Actions, reactions, finger pointing and breathing through

It seems my last post triggered reactions: I explained in it my experience of a recent workshop and my personal reasons for not connecting with Anusara. This offended a reader, who also happens to be a student. That's good, I write to trigger emotions, and these are not always pretty ones. In addition, I believe that for 25 silent agreeable readers, there always is one that loudly shouts out and asks for your head to roll. Such is public life. Go ask Marie-Antoinette :)

I explained in my last post, which I have taken off line to prevent anyone from broadcasting 'wisely selected' pieces of it, my reasons, my uniquely personal reasons for not enjoying Anusara, as a student. I have practiced Anusara for several years now, used to be an avid and daily practitioner for a very long time, and have had the chance to learn from a number of Anusara teachers, many amazing ones, which entitles me to an opinion as a student, good or bad.

My intention, as a unique individual, with my own experience, feelings and perspective, was to explain why I thought this method was not the right thing for some, why it did not work on my body type, and why I did not subscribe to its philosophical iterations. No more, no less, a perfect blog entry, most people would reckon. Well, most people only.

I will not give you the link to the bitter response my blog got, because it is not my approach to criticize and finger-point people's views and feelings. This person, like me, is entitled to her reaction and thoughts, and I will thus not broadcast her entry on my blog to stigmatize her. Instead, I would congratulate her on loving her practice dearly enough to feel annoyed by my entry. Annoyed is good, angry is great, as it all is an expression of our innate creative energy, like love or passion.

As a student of yoga, I will tell her that I would truly like her to respect my experience. Although I am a teacher a few hours a week, I am first and foremost a student, like her. I would invite her to keep an open mind and not make inaccurate assumptions about my past or Life. She should acknowledge my right to report how I lived the experience, my right to shape my own views, extreme as they are, and the fact that though she loves something, some people won't.

Lastly, I would like to thank her for her feed-back and honesty, and invite her to introduce her Self to me after my next class, so I can put a face and a smile on the words.

Shanti

IY


'Anger, fear, hate, and jealousy are great gifts. Finally we leave spiritual mirage behind. We are no longer this sanitized being, smelling sweetly of lotus flower perfume. We smell like hate. We stink of it. This is reality. This is unity, at last!' (Daniel Odier, Yoga Spandakarika)