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John Schumacher (founder of the Unity Woods Yoga Center)
Summer 2000 Letter
“In the struggle alone, there is knowledge.”
--B.K.S. Iyengar
Safety and comfort: these are certainly things most folks
look for in their lives. Of course, daredevils and ascetics go against that
grain, but most of us are neither daredevils nor ascetics. So it seems
reasonable to assume that yoga students, at least the majority of them, wish
to pursue their yoga safely and comfortably. That is reasonable, isn’t it?
Actually, I think it depends on why you’re doing yoga.
No doubt, some of you are taking a yoga class simply for
something to do, and you don’t really have any expectations or goals beyond
that. That “something” could be yoga, or it could just as easily be ballroom
dancing as far as you are concerned. In that case, safe and comfortable is
just fine.
Yoga can be a whole lot more than a night out, though. It can
be a way to explore very deeply who you are and expand your concepts and
experience of yourself on a lot of different levels. Through the practice of
yoga you can add a fullness and clarity to your life that you may never have
experienced before. For those who do want something more from yoga class
than an evening’s diversion, however, I feel obliged to inform you that the
path of yoga is not always a walk in the park. Somewhere along the way, you
are apt to run into resistance and discomfort. Why do I say that? Obviously,
not to try to talk you into taking yoga classes. Promises of discomfort are
not great selling points (unless you are one of those daredevils or
ascetics). I say it because, truthfully, it is my experience as a yoga
practitioner, a yoga teacher, and a human being that very little real growth
comes without some discomfort. We speak of growing pains for good reason.
Just as a butterfly must struggle and break free of its cocoon to realize
its full splendor, so we as humans must come up against the walls of our own
cocoons—to realize our full splendor both as human beings and as sparks of
the Divine.
To grow, after all, means to confront limitations, to
encounter the aspects of ourselves that prevent us from living fearlessly,
seeing clearly, and being truly happy. Such a confrontation is not often a
comfortable experience. Furthermore, when this encounter takes place, we
usually arrive at yet another unsettling realization. We have choices to
make with respect to how we live our lives and that to a very large extent,
the responsibility for our own well-being is ours. Having choices can be
empowering and energizing, but it can also feel like a tremendous burden.
That’s not always so comfortable, either.
Nevertheless, if you simply stay within the confines of what
is comfortable, you won’t begin to rub up against the edges of your cocoon;
you won’t really stretch yourself. This is true whether we’re speaking in
physical terms or in mental or emotional or metaphysical terms. If you have
physical goals, for example—increased flexibility or strength, healing a
tricky back, losing weight—physical discomfort is inevitable if you are
going to achieve those goals. Please bear in mind that in saying discomfort,
I’m not talking about pain and injury, but rather movement past the range of
“cushiness”. It is a tricky issue as to what is appropriate discomfort and
what is detrimental or even injurious pain is an art that every serious yoga
practitioner works with throughout his/her life. Well-known yoga teacher,
Lilias Folan, calls that edge “sweet discomfort”. Something not quite
comfortable is happening, but it has the sweetness of being right. Sometimes
forceful action is required; sometimes patience is the key. Because the
teacher has practiced yoga to expand his horizons, because he has acted,
erred, observed, and learned, he can be of important assistance to the
student in knowing how to proceed. Indeed, that is one of the teacher’s
primary functions.
This is also true if the student has goals other than
physical. You may be attending class in the hope that yoga will help you to
relax, or reduce stress, or alleviate depression. Or you may be there to
come more profoundly into touch with your spiritual nature. Working with
issues such as these can be uncomfortable in a different way, but the
principle is the same, wherever it may be. And not just guide you to your
edge, wherever it may be. And not just guide you to the edge, but help you
to move appropriately beyond it as well.
Still, in the end, it is up to the student to do the work, be
it physical, mental, or emotional. Indeed, this business of cocoon shedding
almost always entails all facets of our human nature. And make no mistake
about it, there is risk involved, risk at every level. The teacher is
certainly not infallible, and you, the student, will, doubtless, make
mistakes in the process of opening up. Growing is not 100% safe.
Certainly, one of the teacher’s most important
responsibilities is to create as safe an environment as possible. Her agenda
should always and only be the well being of the students. The classroom
should be safe in the sense of being free of the threat of physical or
psychological abuse. The student should be free of any doubts about the
benevolence of the motivations of the teacher. If you don’t feel safe in
that sense, then you should find another teacher, because your process of
opening up and growing will be seriously undermined by such doubts or
threats.
But yoga is a journey into the unknown, and on that level,
not completely safe. When the butterfly bursts forth, it enters a whole new
world with all the risks that that entails. And the bursting forth itself
has more than a few risks associated with it. It is this process of moving
from the security and comfort of the known into the excitement and fear of
the unknown that I’m referring to when I say that you are going to
experience discomfort in your yoga practice. Even so, I don’t say this to
discourage or intimidate you, but rather to give you a truthful picture of
what is entailed in treading this particular path. Yoga is, in my view, the
ultimate vehicle for the journey of growth. It touches us in so many
different ways and on so many different levels. And it not only carries us
to what we experience as our limits; it gives us the means to move beyond
them as well. The caterpillar, as it struggles against the walls of its
cocoon, cannot visualize what amazing worlds await. And as we walk the
sometimes uncomfortable, always fascinating path of yoga, we can scarcely
imagine the infinite wonder of the world into which we may emerge. To step
into that world, we need only embrace the sweet discomfort of our own
struggle and transcend the cocoon of our limited selves.
Reprinted with permission from
www.unitywoods.com
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