IS YOUR ASHTANGA TEACHER A CONTROL FREAK?

I am reblogging Rosa’s post about our Second Series Ashtanga teacher training with Tim Miller. Tim spent a good deal of time addressing the unnecessary “strictness” of Ashtanga. To add a few quotes to Rosa’s:

Tim believes in freedom to explore poses and room for personal style. For Parivritta Parsvakonasana he said, “People have a whole dance they do. Hey, whatever gets you there.”

Kapotasana is challenging for most of us and we all develop little tricks and techniques to get us closer to our heels. One girl said that her teacher prohibits her from doing it in way she finds comfortable. She dreads the pose. Tim said, “Guruji didn’t have any strict rules. Do whatever works for you. And as teachers, remember that people feel bad enough about their kapotasana without you making them feel worse.”

Ashtanga teachers count the positions in sanskrit to keep the pace of the class. There are a few different methods used. Tim’s opinion is, “The main thing about counting is to be confident.”

Tim shows us that we can transcend the malarkey, have a sense of humor during practice and get to the meat of yoga.

Tags: asana, Ashtanga, Guruji, quotes, second series, Tim Miller, yoga, yoga teacher