I looked around in my classroom today and noticed that not a single person wore short shorts! None of the women wore anything shorter than crop pants. The guys either wore super long shorts that went all the way below the knees (basketball shorts I think), or bicycle shorts, or shorts that covered at least half the the thighs. I was kind of disappointed :( I swear I've seen women in sports bras at least and somewhat short shorts (butt cheeks still covered) in yoga classes before, but I guess today in particular was a G-rated, family-friendly class. Sad.
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Onwards! A bit about dristi. I try hard to stare at my own nose, but truth is, I'm fascinated by everyone's body types, athletic backgrounds, flexibility levels, teacher's personalized adjustments for each individual, asana progresses, so on and so on. What can I say, I am super curious! I generally keep my head facing in the direction of the drishti but my eyes are constantly checking these things out. I just learned today that for Mari C, the head faces straight behind, but the drishi should still be on the nose. LOL, no wonder I've been feeling super awkward having to look eye-to-eye at all the people behind me this entire time I've been practicing this series! The thing is, people in this class have worse drishti than I do. Even for people who are stiff as a board, shouldn't they at least be looking towards the side wall, rather than staring straight at me? How the heck do you do a twist when you're still facing forward?
Hmm, never mind, I just tried it; it's still possible to do a twist while looking ahead, but good luck getting deeper into the pose (especially without a bind)!
Oh, and for Karnapidasana + Pindasana, the drishi is what, navel? So why do I find myself staring at the anti-camel toe patch on my pants instead? It's better than the alternative of what I'd be staring at if the patch weren't there I guess.
I realize drishi for forward folds is the big toe, but right now I'm just looking down at my large thighs because I'm having neck strain issues. I can't figure out if I'm straining my neck from yoga or if it's from bad postures working long hours in front of the computer. It's probably a mixture of both. Anyways, forehead kissing my knees right now until my neck improves, which could take awhile.
Drishi's definitely necessary in a classroom setting. Otherwise I'd be admiring people's fashion instead. Oh wait, I do that anyways. I guess I've always been admiring people's cute tanks tops and new hair styles. Today was the first time I paid attention to people's shorts, which seemed to be not as short I'd expected :D
Yah I know, my dharana, pranayama and pratyahara kind of suffer with this bad habit, but I think if I take yoga too seriously there's the danger of getting tired of it some day. Never know if that day will come, but I don't want it to come too soon. Still fascinated with many aspects of Ashtanga right now.
Dear Yyogini
ReplyDeleteI know they teach dristhe, but ultimately, what matters is that the attention be inwards, not so much where the gaze is. attention to the breath, etc.
cheers,
Arturo
Hahaha, you're too funny!! For what it's worth, the tiniest shorts I've seen in my shala are worn by women and end at the mid-thigh. Most women wear crops or long tights and the guys wear long shorts (some with tights underneath for, erm, discretion...)
ReplyDeleteI think drishti for Karnapidasana and Pindasana is the nose. Honestly though, keeping the focus on my short stubby nose is tricky because it's so flat! When my eyes get tired, my drishti is on the few inches in front of my nose. Not perfect but it works.
Thanks for the reminder Arturo. It's hard to direct attention inwards, but I'm working on it.
ReplyDeleteSA, I feel the same way! Nose drishti is reserved for tall-nosed people, otherwise it causes cross-eyed eyeball strains. Few inches in front of nose is a wise suggestion.
Your class(es) seem so tame! Mine are full of skin-bearing ladies and (as you know) "uncompromising" men.
ReplyDeleteI find it helps to relax the focus of the eyes a bit and letting the gaze just fall to a (non-human) point. I swim in the haze until I need to come out, and everything comes into a fantastic clarity. I could also be doing it completely wrong, though in balancing postures I focus the hell out of whatever I can.
@Jethro: I know, shocking! Granted, some men practice topless but they are totally discrete and shy. It's a Goody two-shoes studio, what can I say :)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately in these two poses it's not possible to have a drishti that is not my own body part, since I'm curled up into a ball and am not supposed to turn my neck. Actually I think the teacher tells us to stare at our belly button to make sure it's not pumping in and out, but 1) my tank top's in the way (maybe *I* need to wear less?!) and 2) my navel's totally moving in and out so it's kind of depressing to keep staring at it. Guess I don't have good uddiyana bandha control when I'm upside down :(
Haha, I love the anti-camel-toe patch! Never thought of it that way. I once had a very unfortunate view in a Bikram class when the girl in front of me did Dhanurasana with very tiny and much too loose shorts. I was wondering whether it might be a kindness to her to let her know, but I was too embarrassed for her to say anything.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. That is unfortunate. Hope she didn't wear the same loose shorts often. An occasional wardrobe malfunction is not a big deal, but if that's how she always dresses, then people are likely to form a certain impression of her.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA!!Its look funny that you have noticed the shorts in your class. Its not a big deal man. I have seen many times in my yoga school that students either man or woman wearing shorts. It does not affect in the class.
ReplyDeleteHi Wins, thanks for commenting. I know it's not a big deal. This post was meant to be a joke. I hope at least some people got that. :)
ReplyDelete