book-larnin'

[Guest guest]

I am afraid that I enjoy the skull-bashing as

much as anybody, but, honestly, my hat's off to you --

I can't imagine how you keep it up without the

guidance, inspiration and assistance of an actual live,

physical teacher (not to mention classmates). Imagine what

could happen when you do finally get one...

[Guest guest]

<< I can't imagine how you keep it up

without the guidance, inspiration and assistance of an

actual live, physical teacher... >><br><br>Sagmal

- I guess that's what makes the difference between

us. I am sure that without a teacher around you to

tell you exactly what you should do and what not, you

would never have ventured to start practising Astanga

Yoga on your own.<br><br>I am not lucky enough to have

a teacher around me, but I started with Astanga

nonetheless. Maybe I have more initiative than you, maybe I'm

also more determined than you, who knows...

[Guest guest]

All right, that's the last time I pay you a

compliment.<br>Actually, "without a teacher(s) around" I wouldn't even

have known where to start. In fact, years before I

ever was introduced to yoga I read some books about it

and I just could not even imagine what they were

talking about -- I sure was happy when I finally found

out.

[Guest guest]

yes malsag, you are obviously not a serious

astanga practitioner like ss. but if it's any consolation

you are in decent company since according to ss

guruji himself is not a serious astanga

practitioner.<br><br>shining_skull, to have such great knowledge of astanga yoga

despite never having been to mysore in your current

incarnation can only mean that you are the reincarnation of

sri vamana risi himself. true guru of astanga yoga, i

bow to your lotus feet. <br><br>namaste,<br>m

[Guest guest]

"All right, that's the last time I pay you a

compliment."<br><br>Don't fret about it, Malsag- I sense some insecurity

coming from SS's reply: he's not really practicing. It's

either too hot or he has some kind of injury at certain

points. <br><br>99% practice, 1% theory

[Guest guest]

"Imagine what could happen when you do finally get one... "<br><br><br>he'd be

flying through first series on a sweat drop.

[Guest guest]

when i saw my first yoga book as a young teen- it

was a coffeetable book with incredible photograpy,-

one picture jumps out in my memory of shoulderstand

done by a manly healthy body in candlelight and all

the colors were firelike from the candle. <br><br>A

sense of hopelessness overwhelmed me because i

simultaneously wanted that pose (and all the rest) with my whole

being but "knew" it was impossible. I could never be

that.<br><br>Well - i still don't have a muscular manly body(!)

but.. i did get the pose after many decades when i

found A TEACHER.

[Guest guest]

<<Well - i still don't have a muscular

manly body(!) but.. >><br><br>Just nailing an

ambiguity here: did you want the muscular manly body or did

you want the GUY who had such?<br><br>Homer

[Guest guest]

oops. Neither - thanx for letting me clear this

up. I wanted the ability, the agility, the physical

freedom ... all that. That's funny though- i was

mesmerized but never did it occur to see the person rather

than the pose.<br><br>(My wall had a picture of mark

spitz on it though)(...there goes the age

secret)(anyone old enough to remember his terrific feat of seven

gold medals at the olympics?)

[Guest guest]

oops. Neither - thanx for letting me clear this

up. I wanted the ability, the agility, the physical

freedom ... all that. That's funny though- i was

mesmerized but never did it occur to see the person rather

than the pose.<br><br>(My wall had a picture of mark

spitz on it though)(...there goes the age

secret)(barely double digit though)(anyone old enough to

remember his terrific feat of seven gold medals at the

olympics?)

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the clarification. I remember Spitz's

feat but only dimly, being nine at the time.<br><br>MY

old wall had on it a drawing of William Shakespeare

-- until at age fifteen I replaced it with (cringe)

a Cheryl Ladd poster.<br><br>Homer

[Guest guest]

G27 - Maybe unlike you I don't confuse PRACTICE

with going to classes, an error people like you never

fail to do. <br><br>I have have never reported any

injuries due to my practice either, thanks for your

concern.<br><br>And regarding your attempts in psychology, I'd give

you an "F".

[Guest guest]

I wasn't fretting about it, I was just trying to

make another joke (at his expense, naturally). But I

also thought it was too bad that shining skull

couldn't accept a few words of encouragement in the spirit

in which they were offered. Maybe I don't even blame

him - the constant barrage of comments here might

make anybody a bit suspicious or paranoid. <br><br>For

the record, I never said that I think that you can't

learn anything about yoga from a book. And my

recollection is that shining skull has not claimed to be

learning ashtanga entirely from a book either - he studied

Iyengar for a while first, right? So, if you know the

poses individually, and can read carefully (and there

is no real teacher available anyway), what is to

prevent somebody from STARTING in the way that shining

skull says he has? If you add to that a good video

(boy, do I think it would be worth it if he found a way

to get that VCR - they don't cost that much do

they?), you probably could get some good work in. In

fact, it sounds to me like a reasonably logical way to

proceed, if you are not close to an ashtanga teacher (and

if you are not up for a trip to India -- or Bali --

this month). The concept of "guru" is really a little

broader than we think -- could include a book, yes? Also,

he never said that he didn't WANT to find a teacher,

did he? When you are ready for a teacher, one will

appear. These things take time. <br><br><br>I also wasn't

comparing my own practice to shining skull's or anybody

else's (how could I, over the internet?).

[Guest guest]

that's precious - hey, Cheryl was not a bad

choice at all - in fact she was in a made-for-tv movie

not too long ago: gorgeous as ever and classy! (Or

should i say ..hotstuff.)<br><br>Thanx for the much

appreciated empathy,...it goes a long way. Yip, eventually it

feels like we know the people in the club hm?

[Guest guest]

"I wasn't fretting about it, I was just trying to

make another joke (at his expense, naturally). But I

also thought it was too bad that shining skull

couldn't accept a few words of encouragement in the spirit

in which they were offered."<br><br>Ok, I'll mind my

own beeswax from now on. And, I'll refrain from

getting my panties in a bunch or getting defensive about

the length, frequency or series I'm on of my own

practice (yes, without formal "classes" as well, SS, so no

need to make any kind of generalizations here). I'll

even apologize for the backhanded comment, SS, about

your self-proclaimed isolation in practice because it

is pretty evident that you should be fairly

sensitive after much of the discussion that does go on

here.<br><br>I have to say, though, SS, that while you got

furious with my unbridled stab at pop-psychology I was

merely perplexed by your (my perception, here, people)

attack upon Malsag after what I thought was a very

becoming encouragement. Oh well. Not the end of the

world...<br><br>but it does seem as though I hit on a sore spot.

Hmmmm..."he doth protest too much."