[Wazier]

I need to stop in more often to keep up with this discussion group. I suppose I should admit that I am a long-term observer of Jean-Paul’s work; and, as often as I can, I lurk around to see how things in his world are evolving. In the past few months, I was taken in by the polemics over the Bush Administration and the war, and I especially enjoyed watching the skillful vivisection of the troll. Otherwise, I have been too involved in my current work to become engaged in dialogue (multilogue is probably better) with this interesting group. Regardless, I could not withhold commenting on the recent emphasis on yoga and the remarks on the philosophy of mind, particularly since your comments come across as serious and authentic.

In regard to yoga, I believe that jasciu’s comments, if taken to heart, show the way to every benefit that may be obtained from its practice. (I doubt that anyone could speak with such confidence and clarity without having achieved some level of mastery of the subject.) Building and strengthening new practices rather than struggling with old bad habits is an idea that is well understood in the fitness profession. It is not that old habits should be ignored, especially those that are disruptive to self-efficacy and personal relationships, but the most important goal of fitness training is the cultivation of practices that lead to self-transformation. Most people that come into your gyms do so because they want to transform themselves into something healthier, better, more effective.

Physical culture and yoga are similar in this regard. In fact, I have known many yoga practitioners and meditators that have been at it a long time and have yet to develop the discipline and control that I have seen physical trainers develop. Many yoga trainers eschew strength training in lieu of emphasis on stretching, control, and relaxation (all factors typically found in a professional trainer’s approach). I think this may be because many of them fail to understand the discipline involved and the ultimate aims of the art, especially with assimilation of science-based training methods advocated in this forum. A corollary might be the martial arts training in the East and practices like Wabi-Sabi (tea ceremony) and Kendo in Japan. All of these forms emphasize skill in execution and mindfulness of the actions involved.

I have no doubt that control and skill mastered by fitness trainers, as well as the aims of their teaching are equivalent to these traditions. In this regard, I would wager that every serious participant in this forum shares a passion for self-transformation, not only for yourselves, but, as a personal lifetime interest and a commitment to the well-being of those around you. This desire for personal transformation is precisely the point of almost all teachings on yoga. The crushing demands of civilized life on the individual, the natural forces that wither away health, the vagaries of self-indulgence, all have the potential for giving birth to a passion for life, healing, and renewal. But this passion is not Dylan Thomas's raging against the night as much as it is an embracing of life itself, or as William James described it, it is a “Religion of Healthy Mindedness.”

I would not go so far as to label any of the contributors to this forum as evangelists of a new religion, but that you discuss your interests in physical health and discipline in the context of mind and Eastern philosophies suggests that a convergence of perspectives is surfacing. Like worrying a broken tooth with his tongue, Allen goes to root of the problem as it developed in the dogmatic dualist views of Western thinkers like Rene Descartes. Perhaps a better path, a path not taken in mainstream Western thought, was suggested by Descartes’ contemporary, Benedictos Spinoza. Spinoza proclaimed a doctrine of the unity of mind and body, a form of double aspectism holding that nothing occurs in the mind without happening in the body and vice versa (cf, gardener’s posts on July 19 & Nov 1). If you ground your practices in physical culture in this kind of a doctrine, then you add, or perhaps make clear, a new dimension to your work. Interest in a more holistic vision, while not fully formed, is certainly latent in the comments in this forum. If this is indeed the direction that your discussions are heading, then you may be converging upon a method developed over three thousand years ago in India (figurines in hatha poses have been discovered at the Harrappa excavations in India).

Hatha yoga, as it is described in perhaps the most venerated of writings on the subject, “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,” is but one of the preliminary steps in a series of practices that lead to an ultimate transformation in personal existence. One way of describing it would be to say that hatha practice, as well as breathing exercises (pranayama), are preparatory steps leading to higher forms of cognitive training. The higher practices may be loosely described as learning incrementally increasing levels of concentration. You might consider concentration practice as similar to weight training in that it begins with simple, short exercises that condition the mind to maintain longer periods of focus and freedom from distraction. As strength increases with practice, so does mental focus. Without going into more detail (as Bryan pointed out, yoga is a vast subject), the point I want to make is that there is a seamless unity in yogic training of the physical body and the mind.

What would be interesting for me would be to see how this group would articulate ideas like this in the evolution of your practices. Would it go toward answering the questions you are raising? That is, questions like “how is it the mind registers an idea about a time to awaken, and as if having an internal clock, you awaken at the appointed time?” “Are there two things interacting or one thing functioning?” “How is it that your words and directions lead to some level of transformation in your clients, or even in yourselves?” “Is there a connection between physical training and meditation practice?” Most interesting, “if there is pattern of development anchored in the physical that flows into the mental, what or how will you be teaching others once (or if) you adopt these principles into your methods?” What makes your approach more interesting is that your focus is thoroughly pragmatic; that is, you invest your body & mind in the “how” of it more than explaining the “what” or “why.” So, someone let me know; are these the sentiments of this thread, or, am I injecting my presuppositions into your discussion.

Cordially,
Waz