2003

The Its Yoga Philosophy

Relax and Breathe. Go with the Flow

Written by Larry Schultz and Reema Datta.

primarily as a guide for Its students to develop their own personal philosophy. Deriving from the yoga philosophy of India, the Its philosophy molds the ancient teachings for todays practitioners. The philosophy of yoga essentially guides the seeker inside. Strength, peace and wisdom reside within. It is our task to make the connection. In todays world characterized by multi-tasking, having the patience, the drive, the stamina, to keep ones gaze inward can be extremely challenging. On the mat, we may be consumed with ego rather than observation, form rather than function, results rather than action. Off the mat, we may be more inclined to pick up the phone or turn on the t.v. than to contemplate our feelings, actions and movements. The meditative flow of Ashtanga yoga provides an invaluable tool for keeping our gaze inward. Reflecting on something as simple as the breath, the mind transcends to higher states, where the mysteries of power and energy are contemplated. The philosophy reveals itself in the practice, bounces back to the literature, and finds a home in each of us. The precise way we practice, interpret feelings and texts, and build our inner home is unique to every individual. The following approach to Ashtanga yoga on and off the mat, is one which facilitates the focus, calm and strength one needs to unveil his/her inner voice.
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philosophy gives meaning and purpose to the practice of Yoga. The Its Yoga philosophy is written

I. Living in the Question

As we take our practice to deeper realms, we must understand that the natural unfolding of any spiritual process is unique to every individual.1 Therefore, as questions arise during our practice, discussions and everyday living, it is essential to listen to our inner voice. The quality of these questions is of utmost importance because it dictates the message from the inner teacher. Though there is no need to agitate our minds and search for answers, simply observing and contemplating the questions i.e. living in the question rewards us with knowledge and growth. Our personal philosophy is born through this very process.

II. Practice what you teach. Teach what you practice.

The yogi, like a scientist in a laboratory, is not satisfied with theorizing, guessing or accepting facts second hand he takes his own experience (pratyaksa or perception) as the highest criterion. 2 Just as our own questions develop our personal philosophy, our own experiences dictate what we teach. Therefore, we never teach what we do not practice. And we always practice what we teach. This goes for the physical poses, as well as the mental and spiritual aspects of the practice. For example, we tell our students to soften their ambitions. Therefore, we, the teachers/facilitators, must also soften our ambitions and not hold high expectations of our students. We tell our students to clear their minds to sharpen their awareness. Meanwhile, we must also be calming our own minds, so that we are more aware of what our students are feeling. 2

Patanjali

Essentially, we must cease to view ourselves as Yoga Teachers. When new students arrive, roles switch, and they are looked upon as the teacher, we the students. We learn from each person directly and have a connection like shakitpata a student/teacher connection. Traditionally, shakitpata has been viewed as a descent of power, whereby the guru empowers the discipline through a spiritual practice.3 The Its Yoga philosophy stretches this concept to also see the student empowering the teacher. This gives new students equality of the vision. The vision is to listen to the wisdom of their individual bodies, explore their questions, and do what they love. Therefore, we never teach people what not to do. We only tell them what we want them to do, and direct them with light two finger adjustments. After hearing our instruction, we encourage students to be creative within the pose (and within their lives), giving most importance to their inner guru, and doing whatever they have to do to find joy and peace in their practice (and their lives). Creativity Its Yogas philosophy welcomes and encourages our students and teacher trainees to not only be creative in finding what is right for them in their personal practice, but to also be creative in experimenting with what rhythm, timing and sequence of poses most challenges and interests their students. For example, Larry designed his Rocket series to work the joints of the body. Once the back, hips,
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Goddess Saraswati

shoulders and wrists open, they are ready to gain more movement. Then the muscles stretch and strengthen safely. In a July, 2002 interview, Joel Kramer, world-renowned yoga practitioner and writer, shared his thoughts of viewing Yoga as more of an art than a science:
Yoga has its mechanical and physical aspects, but we bring our own creativity and individuality into the practice. Our bodies are like musical instruments. Through practice, we develop our art.

As we view Yoga as an art through which we discover and enliven our authentic selves, we encourage change and variety in our practice and teaching sequences. Indias philosophy teaches us, that we seek guidance from the guru above, the guru leading a class, and the guru within each of us. Adhering to the philosophy, we learn to identify with and give most importance to our inner teacher. As Joel Kramer says, Teachers cannot get into your body. You have to feel it yourself. Only you can know exactly what is right for you. We encourage our students to explore their limits within the poses. Where you keep your hands and feet may not be exactly where the person next you does. Exploration, creativity, and individuality are all a part of the practice.

Joel Kramer, 1976

III. Function over Form

We encourage our students to bring life into the pose by letting go of the form (i.e. creating a perfect triangle in Uttitha Trikonasana), and focusing on the function of the
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pose on the mat. By function, we mean how the pose makes us feel. Yoga is meant to feel good; to calm our bodies and minds as we strengthen them. Those people who are overly concerned with form, may not pay enough attention to how their body is functioning. They can do the asanas and look great, but if they are tired and distracted, they are not psychologically or physically healthy. In urging students to pay attention to how their body is functioning, we ask them to pay attention to how they feel at the present moment. Acknowledging our feelings, we search for movement within the stillness of a posture to discover what drishti, what stretch, what placement of our hands and feet creates a pose that feels good to our bodies and minds.
Asana is a posture that brings steadiness, comfort and joy. Yoga Sutra 11-46

As our bodies are different every day, our poses will be different as well. According to Kramer, If your body is changing, accept it and change you practice. Again, encourage yourself and your students to be explorative and creative when practicing yoga. Change, and in the form of Shiva destruction- are not necessarily bad things. Shiva dissolves what is outworn and births greater good. Such destruction can , integrate into our practice and teachings. Change, exploration and creativity within postures is thus imperative to attaining a practice that fosters growth and transformation. Acknowledging our feelings, we pay attention to the function of our minds. This is the mind medicine of the practice. It gives birth to what we express in our mind-body journaling. We speak of the connections that we experience of the 72,000 nadis. From these observations, our questions, philosophies, and explorations evolve giving our practice and teaching authenticity 5

IV. Drishti
focus purpose creation The deepest truth is revealed to those who turn their attention inward. Rare are the wise who shut their eyes to outward things and behold the glory within. Upanishads

There is nothing better in teaching yoga than watching someone work from their drishti. Most people are looking around the room as they practice. They are constantly searching outside themselves to see something of value, meaning, truth.Those people may get trapped or overwhelmed with outside influences, and lose touch with their creativity. They may get caught up in the same habitual patterns. As soon as they start to focus into the drishti, their practice, their purpose, what they want to create, unfolds. With this comes a sense of moving forward in the meditative stillness of the flow. When youre flowing with the drishti, you are light and creative. You have understanding, recognition, and acceptance. The lightness connects you with the inner teacher. Operating from the inner critic results in confusion, lack of direction, sadness, anger, competitiveness, attachment and jealousy. Trying to emulate someone elses drishti only compounds the confusion and frustration. We must accept who and where we are at a given moment and create growth from such a place of understanding and acceptance of ourselves. Our movements will create growth and transformation only if they are born from our own unique flow.
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Whether we are engaged in a seated or a moving meditation, we use our drishti to look inward. As we pay attention to our breath and feelings our purpose unfolds. That is why Larry says you can be a lazy person, but can create a lot. It is in that mental stillness that one sees growth, movement, and compassion.
How easily the tranquil pool is disturbed by the passing winds. Nay, friend, seek not thy happiness in the fleeting. There is but one way; that path lies in thyself, through thine own heart. 5 Krishnamurti, 1931

V. Control and Surrender

faith sakti detachment The spiritual path of yoga requires a renewing of the mind that is achieved by a gradual entire readjustment of outlook and habits. The impurities of the mind are nothing else than habits of life and thought. To overcome one set of habits one must form another and contrary set of habits. Swami Prabhavananda, 1979

The set of habits Its Yoga proposes to establish within each student is to relax and breathe, and go with the flow. Such a mind- set requires a conscious act of selfsurrender and loss of ego. The beauty of surrender lies in the phenomenon that as we learn to let go, we actually gain control. The entire yoga philosophy can be summed up in the words, let go. 6 The essence of the Bhagavad Gita, for example, is that if we renounce the fruits of action, i.e., expect no results from our actions, we end up reaping rewards one thousandfold. 7

Elisa Cicinelli

According to the Gita, when there is no desire for fruit, there is no temptation for untruth or himsa. As we act without attachments to results our life becomes simple, and from that simplicity peace arises.7
He who gives up action, falls. He who gives up only the reward, rises. Bhagavad Gita

The philosophy teaches us that the only way to truly relax and breathe and have the drive to go with ones unique flow entails a surrendering of ones ego, ambitions, and goals. Readjusting our outlook and habits to achieve such a state of surrender is an extremely overwhelming and difficult process, requiring faith, patience and a complete release of attachments. Faith Faith is said to be the primary requirement in any spiritual endeavor. To have faith, there must be understanding, a conviction in the mind. When one has faith, one will act on that faith. As faith increases and strenuousness grows, the mind takes a direction. 8 Having faith in ourselves and of our spiritual potential,requires us to be conscious of our sakti, the power within us to achieve change, transformation and eventually moksha (liberation) here on earth. It is with this consciousness that we gain the ability to surrender our inner critic emitting judgements and expectations and acknowledge our inner guru who is compassionate, accepting, loving and knows exactly what is right for us. Inner Critic vs. Inner Guru Yama, the first limb of Ashtangas eightlimb path to union with the universal,
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promotes truthfulness and nonviolence. Being nonviolent and true to ourselves further helps us let go of the inner critic and embrace the inner guru. On the mat, through whatever discomfort we may feel in a given pose, we continue to look to ourselves with love, acceptance and compassion, making our breath louder than any internal negative chatter. We thus use the breath to connect with our sakti, our inner wisdom and power that communicates through our inner voice. Being disconnected with our inner voice severs our minds from our bodies. Alienated from our feelings, we cannot communicate with ourselves let alone with anyone else. This results in high degrees of conflict breeding confusion, uncertainty and unhappiness. We experience this conflict within ourselves, our relationships with others and we see it manifest at the levels of domestic and global conflict. 9 Because of our alienation from our inner voice and the loss of peace that results thereafter, the human species cannot move beyond kali yuga, the darkest of the four world ages characterized by spiritual decline, ignorance, delusion, and greed. 10 Detachment
Watch things appear and disappear. Larry Schultz

The only way to move beyond kali yuga is to let go of attachments, or as Ram Dass explains, to let go of things which pass. Once we accept the impermanence of everything - relationships, property, health poses - we move towards a path of knowledge, where awareness of ourselves
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and the world at large eventually leads to liberation. As we accept what we can and cannot control, we realize that whatever our present state is, we have enough sakti to transform ourselves and achieve liberation here on earth (jivanmukti). The insight re-establishes our faith and helps us to surrender to the flow. Where is the conflict when the truth is known, Where is the disease when the mind is clear, Where is death when the breath is controlled, Therefore, surrender to Yoga. 11 Krishnamacharya, 1888 to 1989

VI. Nauliland
freedom truth life Everything you think is make believe. What you see with your eyes open or closed is real. Pay attention to what you see, hear and feel. Larry Schultz, Its Yoga, 1995

Nauliland is about freedom. Remember that yoga is a science of the mind, an act of freeing the mind. Every day, 10 times a day, perhaps perpetually, our minds are consumed with thoughts driven by anxiety, insecurity and fear of the unknown. Think of how insignificant these thoughts are. Think of how these thoughts cloud our perception, cover ourselves with unnecessary tension. What has worrisome thinking ever led you to? Backaches? Headaches? A terrible, awful feeling filling your being with dissatisfaction? Everything you think is make believe. It does not matter. It amounts to nothing. Nothing.
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"If you control your mind, you control everything. Then there is nothing in this world to bind you." 12 Swami Satchidananada on Yoga Sutra 1-2.

How much time, how much energy do you spend a day thinking? And how much time do you spend pausing to relax, breathe and notice your feelings? Our thoughts cover us in clouds so thick we become foreign to our feelings. We cannot hear our deepest thoughts and may live day by day denying our truest emotions. By paying attention to what we see, hear and feel, we can begin to honor our truth. Nothing else matters. In every class we say, Quiet the thinking mind and wake up your feeling bodies. Wake up your soul. Leave your mind conditioned by society, culture and innumerable external factors. Forget your body and wake up your spirit. What do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? Yoga sharpens the senses by allowing our energy to be used constructively. Anxious thinking wastes our time, prana, lifeenergy . Feelings wake up our intentions and purpose. Honoring our feelings give us direction, security and satisfaction. Quiet the mind and pay attention to what you see with your eyes open or closed. Only what you see with your eyes open is reality and only what you visualize with the calmest of minds is your purpose, your true authentic self.
When the fluctuations of the mind dissolve, then the seer rests in her own true nature. - Yoga Sutra 1-3 13

Most of us are not taking the time to pay attention to how we are feeling because we are more concerned with the consequences of our actions than whether or not we

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are doing what we want, what we love, what our passion is. Our fears and insecurities are consuming our minds. As we let go of our minds and awaken our feelings on the mat, the teachings of Ashtanga Yoga reveal themselves in the practice. Nauliland is a connection giving you an opportunity to pause kumbaka. Just like pausing a frame in a movie, take a pause from your life. Look at the picture. Look at your life. In that pause, relax and breathe. What you see in that pause is the phenomenon of life. The pause is where the magic is revealed to us; the principles of living a good life, a life where we live our dreams, where we live our truth, where we live in knowledge. Nauliland is pausWe do the practice to love ourselves ing to find that so we can learn to love others more. creative space that lives in your mind Larry Schultz and heart, and that speaks to you in a positive, loving voice. As Larry says,We do the practice to love ourselves so we can learn to love others more. We do the practice to connect our breath, drishti, and voice to our truth. We are then ready to share the love in our authentic voice.

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Elisa Cicinelli

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arya, P. U.,Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with the Exposition of Vyasa.Volume 1 Samadhi-pada. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the U.S.A, 1986. Dass, R.The Only Dance There Is. New York: Anchor Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., 1974. Desikachar,T.K.V.The Heart of Yoga. Rochester,Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1999. Desikachar,T.K.V. Health, Healing & Beyond. Yoga and the Living Tradition of Krishnamacharya. Romford, England: Aperture Foundation, Inc, 1998. Feurstein, G.Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1998. Feurstein, G & Miller, J.,The Essence of Yoga. Rochester,Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 1998. Feurstein, G.The Yoga Tradition. Prescott, Arizona: Hohm Press, 1998. Frawley, D. From the River of Heaven. Salt Lake City, Utah: Passage Press, 1990. Krishnamurti,The Song of Life. Ommen, Holland: The Star Publishing Trust, 1931. Mitchell, S. Bhagavad Gita. New York: Three River Press, 1988. Prabhavavananda, S.The Spiritual Heritage of India. Hollywood, CA: Vedanta Press, 1979. Satchidananada, S.TheYoga Sutras of Patanjali.Yogaville,VA: Integral Yoga Publications, 2001. Smith, H.The Religions of Man. New York: Harper Colophon Books, 1965.

1 Feurstein, G. 1998. 2 Feurstein, G. & Miller, J 1998. 3 Prabhavananda, S. 1979. 4 Arya, P., 1986. 5 Krishnamurti, 1931. 6 Mitchell, S., 1998. 7 Ibid.

8 Prabhavananda, 1979. 9 Feurstein, G. 1998 10 Dass, R., 1974. 11 Desikachar, 1998. 12 Satchinananda, S. 2001. 13 Arya, P. 1986.

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2003 Larry Schultz and Reema Datta.