on I learned that:
The eyes are a limb: No kidding, Utitta Hastha was impossible. I remembered loud and clear what it was like in the beginning, in those first couple of practices where balance was nowhere to be found! Not only there but also in the following pose, ardha badha padmotanasana, gosh!
How difficult it is to retain the balance when the eyes are not there to anchor you, as if they were another limb. And that is when I realized that they are. A dance teacher used to tell me to "use the eyes to grab the wall" back in the 90s. She was not speaking metaphorically.
Noticing where the little distractions go: Even though when I practice with open eyes my drishti is, by now, pretty good, there are still little distractions that I don't even notice. Being blind-folded allowed me to notice those moments, the places where I go "unconscious" and look out, or escape from the awareness of what is happening in the body at that moment.
Pardon the irony, but it was indeed a big eye-opener to notice that it is possible to go from one warrior side to the other keeping the internal focus and not wondering to find the Hudson River as it seems I am in the habit of.
Slowing down and gratitude: I don't quite know how John Scott gets aware of how to center himself on the mat (below). All I know is that it was hard. I had to stop and feel the corners of the mat about 6 times, and that was just the standing sequence! I ended the standing sequence in deep gratitude to have eyes to see, to anchor me, to balance me. What a gift!
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I have no idea where the blind-folded idea came from, perhaps was from talking to Mikko (a fantastic authorized level II teacher from Finland and fellow student at the Thailand TT in 2009) in Mysore and him reminding me of John Scott's demo at Yoga Oslo. Perhaps it was just universal intelligence gathering anything that would help me get on the mat and get over the hurdle.
Anyways, here is the YouTube of John Scott, he is much better than me!
I knew of course, that this was just a mind trick, designed to test that famous quote by Jois "body is not stiff, mind is", because when the mind gets on the way in hard-core way, when it crosses the arms like that and says: "No!" as if it was five years old, THAT is the moment to recognize its inflexibility.
 |
| Don't fall for the mind trick! |
Literally I was treating the mind as if it was a child. And that is when I heard her protesting, again, that it would not like to see me, never mind the drishti (or pre-determined eye focus point for each point) without my usual shorts! - Can you believe that?
We will do it blindfolded! I blurted - That shut it up. I was only able to do the standing sequence with the blinders, by the end of which I was too sweaty and they came off, but while they were on I learned that:
 |
| What it feels like to talk to my mind sometimes |
The eyes are a limb: No kidding, Utitta Hastha was impossible. I remembered loud and clear what it was like in the beginning, in those first couple of practices where balance was nowhere to be found! Not only there but also in the following pose, ardha badha padmotanasana, gosh!
How difficult it is to retain the balance when the eyes are not there to anchor you, as if they were another limb. And that is when I realized that they are. A dance teacher used to tell me to "use the eyes to grab the wall" back in the 90s. She was not speaking metaphorically.
Noticing where the little distractions go: Even though when I practice with open eyes my drishti is, by now, pretty good, there are still little distractions that I don't even notice. Being blind-folded allowed me to notice those moments, the places where I go "unconscious" and look out, or escape from the awareness of what is happening in the body at that moment.
Pardon the irony, but it was indeed a big eye-opener to notice that it is possible to go from one warrior side to the other keeping the internal focus and not wondering to find the Hudson River as it seems I am in the habit of.
Slowing down and gratitude: I don't quite know how John Scott gets aware of how to center himself on the mat (below). All I know is that it was hard. I had to stop and feel the corners of the mat about 6 times, and that was just the standing sequence! I ended the standing sequence in deep gratitude to have eyes to see, to anchor me, to balance me. What a gift!
---
I have no idea where the blind-folded idea came from, perhaps was from talking to Mikko (a fantastic authorized level II teacher from Finland and fellow student at the Thailand TT in 2009) in Mysore and him reminding me of John Scott's demo at Yoga Oslo. Perhaps it was just universal intelligence gathering anything that would help me get on the mat and get over the hurdle.
Anyways, here is the YouTube of John Scott, he is much better than me!
One of the teachers from my teacher training had us do this! Though only Surya A and B. I loved it. I practiced a lot of Forrest yoga when I first started and closing your eyes was encouraged (because it helps you feel what's going on in your body), so I still have a tendency to do that during my Mysore practice. I know, bad lady ;-) On a fun note, I've also had to practice semi blind for the last couple of days because an issue with my eye prevented me from wearing my contacts (I can't see the big E on the eye charts without correction). I almost feel like my practice was better (as in smoother and more focused) when I couldn't see clearly--especially my drop backs! It forced me to be more aware of how everything felt in my body: when I was transferring enough weight into my legs to stand up from the back bend and when I was using the right muscles. I kind of feel like I should leave the contacts out all the time, lol
ReplyDeleteAmazing how much you got out of it! Sorry to hear about the issue ofof your contact lenses... then again who cares about the letter E ... hee hee :-) enjoyed reading about your experience :-)
DeleteThanks! I was able to put my contacts back in a couple of days ago and it was pretty amusing to notice the differences. I had been looking forward to being able to see again during my drop backs but found that I actually did them better semi-blind because I couldn't see completely clearly and just had to trust myself (and the teacher when it was time to do them with her). Once I could see clearly, I wasn't relying on how it felt in my body as much and could feel that I was a little more scared because I COULD see where I was going, lol. Funny how that works, lol.
DeleteInteresting post, I've never tried blind folded yoga but I've tried naked yoga (in the privacy of my home) I feel my mind is more aware, more vulnerable and able to focus and stay in the present moment longer. Also I saw your videos, the headstand is excellent, I'm glad to see you struggling a little bit as I'm struggling a lot with my own headstand. I've always practiced it right next to the wall until I saw yours, I will leave some room now between the wall and me to work on balance. Thanks for the tip! Namaste. :D
ReplyDeleteWow, you go Priscila, be careful with that, but it sounds like you are feeling confident already to face being a bit further from the wall, that is great progress! Sharath always says: Dont fall... a good reminder...
DeleteSo naked yoga ha? oh dear, I am not sure I would be up for that one, too distracting for me, even if alone, I think I would start judging things...but I guess in the privacy of your home it could be an experience, you go! very adventurous!
You reminded me of my 'How to jump through blindfolded' back in 2009,( later ( came across that john Scott video, didn't feel so nuts then). Love the idea of doing the whole practice blindfolded, in fact in the spirit of pratyahara we could go with some earplugs too and try and focus on the internal sound throughout
ReplyDeleteHm, ear-plugs! then we get the whole airplane experience in place, yes, I think Emirates put some of those in that little handout they give you, could work! although they do tend to come ouf of the ear, wonder if it would be distracting... It was, with the blind fold, a good pratyahara approximation... indeed and I DID remember you and your jump throughs when the idea came to me! I totally did not feel nuts at all because of that! :-) which by the way, I heard about before I saw the John Scott video
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