Friday Book Report: Inside the Yoga Sutras

I began a 200-hour yoga teacher training course about a year and a half ago, but did not complete it because I got to have a hysterectomy instead.  I did get to keep the books, and the extra books I got because I am that kind of student.  I am working my way through those books.  Inside the Yoga Sutras by Reverend Jaganath Carrera is one of them.

It was a slog.

I understand that translation is difficult and I’ve been told that translating Sanskrit is particularly complex due to the way words interact with each other to change meaning.  Maybe so, but isn’t the job of the translator to make something more or less intelligible to the reader?  Especially if there is plenty of room for commentary, and the commentary is actually what the book is for?

I am sure I am hampered in my understanding by the unfortunate fact that I’m a white chick raised in a different spiritual tradition.  I don’t mean to imply that there is not something in the sutras worth finding; just that I’m not finding it in this particular commentary/translation.  It may be that I’m not ready to hear what this version has to say and I need the easy reader version for now.

It’ll be on the studio shelf if anyone wants to borrow it.

Ritual but no sacrifice

Almost all of the Pilates sessions I do start with the same few exercises.  Partly this is because I want to make sure that there is some warm-up before we get down to more challenging work and because there are some basics I want to make sure we do on a regular basis.  But a deeper reason is about plugging in to the session.

Clients don’t always exactly arrive when they walk through the studio door.  They’re full of traffic or work or grocery lists or that phone call from their auntie.  They have to get their shoes off and deal with jackets and water bottles and all the usual paraphernalia.  I check in about how their bodies are doing as we do the first few moves.  We take a minute or two to move with the breath.  And by the third or fourth movement, they’re really with me, in part because we do the same routine at every arrival.  We have set it up as a sign for the body to tune in to the mind’s channel and vice versa.

Similarly, almost every session ends with a standing extension, arms up to the sky like the Olympic salute.  Extension is about inhalation and tends to raise the energy level.  It makes people feel good.  We go out on a high.

Little rituals can make a big difference.

Two things

One of the most important things I do when I meet with clients for the first time is ask them about what they want out of their workouts, even if they don’t really know the answer.  We have enough of a cultural idea that working out is good that some people come because they have a general sense that they should rather than some specific goal.

However, in the course of conversation, I can usually find out what underlies that general sense in the specific person in front of me.  Sometimes there’s a doctor lurking in the background with some less-than-optimal test results.  Maybe there is a reunion coming up and those retro jeans are not going to be flattering.  Some people want more energy.  Some want to be thinner.  Some want to be able to chase their toddlers or teens.  Knowing what the goal is helps me get what motivates my clients and then I can design workouts that work.

Weight loss clients need to be building lean muscle mass to burn more calories.  They also need to focus on cardio on non-weight-training days and to track what they’re eating.  Toddler chasers need interval work.  People with cholesterol issues should ensure that they’re getting enough cardio.

Some of those folks will respond well to things like Fitbit trackers.  Lots of people have told me about how they decided to run up and down the stairs for a few minutes just to make sure that they hit their 10,000 steps.  Others will want to see scale numbers or looser pants.  Some want to see the dumbbells get bigger.  Others want to be able to reach their toes.

With goals and motivational tactics, we can do anything!