My relationship with YOGA
Lived experiences & Journey of the first 5 months of my Yoga Teacher Training from KYM (Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram) & SKWC, Bangalore
Yoga is the process of replacing old patterns, with new and more appropriate patterns. ~T. Krishnamacharya
The Calling: Attraction at First Sight
About 6 months ago, I found a social-media post, show up on my Facebook wall, for a Yoga Teacher Training Program from KYM, Chennai, exclusively for residents in Bangalore, courtesy Sri Krishna Wellness Center in Malleshwaram. I had never subscribed to any form of yoga before, or even enrolled in any yoga course/program until then. Sure, I had tried to read-up on yoga, and like many other things I have been intellectually-curious about, so was I, intellectually-curious about yoga too. But the idea of practicing-yoga had never occurred until then, let alone teaching-yoga. I relooked at that ad/post for a couple of days, all while there was an inner voice which kept saying, yeah, go on, try it!
So, yes there was attraction at first sight, however I was unsure and tentative, if they will approve an outright novice & rookie-in-yoga like me, for signing-up into a yoga teacher’s training certification. After a couple of deliberations with my wife, I decided to give it a shot, and literally answered this call-from-yoga, by calling up their number. They seemed very particular, very selective and very nitpicking, about the type of students/teachers they wanted. There were 3 initial rounds of screening to even submit my entry to the program. Long story short, in less than 12–13 days, I had finished all formalities and started my journey on June 26th 2021, towards this yoga teacher training program. “All life is yoga” they say, but this was the 1st time, I was formalizing my journey with yoga, and thus began my relationship with Yoga, bang in the middle of a raging Covid in India.
Engagement & Courtship days: Yoga chose me, and I chose yoga too.
It’s a 2-way street all relationships. And the feelings have to be mutual, for any decent partnership to be established. The certification journey lasts for about 15 months, this is both like my courtship days, as well as my wedding-ceremony with yoga. The real marriage, I guess will begin a year from now Nov 2022. In these past 5 months however, I think yoga has been very kind to me. The Yoga-family I am associated with is none other than the KYM school, the internationally recognized 1st family, of modern yoga. So yes, I got lucky there. To know the lineage of Yoga and its various families, please see my own understanding of History and Evolution of Yoga.
The custodians of KYM family-and-tradition in Bangalore are SKWC (Sri Krishna Wellness Center). They have a one-acre dedicated Yoga-studio bang in the middle of Malleshwaram. So, yes I think I hit a jackpot there too. For a 45 year old man, to embark on a new relationship and getting into a wedlock at this prime age in life, is itself questionable, so any/all jackpots gained are laudable. :) :)
Wedding and the Ceremony, the Mangala Sutras are the Yoga Sutras.
The wedding and the ceremony is itself, a long-and-arduous journey, that lasts for about 15 months. Thankfully, there are about 15 other co-travelers in this journey along with me, so this is a mass-wedding ceremony (Samoohik Vivah). We need to pass at least 3 gates, the Rites-of-Passage, the Agni-pariksha. The gates are encountered every 5 months. I have just gone past the 1st gate with 12 other co-travelers, which I feel was a Trial-by-Ordeal type rite-of-passage. This blog-post is a recognization of that milestone, and to reassure my relationship with yoga.
The judgement or verdict of the 1st rite-of-passage, is still pending, but I am relieved that the exams are over. Yey! the last one the viva-voce, was on Saturday, Nov 27th 2021. From covering the Physical Practice (Asana Assessment) to consciously studying, knowing & chanting the 1st 51 sutras, of the 195 Yoga Sutras, along with 5 other subjects like Anatomy-and-Physiology, History-and-Evolution of Yoga, etc, is quite an ordeal, is what I felt, within the 1st 5 months, especially if you are new to this journey. However, I must add that, personally for me the most significant and satisfying part of the wedding ceremony, like the Mangala Sutras, are clearly the Yoga Sutras. While there are 144 more sutras to go, I have managed to bind the first 51 sutras, in my own ways, which can be accessed with the image below.
If you do need my own translation of the 1st 51 sutras too, please leave a comment here, and we can mutually figure out, how to get them electronically delivered to you.
Bickering’s, Tensions, Squabbles and Persuasions
In the past, I have always been driven, whether intellectually (software coder who thinks code is poetry), emotionally (taking risks as an entrepreneur) or physically (long distance runner from my 20s till 40s). But now, I recognize the limits to the energy behind my thought/emotions/actions. As explained in the Yogasutras, the biggest challenge is to be in Samasthiti, not be caught up in the dualities of Prakriti (Tato Dvandva Anabhigataha) or overwhelmed by it, but to overcome the traps (conditioned ways) of my Mind/Body/Breath. As with the runner’s high, when I most want to give up any more running, due to fatigue of my body/breath/mind, I have time and again tapped and encountered a further energy-reserve, available at the SPIRIT level. So is the case with Yoga too. Yoga is a systematic way to access that energy reserve at the Spirit-level (the Drashta / Purusha level).
Is it easy? Of course not. The first 5 months of module 1 have shown, that I cannot take my relationship with Yoga as just another ceremonial venture. Yes, I have had almost daily tensions to study and dedicate time, bickering and cribbing over how the teachers teach me, and inner-squabbles within myself as to, how I am not able to receive it completely. Thankfully there is also a Sangha of other fellow travelers, who persuade me to be kind with myself.
This is the 1st time, I am accessing the Spiritual-reserve and Pranic-energy in a systematic way. So, as I continue to learn the many systematic and classical methods, I remind myself that its yoga practice, not yoga performance. All relationships mature, if we are kind to each others’ shortcomings, especially after the initial honeymoon period, i am hoping the same applies for my relationship with yoga too.
Moving forward: YOGA needs to be my Life-long companion.
In my final Module-1 exam, the Viva, my Vivah with Yoga became clear to me. Yoga needs to be my life-long companion. I realize that on the very 1st attempt, if I try to do things perfectly, I am setting myself up for huge disappointments and failures. I cannot approach it, as just another subject that I study for passing/certifications. Yoga is that inner-companion, where I am the subject, and yoga is my friend, philosopher and guide helping me understand myself better. Over the next 10–12 months I plan-and-pray to be more dedicated to my personal practice, in turn, being more committed to yoga, to further strengthen my relationship/bond with yoga. Against all Trappings, may Yoga become my institution, just like my other primary institution, my family. Atha Yoganushasanam!
