I had the great chance and privilage to study with Judith Hanson Lasater last week in London. For those of you who don't know her, she is one of what I call the old school yogis, she was one of BKS Iyengar's early regular students in the US. Currently living in the San Fransisco Bay area she has been teaching since the 70's and has published a library of books. Known as a teacher's teacher I've been interested in listening, meeting and studying with her for quite some time, perhaps ever since I heard one of her trademark pieces of advice to teachers that we should ' teach people not poses'.
And she has a lot of trademark pieces of advice. Last week I was there to study her speciality of restorative yoga and how to teach it. She recount her belief that stress is the route of most modern illness and that because the core benefit of restorative yoga is stress reduction it is therefore the ultimate healing practice. At the end of each day of the course she'd say to us 'So see you tomorrow to continue doing nothing'. This to a roomful of 80 yoga teachers who were all very convinced they were doing something (getting a new yoga qualification and skill) but her point made was effective. The heart of restorative yoga is to do nothing. How many times do we literally stop and do nothing? That includes stopping the constant movement in the mind as well as the body.
One of our homework tasks after we returned home was to do less. She asked us just that, 'Can you do less?' and then challenged us to remove 1 to 2 things from our schedules for a few weeks and see how it felt to not be busy every minute 'And see how you feel', she'd add. I have to confess I have been doing this for several years, it was a conscious and determined lifestyle change for me for health reasons. I am the first one to admit that as a self-employed yoga teacher I am lucky, I have a choice, and I work it by no longer feeling that every minute schedule or day has to be filled with a prescribed activity, work or class. Part of living my yoga demands this space of nothingness and it is in that space that I replenish myself and am then available at better quality for those around me. For others it may be just limited to a half hour of a day or saying no to a plan, or just going with the flow on a day when there is free time. I know and readily admit that this is in no way easy in a world as fast paced as the one we live in. As modern beings, and Judith is right on this, we believe that being busy is a sign of success and is good, the constant rushing from one thing to the next is to be commended even if it leaves us exhausted and fatigued. How about if we viewed doing less as the norm, as the sucess, as the wow-factor? How would that feel?
So my friends here's the task should you choose to accept it: As the Spring energies rise and bring forth a flurry of new intention setting, can you do less? Could you do less? Try it and see how it feels. You will hopefully be delighted with the results.
And she has a lot of trademark pieces of advice. Last week I was there to study her speciality of restorative yoga and how to teach it. She recount her belief that stress is the route of most modern illness and that because the core benefit of restorative yoga is stress reduction it is therefore the ultimate healing practice. At the end of each day of the course she'd say to us 'So see you tomorrow to continue doing nothing'. This to a roomful of 80 yoga teachers who were all very convinced they were doing something (getting a new yoga qualification and skill) but her point made was effective. The heart of restorative yoga is to do nothing. How many times do we literally stop and do nothing? That includes stopping the constant movement in the mind as well as the body.
One of our homework tasks after we returned home was to do less. She asked us just that, 'Can you do less?' and then challenged us to remove 1 to 2 things from our schedules for a few weeks and see how it felt to not be busy every minute 'And see how you feel', she'd add. I have to confess I have been doing this for several years, it was a conscious and determined lifestyle change for me for health reasons. I am the first one to admit that as a self-employed yoga teacher I am lucky, I have a choice, and I work it by no longer feeling that every minute schedule or day has to be filled with a prescribed activity, work or class. Part of living my yoga demands this space of nothingness and it is in that space that I replenish myself and am then available at better quality for those around me. For others it may be just limited to a half hour of a day or saying no to a plan, or just going with the flow on a day when there is free time. I know and readily admit that this is in no way easy in a world as fast paced as the one we live in. As modern beings, and Judith is right on this, we believe that being busy is a sign of success and is good, the constant rushing from one thing to the next is to be commended even if it leaves us exhausted and fatigued. How about if we viewed doing less as the norm, as the sucess, as the wow-factor? How would that feel?
So my friends here's the task should you choose to accept it: As the Spring energies rise and bring forth a flurry of new intention setting, can you do less? Could you do less? Try it and see how it feels. You will hopefully be delighted with the results.
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