Body and Breath - Yoga Shop Talk

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Yoga shoptalk, June, 2002

I have some mildly critical comments relative to your May 2002 yoga shoptalk, but I want to preface those remarks by complimenting your book Anatomy of Hatha Yoga. As is made clear by many reviewers, your book is superb and will be a standard reference in the field for many years to come. It meets the needs of both casual readers without much scientific background as well as critical readers who are looking for technical details.

Now, as to your answer to the questioner for the May 2002 yoga shoptalk, I have to say that you sounded just like my ex-husband, always lecturing me, trying to fix things, and trying to talk me out of my feelings when most of what I (and I think the questioner) needed was a little understanding. I realize that she asked about separate exercises, and that she actually answered her own question, at least in part (is continual patient practice what I should do?), but it would be nice if you could have couched your response with reference to her frustration rather than with reference to your own agenda. I'm not criticizing that agenda. It's fine, but in the final analysis it's still yours.

Answer: Thank you. I thought that the need to fix and lecture had gotten thrashed out of me during the course of my two marriages. "Don't try to help. I don't want suggestions. Just hear me and ask questions that show that you are really listening." OK, please let me try again.

"That's the pits. It's really discouraging to realize that one is going downhill physically, and that it might have been at least partly preventable with a little foresight. I'm not surprised that you feel like kicking yourself. I don't know about separate practices. At age 62 yoga is hard to beat, although tai chi is perhaps a close second. And as your final question/comment suggests, continual patient practice is probably your best bet. Certainly you should be careful to avoid repetitive stress injuries. And please remember: the body is at best a fair weather friend. We ought not be deceived into thinking that a spiritual seeker can get physically healthier and healthier until the day he or she departs. That's a fraudulent although common new-age myth. Life may be long or short, and hard or easy, but unless it's in our stars to die in our prime, we should all prepare our minds to be good sports during our ultimate physical degeneration and demise. And in the meantime, the best we can do is live balanced lives of work, play, practice, and inquiry, which may well include inquiry into why me."

Thank you again for your comments