YOU MAY ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER . . .

I was poking around on the internet over the weekend and, out of curiosity for dates, I logged onto Donna Farhi's website to check when she will be in Salt Lake City.

Donna, who lives in New Zealand, is a workshop/training presenter who has practiced yoga for 30 years and authored four books (for more info, go to http://www.donnafarhi.co.nz/donna/). The website is fun because it gives you a glimpse of life in New Zealand, Donna's love for horses, and a sample of her writing skill (check out the section titled "Donna's Insight").

Three years ago, I attended a training here in Salt Lake conducted by Donna. She is a very skilled practitioner and teacher, and it was - for me - one of the earlier trainings I've attended. Because it was NOT Anusara®, I found myself in a group of new people, different dynamics, out of my 'comfort zone'. Note: I keep doing that 'comfort zone' thing to myself, don't I?

A vivid memory from that training is the method Donna uses with regards to questions. I've inserted a poem that describes it perfectly:

I beg you . . . . to have patience with
everything unresolved in your heart
and try to love the questions themselves
as if they were locked rooms or books
written in a foreign language. Don’t search
for the answers, which could not be given you
now, because you would not be able
to live them. And the point is, to live
everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps
then, some day far in the future, you will gradually
without ever knowing it,
live your way into the answers.
– Rilke

"May you, as the
poet Rilke suggests, gradually live
your way into the answers." - Donna Farhi

In her 'insights', Donna devotes one article to specifically that -- her theory behind the way she handles questions. How does she do it? She basically ignores most questions; sometimes prefacing the silence with, 'you know the answer'.

For us, as Americans(?), that is a bit unsettling -- to be told "No, I won't answer; you probably already know the answer." We paid the money, we want the answer!

Yet, reflect on our Anusara® trainings. Doesn't John (or our other Anusara® teachers) use comparison frequently to get us to do just that -- figure it out ourselves? His tone may be a bit less brusque, but it is essentially the same technique.

I have long taught students that, in the face of a minor pain/discomfort in a pose, they should go back through the steps that got them there. Compare those steps with the Universal Principles of Alignment and make adjustments (even experiment a bit) to see what pulls them out of that discomfort. After all, I won't always be by their side to diagnose and/or solve their yoga dilemmas.

Glitch in blogging -- first draft, thankfully, was saved but only partially. Why did that happen? Maybe I know the answer.

More to think about,