P
eople sometimes ask my husband what it’s like being
married to a yoga teacher. Honestly I had no idea this
was an interesting question, but I guess people like to
make stories in their heads about the yoga lifestyle and
the level of dedication it might entail and the impact
on one’s nearest and dearest. “Does she make you do yoga?” is
often the follow-up question, proving that they’ve not met my hubby
before: just try making him do anything he doesn’t want to do! But in
case you’re still wondering... yes, he does do yoga! He doesn’t go to
classes but he has a very lovely home practice – from what I’ve seen
when I’m allowed to peek at him in full flow!
Although our practices are quite different, of course my yoga
habits do rub off a bit and, just as my husband brings his work
home in various ways, I also can’t help talk shop sometimes. Now
I’m starting to realise that he has acquired some rather esoteric
knowledge from me. His own practice is staunchly physical and he
avoids what he calls all the philosophy and spiritual mumbo-jumbo.
And yet he has a pretty good understanding of yoga history and
the major lineages and he has even picked up some Sanskrit terms,
albeit in a slightly confused way.
Sometimes he makes blunders that really amuse me. The funniest
(bear with me, my yoga humour is an acquired taste) was when he
mistook Utkatasana for Utkranti. He was muddling up the postureA little yoga knowledge can be dangerous. By Victoria Jackson
om lite
known in English as Awkward Pose or Chair Pose with the notion
of ‘yogic suicide’ found in the traditional texts, where one can, it is
said, migrate the soul into another’s body, effectively killing one’s
physical self. While it’s not uncommon in a yoga class for there to be
some confusion between Utkatasana (Chair Pose) and Uttanasana
(Standing Forward Fold), I’m grateful most students don’t know the
word Utkranti – otherwise the consequences of misunderstanding
would be much more interesting! Could this be the plot line for some
yoga-zombie crossover film, I wonder?
I also find it hilarious that my husband can muddle up the perfectly
standard pose Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose) with the more esoteric
Vajroli Mudra, whereby a man sucks semen or other fluids up through
the urethra. While this is well-known detail in the Sanskrit yoga texts,
as far as I know it’s not part of my husband’s regular practice! Nor is it
something I teach, I should add. Though I’m still disconcerted to realise
it must have featured in our dinner-time conversation at least once.
All in all I think it’s just as well my husband doesn’t attend public
classes very often. A little knowledge is dangerous and who knows
what chaos could ensue if he misunderstood an instruction from the
teacher...!Victoria Jackson lives and teaches in Oxford. She is registered with
Yoga Alliance Professionals as a vinyasa yoga teachertoo much information