Desire: Servant or Master? Teaching Yoga on the Grassy Knoll: Kihei, HI: September 15, 2021

“The Ego is an excellent servant but a terrible master”—Ravi Ravindra quoting Mme de Salzmann.

I’ve never thought myself a master of anything. Especially yoga. I am, however, a proponent of lifelong learning. After years of wallowing in “never enough-ness” I. have finally grown weary of lack mentality.

Today learning feels like mastery. How can we possibly know everything about everything? After so many years striving to know about, well, everything, I’ve come to the embodied place that I’ve heard my teacher Ravi Ravindra say so many times (from his teacher Madame de Salzmann, “the ego is an excellent servant but a terrible master”.

The feeling of enough is a felt sense in the body. Maybe that’s why i love a practice with stillness and movement. A bit of flow, a bit of lingering in poses…and I never know till I get on my mat and actually start to practice. Some days I crave energy, some days I just want some private space, and sometimes, like today, I want it all.

A yoga practice is medicine. It helps me get clear. It helps me get present, which is the only place, say yogis, where peace truly lives. And I desire peace, that’s for sure, and why I keep showing up on my yoga mat.

Here’s our practice today:

supine sacrum circles
supine janushirsasana
eye of the needle
supine star pose with meditation

Cat and cow
Downdog

Three leg dog
High lunge
Twist
Low lunge with Ganesha mudra
Warrior II
Peaceful Warrior
Trikonasana
Warrior II
HIgh Lunge
High crescent pose
Crescent twist
Warrior Ii

Downdog
Cobra

Uttanasana
Tree
Temple dancer

Bridge
Savasana

sit

Namaste