How to Practice Yoga
Dona Holleman studied with BKS Iyengar in the 1960s and integrated his teachings with her own independent practice and studies. She created eight Principles of Yoga, which is not so much an eightfold path as it is the guide to a true yoga practice. I have been applying these principles to my own home practice (of Ashtanga and Iyengar Yoga) every day for many years; the results have been revolutionary. I trust these concepts will do the same for your practice.
Below are her Principles along with my interpretations:
PRINCIPLES OF PRACTICE
1. not-doing of the mind
The clearing of the mind is not the result of yoga; it is the beginning of yoga. Practice begins when the mind enters the meditative state, and the internal dialogue stops. Then the mind of the yogi still, attentive to the movements of breath and body.
2. not-doing of the body
This is the practice of taking awareness inside the body to consciously relax places of tension.
Our bodies tell the stories of our lives: habits, injuries, stress. When we dissociate our minds from our bodies, we look at our bodies like strangers, but it is also possible to take the mind into the body and observe from a place of unity. When the mind is fully within the body, it becomes possible to alter habits, heal injuries, and truly relax. This relaxation is not the same as collapsing onto the couch with a beer and netflix. This is a relaxation that is paired with awareness, alertness. It is the way a cheetah may sit on a boulder, watching the savannah: at attention, and also at ease.
3. intent
Intent is the mental force that has the power of self fulfillment. This is the energy that truly creates the posture: it is deeper than the muscles, less tangible than the breath, and more than simply focusing. Intent is the ability to create action through will.
4. rooting
Yogis apply Newton’s law of equal and opposite reaction: in order to lift upwards, we must root downwards.
Dona Holleman also calls this principle the intelligent use of gravity. Gravity is the largest field that we live in, much larger than wifi or bluetooth or 4G that occupies our waking attention. When we consider our position and movements in relation to gravity, we see that there are ways to work with gravity such that our asanas feel natural and effortless. For me, this means enhancing my awareness of whichever parts of my body are on the ground, and allowing the pull of gravity to flow smoothly from those roots, so that energy lifts up and along my spine.
5. centering
Dona Holleman lived and studied in many cultures, and teaches centering from an Eastern perspective. The energy that flows through our body can be called chi, and is gathered in the hara, which is the Japanese word that refers to the very center of our bodies. Hara is a place that goes deeper than the muscles of a six pack; it is the seat of the will, and is physical just as much as it is energetic.
We are so visually focused in our daily lives that we typically move with most of our attention in our eyes and a little in our feet, leaving everything else to fend for itself. But it is possible to train the mind and body to move from the hara, the very center of ourselves, from behind the navel, where lies our center of gravity. When we move through awareness of our center, engaging bandhas to lift the energy of our spine, then we find that our pelvis and ribcage are suddenly quite light, our hearing is attuned to our breath, and the feet follow the body rather than the other way around. Centered movement is light, graceful, and makes accessible even the most advanced asanas.
6. bodyscape
These are the lines along which energy flows.
If we look at the body from an engineering perspective, we will see thebony structure is unusual for humans compared to other animals, because we are bipedal. Our vertical spines and arm joints are mobile, and stabilized by the pelvis, which is in turn supported by the two legs and feet. If we consider a standing posture, then the feet are grounding, rooting, so that the press down of the feet results in an upwards flow of rebounding gravitational energy. From the feet upwards, we can follow the flow of energy along the stacks of bones: each foot leading up to each leg, then the energy joins at the pelvis and rises up along the spine to the cranium. If our habits have created blockages in these pathways, then the posture will feel effortful, because the muscles will try to compensate for the misalignment of the bodyscape. But when we align the body along smooth lines, the energy flows smoothly, and postures become effortless.
7. breathing
Dona Holleman teaches two types of breath. One is the soft awareness breathing, for daily life. The other is accentuated awareness breathing, for lifted energy. This uses the bandhas to channel energy upwards, infusing the body, mind, and asana with powerful energy.
8. elongating
In conventional exercises, muscles work in pairs so that one muscle is contracted and its opposing partner is stretched. Muscular contractions are repeated for strength exercises, and muscles must also be contracted for stretching. If the contracting muscle overpowers the stretching muscle, then tears and injuries occur. “Over stretching” happens often in gym settings.
Elongation, unlike stretching, is the expansion of the body without contractions of muscles. Using intent, breathing, and the undoing of the body, the muscles can relax from the inside such that there is energetic flow in two opposing directions. The sensation of elongation is completely different from stretching. People often find stretching to be painful, especially when they are stiff-bodied. But elongation feels like inner spaciousness, and is a joyful sensation of physical freedom.
Like Patanjali’s path, each of these principles may contain all the others. When any posture includes the practice of each of these guiding principles, the posture becomes a reflection of yoga.
Thoughts on Practice
Our daily habits and routines shape our lives. And though many of these daily behaviors have formed unintentionally, each of us has the ability to live more fully by directing our daily thoughts and actions though intelligent intention. This can seem a daunting venture to begin as an adult — our routines can seem trivial, our thought patterns deeply ingrained, and the results of our actions can be mysterious at best. But if we dare to break habits and explore the inner life, we find that the practice of yoga provides the theory and practice of skillful thoughts and actions.
