"Old man, stiff man, weak man, sick man, they can all take practice but only a lazy man can't take practice."
--Sri K Pattabhi Jois
"Yoga is a self-critiquing subject. Only a yogi can criticize himself. A musician, a physiologist or other scientist criticizes their respective subjects, but only a practitioner can come to grips with the Self through his own practice. Through self-study and self-criticism, he develops his own intelligence and learns to discriminate between what is real and what is not. As the Self grows in him, he comes to understand. The Self alone shines forth and permeates all his activities. That is why yoga is beneficial to mankind because its practitioners may come to understand the Self. It is a development from the gross to the subtle, but we must always start with the gross—that is our point of departure. What better thing can you do in this life than to get to know your own Self?"
--B.K.S. Iyengar (from 3 Gurus, 48 Questions)
Posture
The external appearance of the pose is much less important than what is going on internally. Tune in to your inner guidance and let the pose unfold from there. The body is continuously sending us signals and the yoga practice is about learning to hear and listen to the signals.
Breath
"The mind is more difficult to control than the wind but if we are able to control our breath, we may control our mind." A yogic saying.
We coordinate contracting and expanding with the movements of the breath, usually contracting on the inhale and expanding or stretching on the exhale.
Concentration
Dristi is the sanskrit term for gaze or focus. By focusing the gaze we learn to steady the mind and develop concentration. Focusing on an external object allows the internal mind to expand and for our awareness of subtleties to grow. As you begin to work with Dristi, do not worry too much if you cannot remember exactly where to look. If this is the case, allow your eyes to turn in the general direction of the pose. Maintaing the dristi takes practice and our ability to maintain it will improve over time.
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