Perfect Example

This morning's practice was the exact reason why I practice yoga.  It was like the dialogue was speaking directly to me this morning and I was responding perfectly to every instruction during each asana.  

The owner of the studio was teaching this morning and although I see her around a lot, I am rarely in one of her classes.  I was nearly directly in front of her and for whatever reason the moment she walked into class I absorbed the calmness she emanated and her voice hypnotized me. 

For the first time in a long time, everything that I know I need to do with my body to get into the asanas, was related to me through the dialogue.  I didn't add my own little tweaks - I didn't  use my own mind at all.  I simply listened and my body responded.  I moved strongly and fluidly.  Thoughts would float in but they would just as easily float on away again.  All that existed for me this morning was her voice, my ears and my mind working together to get my body to respond.

I've noticed in the last little while, and have heard other people discussing it, that when something clicks in your Bikram practice, it's like you'd never heard it before and suddenly there it is every time you hear the dialogue.  I remember this happening to me when one of the instructors specifically told me to place the palms of my hands flat on my heels in Camel pose, it was like that phrase had never existed for me before and now I hear it all the time.

I've had a few teachers tell me that they don't do a lot of physical corrections in Bikram yoga because they are trying to emphasize the mind-body connection.  It's starting to make sense to me.  You hear what the teachers are instructing you to do but how many of us are actually carefully listening to these instructions for the entire class?  From what I understand, the purpose of the dialogue is to allow us, as students, to simply listen and follow.  We shouldn't have to think about anything except for the moment that we are experiencing and the words that are being relayed to us.

Now, I don't know whether this morning everything just lined up perfectly for me - I was in the right space and I picked up on my instructors energy perfectly.  Or whether she brought something special to class this morning with her calmness and grace.  But I think this is a new experience for me - it wasn't about the postures or how I performed them, it was simply about listening, responding and being.