The element of compromise in the body

6. We can either respect our limits and
accommodate them, or else overwork
them and risk creating a need to rectify.
This is where the idea of using the same
Āsana practice all the time has limitations.

Link to Series: 108 Yoga Planning Pointers

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions

The element of compromise in the body

5. If you are doing the same Āsana practice,
over a long period of time,
it is not the same, because it becomes a habit.
In this, it can have a different effect to what is required.
Thus, when you design an Āsana practice for
a long period you should be very careful.
In this situation perhaps accommodate a
compromise and build in a safety factor.

Link to Series: 108 Yoga Planning Pointers

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions

The element of compromise in the body

4. It is usually the teacher that initially
observes the escape, rather than the
area of the body where the mind is.
This is another example of an
involuntary, as in unconscious, response
to a voluntary, as in conscious, movement.
Thus, for example, in Āsana what we try
to do can have different responses:
Such as what we want to happen,
and  what we don’t want to happen.
If voluntary intentions produce
involuntary responses, then you can
lose touch with what is happening.

Link to Series: 108 Yoga Planning Pointers

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions

The element of compromise in the body

3. This also applies that, as a teacher,
we should be aware of the student’s limitations.
These are variables according to the person,
as well as the climate, the environment, etc.
They are not constant and neither are the effects.
This compromise can react in many ways.
For example:
You put your mind in one place during
an Āsana, the body compensates
and places the escape elsewhere.

Link to Series: 108 Yoga Planning Pointers

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions

The element of compromise in the body

2. Thus, the body tells us something but,
we are not always aware of what it is.
This can be the result of factors in one’s life.
For example, age, profession, activities.
And, as said, it can often show in ways we cannot see.
For example, position of feet, tension in face,
position of hands, angle of shoulders, angle of arms.
So we must respect our limitations as well as our assets.

Link to Series: 108 Yoga Planning Pointers

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions

The element of compromise in the body

1. Working with safety factors brings
in another factor to consider.
This is the element of compromise in the body.
This is often something you don’t see.
For example, an involuntary movement
of the head in Sarvāṅgāsana.

Link to Series: 108 Yoga Planning Pointers

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions

We must also consider the safety factors

3. For example Viparīta Padmāsana could
be approached by working dynamically
from Ardha Padma Sarvāṅgāsana
into Ardha Padma Halāsana. This would
ascertain the ability to work into and with
Padmāsana in an inverted Āsana such as Śīrṣāsana.
Thus, any Āsana practice must allow for certain
safety factors, so we are able to work with respect
and regard for the individual involved and yet
retain consideration of and for the safety factors.

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions

We must also consider the safety factors

2. For example, we have Śīrṣāsana and Padmāsana.
Because of being able to do these Āsana a
person wants to do Padmāsana in Śīrṣāsana,
exploring an Āsana known as Viparīta Padmāsana.
However one has to know the factors involved.
One cannot assume that because two things
are possible, a third will follow automatically.

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Viniyoga of Practice Planning Principles

Āsana Mudrā & Prāṇāyāma
– Collected Practice Planning and Practice Theory Questions