It's fairly common for women to outnumber men in yoga classes these days, yet when we look to the beginnings of yoga we find that women were absent from the world of yoga. Krishnamacharya, fearing that yoga would die out if left to the men who had business on their mind more than the practice of yoga, was one of the first Indians to teach women yoga.
Not that long ago, I found myself in an interesting position -- I was studying the style of yoga that I had always longed to, yet I was extremely unhappy. One of the reasons my dissatisfaction lied in the complete absence of the feminine in the training. By feminine I don't mean female teachers. Rather, I mean the qualities of the feminine -- connection, receptivity, fluidity, non-linear thinking/behavior.
This is not to say that structure, logic, goal-oriented behavior, and linear-thinking are bad. I was just feeling that there was no balance between the two. There were times I wanted to focus on being as opposed to doing. Needless to say, that wasn't the way of this training. After having my fill of rigidity, I left the training. After making the decision to leave, I felt such a sense of lightness in my body. It was if my whole body sighed with relief.
This was a great lesson for me in regards to my yoga practice. It wasn't uncommon for me to approach my practice in a masculine way -- I focused a lot on doing, achieving certain goals (I wanted to gain more flexibility or master this pose or that pose). My breath would sometimes be forced or get stuck in my body. My disenchantment with the training was a lightbulb moment for me in regards to my yoga practice -- it was time to balance out the masculine in my practice with a little feminine.
Years ago, I took my first Yin Yoga class and loved the way it balanced out my more rigorous every day practice (back then I did a lot of power vinyasa yoga). It never ocurred to me that I could actually balance out my practice without alternating Yin Yoga with my regular style of yoga -- I could actually balance it out within my current practice. Eureka!
Here are some of the ways in which I incorporate more of the feminine into my practice to maintain a more healthy balance:
I begin my practice with movement. Before I step onto my mat, I take anywhere from 5-15 minutes to shake, vibrate, and/or connect to my inner serpent (lots of spine movements like Spinal Rocking or Cat Cow or Rolling Cobra). Rather than choose a goal for my practice (i.e. achieve a certain pose or increase flexibility or wind down or energize or build up to a more difficult pose) I practice for the sake of practicing. I "take my eye off the prize" and focus instead on noticing what's happening in my body during the practice. I focus on how each pose feels in my body. My goal becomes being more receptive to what yoga has to offer me rather than impose a goal on myself and my practice.I maintain fluidity either with my breath and/or with some added movement (favoring dynamic poses over static poses). For example -- rather than come up into Warrior and hold the pose, I'll do a dynamic Warrior, in which I come up into the pose and go out of it a few times. If I choose to focus on keeping my breath fluid, then I back off when I notice my breath becoming choppy or irregular or forced. I'll go gently into a pose and only until after I'm sure that my breath is fluid will I go a little deeper.Surrender becomes the name of the game. Typically, people associate Savasana with surrender in a yoga practice. It is, after all, the pose in which we are supposed to let go and allow everything we've done on the mat to integrate. While I do enjoy my Savasana (even when there are days I'm tempted to skip it, I don't), I also focus on surrendering into each pose that I move into. If I'm struggling or fighting or working too hard in a pose, I back off, breathe deeper and surrender a little more. It's the difference between you coming into a pose and the pose coming into you. It's a subtle shift into allowing the pose to inhabit your body rather than forcing your body to inhabit the pose. I will often ask myself, can I surrender more in this pose?Sometimes I even activate my pelvis a little more than usual during my practice by adding in hip circles in a lunge or I'll come to my knees in plank and do some hip circles all the way around into Upward Dog.I notice that when I maintain this masucline/feminine balance, my body feels happier. It doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman, the idea of balancing the two energies still applies.
Some of my more favorite teachers who incorporate a little more of the feminine into their teaching of yoga include:
Angela Farmer
Angela is a unique and beautiful spirit and I've never worked with a teacher quite like her. Here are some of my favorite DVDs from Angela (all are on her Web site while some can be found in the Amazon Marketplace):
The Feminine Unfolding
Inner Body Flow
Shiva Rea
Shiva's energy is so...special. I remember taking a workshop with her years ago at a conference. I had just come from a wonderful class with another popular teacher, but when I walked into Shiva's class -- BAM -- I was struck by the complete change in tenor of the room. The whole workshop was a delight. While I tend to favor learning from Shiva live and in-person, here are a few of my favorite DVDs from her:
Yoga Shakti
Yogini
Yoga Trance Dance
Fluid Power
Radiant Heart Yoga
Free Flow Vinyasa
And, no, it's not a requirement to be female in order to embrace the feminine side of yoga. Take Mark Whitwell, for example. I'd have to say that bar none, he is my favorite yoga teacher right now. Whenever I have the opportunity to practice with Mark, I take it. I love his style, his philosophy, his teachings. If you haven't had the chance to experience Mark, I highly recommend any of the following DVDs:
Yoga of Heart
Real Yoga for Real People
Eoin Finn is another male teacher that I really enjoy. His latest DVD collection -- The Blissology Project -- consists of a yoga and meditation practice for every day of the week. The production quality of this DVD (which you can also download) is just beautiful. Eoin has a great style -- very chill and fluid. He's like a cold glass of lemonade on a scorcer of a day. Learn more about his new DVD set here:
The Blissology Project
There have definitely been many instances in my life where I forge ahead without considering a balance between doing and being. Living in an achievement-oriented society, it's an easy trap to fall into. Yes, there are times when masculine qualities serve me but I notice that I often get burned out when I don't balance out the masculinity with the feminine. Same goes for my yoga practice.
May you be balanced, happy, and free from suffering!
Namaste!
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