Teaching Methods • Everyday Goddess: An Inclusive and Expansive Approach to Teaching Asana
The Sacred Art of Teaching Asana
Embodied Meditation in Art:
Thangka paintings, steeped in the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, serve as a dynamic channel for practitioners to purify their intellect, calm their mind, and open their hearts. These sacred works of art establish a vital connection between the subtle and physical dimensions of our practice, allowing practitioners to engage with the divine on a tangible level. Faith Stone, co-founder of Shambhavananda Yoga and an acclaimed Thangka artist, aptly labels this artistic expression as "creative meditation in action." Faith's Thangka paintings grace the walls of Tibetan monasteries and serve as a wellspring of inspiration for future artists, adorning not only the sacred texts but also embellishing and consecrating the walls of Shambhavananda Yoga Ashrams, as well as numerous pages within this book and other esteemed publications from the Shambhavananda tradition. The ethos of teaching yoga postures in the Shambhavananda tradition aligns harmoniously with the Tibetan approach to Thangka painting, as both practices view postures and divine imagery as vehicles for practitioners to physically engage with the subtle energies at the core of their inner awareness. Just as yoga postures and divine deities serve as portals to inner experiences rather than mere ends, Thangka paintings manifest a profound and tangible gateway to spiritual exploration.
Thangka Painting and Asana:
The process of crafting a Thangka painting bears remarkable similarities to the approach of teaching and engaging in yoga postures. In both endeavors, an underlying blueprint defines the proportions of the intended form. In Thangka artistry, this foundational guide is termed a Thigse—an intricate framework of angles and measurements enabling artists/practitioners to faithfully recreate the divine figures according to ancient, timeless proportions (refer to figure 1 in Faith's book). Similarly, within the realm of asana practice, specific forms are observed, embodying precise angles and dimensions that wield a profound influence on the subtle nervous system of the practitioner—a resonance reminiscent of how the forms of Buddha or Tara impact us upon contemplation. Instead of wielding pencils and canvases to depict the sacred, we employ our bodies and yoga mats to actively commune with this inner energy.
Stepping Aside:
As outlined by Faith in her book, the reverence for tradition inherent in the Thangka art form entails a distinctive practice of "stepping aside." This concept necessitates that the practitioner both participates and relinquishes control simultaneously. Faith explains that Thangka painting and depicting Buddhas significantly differ from Western artistic approaches: while self-expression prevails in Western art, in Thangka art, the emphasis shifts. Faith notes, “Thangka painting and drawing Buddhas is very different in nature from a Western approach to art. Expressing yourself is paramount in Western art but not so in the drawing of Buddhas…Your goal is to try to stay out of the way and let the Buddha be expressed - not you. Essentially you are creating an environment for the Bodhisattva or Buddha to reside or take form.” This philosophy resonates in our asana practice, where we aim to "step aside" and allow the postures to directly engage with our inherent bodily intelligence. Much like observing a Buddha can clear the mind, consciously breathing within a posture can also bring clarity, provided we willingly surrender and remain fully present throughout the process. The ShambhavAnanda approach to asana endeavors to offer students a pathway to stay attuned to the divine purpose of each pose, rather than getting caught in the trap of striving solely to touch nose to knee or hands to heels.
Unleashing the 'Higher Self' through Surrender:
While this more detached approach to both asana and art might appear impersonal to many, the scriptures of Yoga, the teachings of this tradition, and decades of empirical evidence from yoga training suggest otherwise. Students discover that when they step back and surrender within a posture or while creating a thangka painting, something far more refined than their thoughts and personalities emerges. Healing, clarity, and joy surface—qualities reflecting our intrinsic nature known as Sat-Chit-Ananda, the triad of Being, Consciousness, and Bliss. Embracing this surrender, we embody our true essence.
Fusion with the Divine:
This phenomenon is evident in the final works of Faith's annual thangka painting workshops. Participants from all corners converge for a weekend workshop with Faith, where they're guided through the process of thangka painting. While each individual paints the same deity using identical graphs, the resulting artworks are strikingly unique. For instance, every Tara painting captures the essence of the deity while magically embodying the artist's identity, surrounded by elements of personal significance. Through their surrender, by stepping aside, each individual seamlessly merges with the divine on the canvas, transcending ego and effort. This mirrors the foundational principle of the Yogic Tradition—while we're all interconnected like Shiva, we also manifest as distinct expressions of the universal Consciousness. This concept is tangibly exemplified in the completed deities painted by Faith's students, where both the deity and the individual artist shine through—a living representation of this seemingly metaphysical teaching.
Everyday Divinity:
A recurring theme in Faith Stone's depictions of the divine is her series titled "Everyday Goddess," where she portrays residents of ashrams or sangha members as models for painting deities. This approach highlights that the divine resides within all of us, contingent upon our willingness to cultivate its manifestation through daily practice. In today's context, yoga postures have become increasingly externalized and exclusive, often leading individuals to believe they can't participate due to body size or flexibility. However, every yoga posture is accessible to all bodies. The emphasis on natural movement pathways in this manual broadens the inclusivity of the postures, while emphasizing the foundational experience at the core of each asana. By viewing back bends from a natural movement perspective, they foster strength rather than discomfort. As we learn to approach our practice holistically, our experience of the postures deepens, even if the physical depth may differ from our accustomed standards. Similar to life, inclusivity expands our perception of reality, leading us to discover the divine within ourselves and guiding others toward the same realization. This everyday goddess transitions from the canvas into our lived experiences.
A Parallel Journey in Yoga:
This transformative journey is equally attainable through the practice and teaching of yoga postures. When we allow ourselves to step aside and yet remain fully present, we discover new insights within the poses. The innate intelligence of the body better coordinates muscle teams, increasing overall strength and physical capacity, in a way that is pleasant and enjoyable without strain or injury. Teaching yoga becomes a vessel for transmitting this divine experience to the world, mirroring the essence of Thangka painting as described by the Buddha. The art of Thangka painting benefits not only those who observe the painted image, but also those who engage in the act of creation—a mission that resonates with our aspiration in this training.
Summary & Reflection:
Thangka paintings, rooted in Tibetan Buddhism, align harmoniously with the practice of yoga, serving as tangible gateways for spiritual exploration and connecting the physical with the subtle. The process of crafting a Thangka shares similarities with engaging in yoga postures, both guided by an intricate framework of measurements and angles to faithfully recreate divine forms and embody specific energies. This teaching approach involves establishing a foundational structure (Setup) for each pose, followed by guiding practitioners through its dynamic essence (Primary Flow), and then offering explorations in the posture that revolve around teams of musculature, joints, the spine, and the arms. Emphasizing a philosophy of "stepping aside," Thangka painting and yoga practice both necessitate surrendering personal expression, allowing practitioners to transcend ego and merge with the divine, reflecting a concept of universal interconnectedness and accessibility to the divine within everyday life.
How do you resonate with the concept of 'stepping aside' in both art and yoga practice, as described in the Thangka tradition? Reflect on your personal experiences with surrender and detachment in creative or spiritual endeavors, and explore how this might influence your connection to the divine or your inner self.
How to teach an asana
The Setup / Thigse: Imagine each yoga posture as a divine deity, complete with its unique and sacred geometry. To depict this deity, we begin by establishing its primary lines and angles—a concept analogous to the "thigse" in Thangka painting. In yoga, this is referred to as the "Setup." The Setup provides students with cues that guide their approach to the posture. For instance, the Setup for Trikonasana involves a heel-to-arch stance, relaxed hips, and hands at the hip socket. The Setup cues tell the student how to approach the posture— giving you a starting point, a frame work. The setup for Trikonasana, for example, is heel to arch stance, relaxed hips, and hands at the hip socket. The foot positioning requires specific cues, as well as the hips and hand placement, which are detailed in each postures Setup. The setup is meant to be a relaxed starting point that can be held for as long as one needs because there is no body weight or gravity pulling on the student. This allows the teacher the time they need to scan the room and make sure everyone is on the same page, as well as include props or note adjustments.
Primary Flow: The Dynamic Path of the Pose
Once the foundational structure is in place, the time comes to trace the graceful lines of the deity or posture onto the canvas. This is the primary flow, the very trajectory of the pose that we traverse through physical practice—the embodiment of the posture's essence. Consider the example of tilting the hips in Trikonasana; as you do so, you're tracing a line along the lateral edges of your body, revolving around the pivotal point of the hip socket. The primary flow serves as the literal route into the posture. In Sanskrit, this journey is known as "Uppaya," meaning path. A fundamental principle of yoga is that we construct our path through consistent repetition, akin to walking a trail time and again. This is why the practice is called a 'practice'—to emphasize the repetition and evolution. The primary flow acts as the pathway to the pose, urging us to retrace it multiple times to dissolve any barriers and unleash the flow of energy. In Trikonasana, for instance, this entails bending the knee of the extended leg while tilting the hips and laterally flexing the spine. Subsequently, pressing the foot of the extended leg against the floor straightens the leg as the hips unhinge and the spine unfurls laterally, returning to the initial setup. Executing this primary flow 2 or 3 times grants a palpable sense of the pose's journey, maintaining the vibrant engagement of the supportive musculature. Just as the Shiva Sutras teach, we kindle the spark of awareness, allow it to fade, then reignite it—this is the process by which we conjure the divine image of the posture.
Dynamic Essence of Primary Flows:
While the depiction of Trikonasana might seem fixed on the page, its nature is far from static. Consider the portrayal of Shiva Nataraj and his drum—though the drum appears unchanging in every Shiva image, it's meant to be played by twisting the wrist side to side, requiring viewers to envision the dynamism. Another illustration is that of Green Tara stepping off her lotus to support all beings—the step is halted in the image, yet it's vividly alive within the deity. Similarly, the postures' images in this manual are presented as stationary, yet we encourage you to delve into the dynamic potential of movement inherent in each asana. To facilitate this exploration, we've included GIFs for every pose, showcasing this liveliness, alongside comprehensive instructions on entering and exiting each pose.
Exploration / Coloring in the Buddha:
This leads us to the final dimension of the pose—immersing ourselves through exploration. This phase is dedicated to delving into the subtler nuances of the pose's experience. For instance, in Trikonasana, you can explore buoyancy, allowing you to connect with your deep core, or venture into lateral exploration, unraveling the lateral musculature along your body's side. Another avenue to traverse is the spiraling exploration, which assists in dissolving any tension between muscle layers through a gentle, spiraling arm motion that imparts a shearing sensation. While we might comprehensively cover these explorations during our training sessions, in a standard yoga class, you'd typically focus on one exploration.
Unveiling the Possibilities within Poses:
Our explorations of poses may center around the following dimensions:
Line Explorations - These entail recognizing the connectivity that spans through an entire line of muscles. For instance, during standing forward folds, a common exploration is the deliberate unfurling that directs attention towards integrating the backline of the body.
Joint Explorations - We embark on a journey of circling the hips, shifting weight around the heel, revolving the knee around the ankle, and swaying the sacrum from side to side. These movements reshape our body's spatial organization, helping activate additional support and honing our awareness of when our joints feel most spacious
Spinal Movements - Engaging in slow, conscious waves, sinuous snaking, and graceful spirals of the spine within various poses not only nurtures support from the deep core but also awakens heightened articulation and awareness throughout the entire spine and rippling to the rest of the body. By methodically and fluidly moving, we can illuminate areas of the spine that might otherwise be overlooked and experience how the rest of the body follows.
Arm Explorations - Our arms play a crucial role in enhancing our overall bodily engagement. Reaching with the arms can elongate the spine and generate more expansive joint space. Executing circular motions with one arm gently and evenly rotates the spine and affects all the layers of connective tissue in between. For instance, when spiraling the spine in Uttita Parsvakonasana through arm movement, the influence extends from the spine down to the ankle.
Stillness Explorations - Embracing static posture retention fosters increased strength in the supporting musculature and encourages deeper release within the muscles and connective tissues. It also provides a chance for students to synchronize with their breath's rhythm. When practiced correctly, bodily stillness can cultivate mental tranquility. While not outlined for each posture, the subsequent section elaborates on our approach to stillness in this training. Each family of asanas will feature dedicated time and instruction on the comprehensive methodologies of stillness and its associated benefits within that specific group of poses.
Moving towards Stillness
Bringing our Best to Stillness: We are well aware of the substantial effort required when learning a new movement. For example, when delving into new yoga postures, we might attend classes, workshops, watch tutorials, or read informative articles. We readily accept the notion of a learning curve, understanding that progress demands dedication and ongoing refinement. This constructive mindset ensures our engagement with novel movements remains vibrant and conducive to growth.
However, the concept of learning to be still raises intriguing questions. Most individuals tend to associate stillness with a state of 'non-movement,' akin to when we are asleep. Conversely, in the realm of yoga postures, some perceive stillness as an act of willpower—a matter of 'holding' a posture for a set duration to influence muscle strength or form. This inclination has been evident in extended holds of poses like Paschimottanasana, intended to isolate hamstring stretching from the rest of posterior chain. Unfortunately, research indicates that such practices contribute to the widespread occurrence of Hamstring Tendonitis within the yoga community. This condition leads to issues like an anterior pelvic shift, lower back discomfort, a tense psoas, and more. Beware the consequences when stillness becomes an act of sheer will.
Teaching Stillness:
Because most student’s understanding of stillness seems to be one or the other of these two pendulum swings, leading to unconsciousness and injury, we will be taking time in each family of postures to talk about how to approach stillness consciously, and how to avoid these common pitfalls. How can one approach stillness in a forward bend, without disconnecting the team work of our posterior chain? How can we approach stillness in a buoyant hip posture, without stretching the ligaments of the hips? Beyond that, how can we approach stillness in an intuitive and conscious way so that the many benefits of stillness in a pose can bubble up for each of us? Because as you may know, holding a posture statically can help to promote greater strength in the supporting musculature, as well as allow for deeper layers of release in the muscles and connective tissue. It also allows the student time to connect with the pulsation of their breath, and when done correctly, stillness of body can also promote stillness of mind.
The Path of Shakti: These invaluable rewards necessitate a heightened awareness when it comes to the practice of stillness within our asana practice—a journey paved by conscious movement. The various families of asanas provide us with the wisdom of mindful motion. Although they might appear static on paper, they inherently imply an element of motion within the body.
In the yogic tradition, reality is often depicted as a harmonious dance between Shiva's tranquility and Shakti's vibrant pulsation. Together, they form the very fabric of existence, always interconnected. However, within the practice of asana, a subtle nuance of this teaching is often overlooked—the journey to reach Shiva, the essence of stillness, unfolds through the realm of Shakti, the realm of movement. As Shiva imparts in Verses 17-20 of the ancient text, the Vijnana Bhairava, "The path we must tread lies within the realm of Shakti, not Shiva, where there is no journey... The path is Shakti, not Shiva. Energy is the true path that you must follow." This implies that although Shiva and Shakti are inseparable aspects, we must commence with Shakti to ultimately reach Shiva. This aligns with the teachings of Swami Rudrananda, suggesting that we must harness our practice amidst the dynamic circumstances of our lives to attain a state of pervasive inner stillness—our true essence, Shiva.
Moving towards Stillness:
Hence, the central focus of this training revolves around mastering movement with support, heightened awareness, and attunement to sensation—because this constitutes the path we must tread. It's about discovering our center amid the graceful dance of body and breath. As tradition imparts, when we undertake this journey consciously, stillness becomes a natural destination, effortlessly attained.
As elucidated in Dharana 58 of the Vijnana Bhairava, to embrace stillness and connect with our authentic nature, one should engage in a rhythmic swaying—allowing oneself to glide within slowing, imperceptible circles. “Sway Rhythmically…letting oneself swing in slowing invisible circles” This underscores the truth that movement serves as the conduit to stillness. This principle is also ingrained in Sri ShambhavAnanda's teachings, where he guides his students to gently rock back and forth in their meditation seats until they find their center, akin to the balance of a pinhead. Try it now—let your weight shift in subtle, hidden circles within Tadasana, transitioning from foot to foot, until you attain stillness. It's a buoyant experience of serenity, remarkably sustainable, transcending the body's constraints. As echoed by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, "The method for this is called effortless effort, perseverance without tension, and results in the experience of the infinite. In this way, the dualities of physical existence can be transcended" (2.47-48). Stillness demands effort, but it's not overwhelmed by it. It lies in a harmonious middle ground, and upon reaching it, it unfolds as boundlessly sustainable, free from the burden of undue will and strain. This is the transformative journey of movement that guides us toward the stillness inherent in our True Nature.
The Dance of Stillness: All these insights converge to reveal that stillness isn't quite what our minds perceive it to be—it's more akin to a dance, a moment brimming with energy that demands unwavering mindfulness and suppleness to sustain. While stillness remains a vital and potent facet of the yogic tradition, it defies the static image often attributed to it by our minds. Grasping at stillness with our will is as futile as capturing a soap bubble—it must naturally alight upon us. Stillness is a choreography, a performance, a rhythmic ebb and flow—its arrival is spontaneous, feeling as light as a feather, effortlessly enduring, and perpetually nurturing. As affirmed by both ancient texts and contemporary mentors in this tradition, the journey to reach this depth of stillness is paved through the realm of Shakti, through conscious movement. This is precisely why a substantial portion of our training centers around this dynamic arena. Our objective isn't to confine stillness, but rather to embrace and value it as the subtle manifestation of energy that it truly is. To achieve this, we must relinquish our tight grasp on the concept of stillness within postures and welcome this newfound comprehension with open arms.
Summary & Reflection
Teaching an asana involves a sequence of intricate steps, beginning with the "Setup" or "Thigse," where the foundation of the pose is established as a relaxed starting point. Next, the "Primary Flow" is introduced, representing the dynamic path of the pose, followed by various explorations such as line, joint, spinal, arm, and stillness explorations, all of which allow for nuanced engagement with the posture. Stillness within the pose is more like a dance than we realize, aligning with the ancient wisdom of yoga, wherein stillness is not a static state but a rhythm, an energy, and a conscious path of movement that arrives at a direct experience of stillness.
What is your relationship with stillness in your yoga practice? How does the intricate dance between stillness and movement challenge your understanding of both, and how might embracing this dynamic interplay enhance your yoga practice and the pursuit of inner stillness?