THE PROFESSOR GARDENER

CULTIVATE PATIENCE

I have been waiting for the stem of my orchid to come out for more than a year now. Should I water it? Or should I cut its roots? I Googled the question for answers but only got a bunch of other questions answered...

What kind of orchid? How many past blooms? Thin ! I just wanted to know if one day the stem would grow to make a flower. A simple “patience” or “it will never flower again” would have suited me.

We imagine Arjuna would surely have appreciated that kind of response when he was in the midst of a battlefield in the Bhagavad Gita. did he have toto fight or rather stay in peace like a yogi. And when he has sought advice from his friend and master for him to tell him what is right, he got other questions like me with Google. Search more deeply.

We hold that none learning cannot be rushed. My master says,“there is no shortcut (in yoga)”. Understanding takes time, so no matter how rushed, don't be afraid to put in the time, research, be patient. This is a process that is not meant to be turned into a solution and then tucked away in a closet box. This learning, highlight it to your students.

But it's not easy to wait these days, in the information age we are used to having answers at our fingertips and instant gratifications. Waiting is learning.

“Contemplative practice is nothing more than that: a convenient rather than a finite, static entity. It takes time and patience, and with continued practice we slowly polish a path to deeper understanding."

Richard Freeman et Mary Taylor, When love comes to light

Time and patience. This is only one of the many lessons of the Gita. And some nature also…

CULTIVATING ASANAS

(To come back to yoga and a little more to nature…)

We have all had the opportunity to water a plant whose soil was parched. The first casting of water remains on the surface for a long time until it begins to slowly penetrate the earth.

Then, the next waterings are done more easily, the water follows the furrows in the less hard, more welcoming, more loose soil.

The physical body of the beginner is the same.

The very first times, the body resists because it discovers postures, it is more a phase of observation what a practice. The times after, even if the body has not gained in flexibility, it is ready to move towards a deeper practice.

Introduce students to asanas requires a good pedagogy to know how to adapt each posture to all levels. Without missing steps such as the principle of Vinyasa manners

This consists of a series of steps to be done in a logical order to gradually move towards what we would like to get closer to.

The method of Vinyasa krama can be applied in everyday life in many areas such as cooking, gardening, or any task that requires several steps that must be performed in order for maximum efficiency.

It serves as a mirror to transmit information to us, namely that if the step has been correctly carried out then we can move on to the next one. In the asanas, if we are ready to move towards a more advanced posture.

This method stimulates concentration and attention, develops courage, memory, and helps the less adventurous to be more enterprising.

In our yoga sequences, we try to ensure that you can apply this method thanks to the symbols that are used to indicate the level of the postures, and also variations for beginners!