your mind and intelligence move deeper toward the inner body,
bringing the mind closer to the Self-the core of being. The moment
one goes a little more than the body wants to take, one is nearer the
Self. The minute one says, "I am satisfied," the light of awareness and
attention is fading.
The role of memory in asana practice is to allow us to compare
yesterday's practice with today's so we can see if we are progressing in
the right direction. But many people repeat what they have learned in
the past, and their presentation of asanas becomes mechanical, which
causes the body and mind to stagnate. An asana is not a posture that
can ever be assumed mechanically. It involves thought and therefore in
novation and improvisation, at the end of which a balance is achieved
between movement and resistance. Never repeat: A repetition makes
the mind dull. You must always animate and create interest in what
you are doing. To illustrate my point, I will sometimes assume a
standing asana in front of the class, and I will tell them that what I
have done is a perfect asana. Nobody can tell me it has any defect. It
is perfect in appearance but dead inside; my mind is elsewhere. Then I
redo the asana with my mind fully present. I create unity within me,
and I make them see the attention of the legs, torso, and senses of per
ception. They are perceptively different.
Do not allow past experiences to be imprinted on your mind. Per
form asanas each time with a fresh mind and with a fresh approach. If
you are repeating what you did before, you are living in the memory,
so you are living in the past. That means you don't want to proceed be
yond the experience of the past. Retaining that memory is saying, "Yes
terday I did it like that." When I ask, "Is there anything new from what
I did yesterday?" then there is progress. Am I going forward or am I
going backward? Then you understand how to create dynamism in a
static asana. That memory has to be used as a springboard from which
you can ask yourself, "What more can I do than what I did yesterday?"
This is equally true in life as in asana practice. Usually wht•n a pnson
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