We start with you
Take the pressure off
The Yoga of Krishnamacharya is not a style, but an approach, one which accepts you exactly as you are. The first time I met with my initial teacher, he asked me how I was, and I said fine. The truth is, I wasn't. And I made minimal progress until I realized the key to evolving through Yoga is being honest with ourselves.
None of us come to Yoga fine, and we need to normalize that. We are led to Yoga because we sense it may have solutions for our symptoms, be they physical, mental, energetic, behavioral and/or emotional. Those symptoms, within you, at this moment in time is where we start. Overriding that nullifies the potential benefits of practice before we begin. Random efforts yield random results.
We all need to consider three important factors when the task of choosing transformation is upon us. Who are we? What is our nature? I quote my Grandma and Mama all the time: who’s born round doesn’t die square, and that was also Patanjali’s wisdom. We are not trying to create a new person. I was born a slow and methodical thinker. I grasp at a different pace than my son, a rapid, non-linear thinker. Try to teach us both in the same way and you will fail.
This leads to the next factor, intelligent interventions, and why I chose Montessori education for my child until 6th grade. Sit a rapid, non-linear thinking boy in a chair for 6-7 hours a day, and he’ll not learn. He’ll be bored. His spirit will dampen. Instead, give him a vast, natural setting, personal guidance along with space to learn and work at his pace and lots of active time and fun, and he’ll love learning. Ideally, an individually-tailored plan enhances strengths and supports weaknesses with innovation and wisdom.
Lastly, change both takes time and needs to happen when the time is right. Svabhava-s may exist, but timing is vital for them to blossom. If I gave my son my car to drive today, he would not be ready. In a few years, with more maturity and explicit instruction at the right time, he will be. I wanted to buy a house for many years before finances and the right inventory lined up exactly so, and I made my move.
When transformation is our goal, all three of these factors impact what is possible, for whom and when. Neglecting them delays the evolution we seek. Embracing ourselves, our built-in potentials, strengths, weakness and abilities, as well as finding a proper teacher to guide us and having patience is the name-of-the-game for personal transformation.