More on flow-vs.-hold

So I keep coming back to the debate in my head between the flowing and the more slow, deliberate styles of yoga. While I do think it's true that the flowing style is just more fun, especially in a big group, I do think that people who do not do a more deliberate, careful, and introspective practice at least once in a while are holding themselves back.

I take a particular flowing sequence class once or twice a week usually. In recent months I've really wanted to move more slowly, and I find myself lagging the class, just because I hold poses here and there even though the instructor has given directions to move to the next pose. I was doing this tonight, and I realized that I keep holding the poses because I think, ah, I'm finally getting somewhere in this pose, I need to keep it up a bit longer. And I think there are a bunch of different varieties of getting somewhere which can only be achieved through holding the asana for a while. First, there's a variety of strictly physical phenomena going on. For instance, sometimes the body has to relax into a pose, so you can't really even find your full expression of the pose until you've held it for a while. Second, sometimes you need to experiment with the alignment, see how it feels. Do I pull my hip back, what if I rotate my thigh under, should I be tucking the tailbone here, that sort of thing. I think this is one of the most important processes in yoga, this kind of mindfulness in the pose where you experiment with very subtle alignment adjustments, and you see how these affect how you feel in the pose.

And there's also a variety of mental processes that takes place when you're holding poses for a while, which I think you miss out on when you keep flowing from pose to pose. For one there's a kind of mental discipline that you have to employ to keep focused and mindful when you're holding a pose. And honestly, I think this is one of the nice things about the flowing classes, that you don't have to bother with this sort of discipline, because you're always moving onto the next thing. Sometimes you don't want to have to be disciplined. Nonetheless, this discipline is an important aspect of yoga I think. They often say that the asana practice is really just preparation for meditation. Well, maintaining focus and not allowing the mind to wander while holding poses seems like a sort of beginner's meditation, a step on the way to 'real' meditation.

Also, I think there's an important body awareness aspect to holding the poses. This is how we really get to know our bodies, by hanging in the poses and making subtle adjustments. I think it's too easy in the vinyasa classes to just breeze through those things that we find difficult and say, oh, that one, that's always a little hard for me. But you never really have the time to explore why it might be hard. And this kind of exploration is very powerful for helping develop an evolved body awareness.

So, sure, I love the flowing vinyasa classes, especially in a big group. It's a communal dance, and I think that's really fantastic, a great thing for our spirit. But I think everyone who's been doing yoga for a long time also owes it to themselves to regularly do a slower, more introspective practice. And if you're really experienced, this can be done at home, by yourself. A teacher can shed some great light on the process, but sometimes you only need to listen to yourself. You just have to take the time to let yourself be heard.