Basically when you are on one knee – that’s, Anjanayasana or low lunge or some call it Cresent Lunge … did you know it’s a pre-prep pose? It can be a prep pose to get to the peak pose which may be the hanuman OR … maybe you are taking a knee, in a Anjanayasana-ish pose here, on it’s own without having to serve as a preparation for anything. It’s a pose on its own to serve our intention to make an impactful statement. It is NOT okay. Things are not okay. And we practice to cleanse out the toxins of thougths and worries and emotions that do more harm than good. Cleanse out and purify our systyem … then we can fill the empty spaces with more good, do good. That’s yoga we practice.
Anyway, it’s impressive for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (80 year old in RED HEELS) to hold that cresent lunge for that same time as George Floyd had to suffer under the knee of one cruel police officer. After the 8 minutes and 48 seconds of holding the silence, taking the knee, and some kneeling. She had trouble getting up on her own … and while she blamed the heels she was wearing – it’s the pose. It’s beyond yin yoga to hold it for soooooooo long if you are not a regular yoga practitioner so I am pretty impressed by a 80 year old speaker of the house holding – a Anjanyaasana pose – for nearly 9 minutes. Wow. She’s tough ! She’s a yogi !! She’s a warrior.
I know of some very compassionate and professional peace officers and I know in this case, it’s the bad apples in the sea of good. YET, it is time to reflect and reevaluate. Maybe the peace officers are asked to do more and more to cover areas where they are unfit or untrained or unsuitable to handle. This, when there’s such drastic reduction in social services to address the societal ills that we the entire community is responsible for.
So a little about Yoga Anatomy … I once had a student who had a goal – and that goal setting that’s purely physical in nature – that in itself seemed not in alignment of the very idea of the practice but I too had been there so there’s no judgement but empathy – and for her, that “goal” was to be able to “do” a split. A Hanuman. The approach was that of … force. Gentle but still … a force. Perhaps another way … would be to let go of the force; to unfold into it … and you know what, you may not get completely there to 180 but to 150, 160 … 165? Isn’t that enough? Know that sometimes the angle of the femoral head – that ball fits into that pelvic socket – the acetbulam is not condusive to reach that 180 and if you force a body that is not built to get to 180, then, one might hurt onself. So use a block under the thighs and slowly find out where your edge might be rather than gritting your teeth in pain – that is NOT yoga. Please it’s not about the full expression of the yoga pose you saw displayed on a magazine cover but rather, it’s the PROCESS to get there, and that THERE is your own full expression not somebody else’s idea of that full expression.
Be kind to your Body Temple.
