OM Yoga Magazine – July 2018

Yes! The new copy of

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I did a ‘vart’

A (humorous) poem for all those who’ve ever

‘varted’ in class By Jacky Power

I did a vart in yoga.

I’ve had 3 kids you see,

It started as a tiny squeak

As I went to lift my knee.

I thought I’d got away with it,

But later we did plough

And that was when I let rip _

Like the bellow of a cow.

I sat up like a meerkat

To come out of this dangerous pose

And then I spotted the teacher with her hand upon her nose.

I tried to make some gestures, to explain my plight;

All whilst attempting warrior 3 - it really was a sight.

Savasana came not soon enough - after which I ran out quick.

It’s not something I’ll be showing off as my new found party trick.

I won’t be going back there - but I’m not taking it to heart,

I’ll train as a yoga teacher, only teaching those who vart.

We  Yoga Nidra
Your article, ‘Who are you without asana’ (Issue 84, May
2018), really made me laugh. I have the opposite response
in my sessions here in Co.
Limerick. If we do not have a
yoga nidra session every six
weeks, I face revolt! My class
had never heard of yoga nidra
and we got talking about it one
night and they insisted that
we try it the next session. The
class lay down, covered up, I
explained the requirements of
yoga nidra and fully expected
to be stopped after five or
ten minutes by them telling
me that they couldn’t stand
it. Instead, that first session,
they lasted until I finished
(34 minutes). At the second
session I extended it to nearly
40 minutes, but still no complaints, and so
on. When I put it to them, that they could lie down at home and listen to
a CD of yoga nidra, they had the simple answer: “We’d never get round
to it”. The morning after that first session, I had texts pouring in
about how fantastic it was and what a great night’s sleep people
who never slept well had had. I’m a qualified teacher of yoga,
restorative yoga and yoga therapy but I don’t think that made
any difference!
Ita W, by email

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Business Park, Colchester CO6 2NS

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om beginnings

102

Teacher’s Tales:

A

n often-used expression is: If you can breathe, you can do yoga. However, as a yoga teacher, try showing up

movement and see the response.to teach a drop-in class at the gym with no asana or We know that there is more to yoga than asana, yet

in the West there is so much emphasis on asana above the other seven limbs to the point that the general perception is that asana = yoga. Ask a member of the public what yoga is and they will most

likely point to a picture of someone in a yoga posture. I posed this question to someone I know who has little interest in yoga and their response was: “It’s thin, tanned women doing handstands, isn’t it?”

their bodies into complicated or challenging looking shapes.They were half-joking, but on further discussion their belief was thatyoga was essentially people who did not look like them, manipulating^

classes around London how they would feel if they arrived at their class to discover there would be no asana practice and that they I went on to ask a few practitioners I know who attend yoga

would be spending the time focusing on say, breath awareness. One said they would walk out and complain to the manager. Another said they would demand their money back. “If you’re not going to move

What if you could not practice or teach asana? is it still yoga? By Paula Hines

then what’s the point?” was one statement. (^) It got me thinking, as teachers are we similarly attached to asana,
in both personal practice and teaching? For instance, are yoyou feel in some way defined by your ability to do (or teachposes with relative ease? If you couldn’t, would it change how you u, or do ) certain
others see you? see yourself, or would there be concern that it may change how
classes you have set up yourself, you might feel that the extent of what you are able to teach is dictated by the venue, or the Or, if you are teaching in gym or studio venues rather than
expectation of its clients. I notice that while my own practice ebbs and flows, asana
currently does not dominate in the way it once did. Yet, iteaching I do see that asana is still central, for the most partBut what if you could not practice or teach asana? And who would n my.
you be without it? Paula Hines is a London-based yoga teacher and writer
(ucanyoga.co.uk)^
Who are you without asana?
Te acher zone
OM_84.indd 102
03/04/2018 14:29:
vart!