Afterthoughts, subjective, objective...

I think it is time to look back to the past few workshops I have been and to be more honest, instead of trying to be uncritical, about what I think about these rather famous yoga teachers… The first ones were Jivamukti creaters, David Life and Sharon Gannon. Maybe it is because I don’t get them, but I don’t thing I would do another workshop by them. I don’t really enjoy these other vinyasa styles which are made up later on by modifying the core… I have my vinyasa practice which is ashtanga vinyasa… and any other feels incomplete, or sometimes like an aerobics class…” I don’t want to be overly critical, and I believe that with good intention, these teachers also try to bring awareness to people about the spiritual side of practicing yoga, but maybe it is better to leave discovering those things to people themselves… I was not a vegetarian when I began getting so serious about my practice, and I was drinking heavily sometimes and I was even smoking here and there… but suddenly I stopped eating meat and slowly I wanted to drink less and with that, of course I slowly stopped smoking. They all came to me without my teacher imposing anything on me. It was just time to stop eating meat especially since I did not enjoy it so much and ate it to not upset my family. Then I realized it was not worth drinking so much when I feel that I don’t want to live next day because of the horrible hangover I get and also I wanted to be able to get up at 6am and go to my practice rather than feeling physically horrible. The smoking, I already knew how bad it was for me, I just had to stop. So, I believe that you can show the door to someone but you cannot force them through it. I assume those people, who were in the Jivamukti workshop, either discovered yoga by themselves, or maybe a friend introduced them to a yoga class and from there, they picked it up themselves with their own free will and continued. So just like that, the other parts will fall in or maybe they will not but I find it pushy when teachers began arguing with students about vegetarianism or the right path, etc… let them live their journey and have a respect for their journey. Yes, during the workshop, from time to time, there were discussions, which turned out to be uncomfortable at one point due to these issues…
With Manju… I really enjoyed him as a person. But I think the next time when he is here for a week, I will only join his workshop for couple of days because I already do the practice and I don’t enjoy to have led classes everyday… I believe that, as in Mysore, it is enough to have two led classes per week, then it should be my self practice where I will have a bit more time to struggle with some asanas or go further with others… during the workshop, we did no backdrops except the last two practices which were self practice… things like that sometimes frustrates me because some days I feel so open but I miss that because of such a led class… and when it is only led class, it is Manju counting… not much learning in that for me… maybe there is for others who don’t know the count, where to breath etc… Okey, am I being horrible? Well before that I have to reflect on one another…
With Tias Little… I have to admit that was real learning experience for me! That is what I expect from a “workshop”. He really contributed something to my practice, and I don’t mean that others did not but I picked some kind of understanding, more awareness from him which I cannot tell about others. For the first time, I experienced the asanas so deeply, as if they have penetrated my soul… Therefore, I realized there is so much more to discover for me yet…