 Last time we started to explore what it means to practice. We talked about repetition as a key element. This week we will incorporate the next part of practice which is frequency.
While repetition is really important, it must be paired with frequency. You can do 100 sets of Chair pose, then wait a month and do it again. Or, you can do several, each day. These approaches do not have the same effect. It's far better to do a little bit often, than a lot every once in awhile. Your body needs to be coaxed along gently, and your mind needs to make practice a habit. (Some experts say it takes about 3 weeks to form a habit.) Frequency is why doing just one posture at home by yourself can make a difference. Instead of days going by, your mind has the chance to build up the habit of practice. It's also important not to overload yourself all at once and risk injury or burnout.
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 Practice is a word that is used constantly. Everyone agrees it is a necessary part of progress. Rarely however, does practice get broken down and explained effectively. This results with many of us putting in immense amounts of time and not making the progress we think we should be making. Over the next few weeks we will explore the parts of practice.
The first part of practice is repetition. Repetition means that we have to do the things we want to get better at, more than one time. This is essentially doing second, third or forth sets when it comes to postures. We require muscle memory to carry out any skill, be it postures, artwork, cooking, etc. We must develop the right touch, right amount strength, right effort, and all of that takes muscle memory. Muscle memory develops with the use of repetition. After we can sufficiently do something (an asana, etc), one repetition can be enough for maintenance. A skilled artist can make their art at the drop of a hat, a skilled athlete can perform on command, but that's because they've already repeated the task (practiced it!) an immense amount of times. We won't get better doing something only one time.  Often in the yoga world, we talk about things like "going deeper". Many talk about the desire to take their practice to a deeper level. Yet, often this all translates into deepening the postures. With so much discussion about depth, we don't often take the time to ask: What does depth really mean?
When it comes to asana the obvious answer seems to be trying to get yourself into the "deepest," or most advanced expression of the pose. But is this actually depth? Could the deepest version of a pose mean the most correct engagement? If so, the visual aspect of a pose could have very little to do with depth. Does deepest mean the most muscular engagement at one time? If so, then the deepest poses could be Peacock or Palmstand. Is depth even about physical performance? Is it awareness, subtlety? What do we actually mean by depth? This is a big topic and likely the answer changes with time. It's worth considering, what does depth mean to you? If the answer that arises remains vague, consider that the answer to that might not be in the body or physical postures. Here is the panel that Ida participated in on "Foregotten Foremothers". She spoke about the Ghosh yogi Reba Rakshit. She spoke alongside historian and author Sudhir Chandra. The conversation was moderated by Vikram Iyengar.
Enjoy!  When we deepen our physical practice there's a weird wall that appears in front of us. We spend time learning how the postures work and we get it. We know what we're doing and what part of our body is doing it. But then it seems like nothing is happening! Our body just doesn't make the position that is in our mind. Even though we understand it, our body needs time to put it together.
While this seems frustrating and is definitely a test of patience, it's also a really thrilling part of the practice. This is the time where we work the postures into our body. When we know them on a mental level, but can't yet execute them on the physical level, we get to build this deep and complex relationship with the postures. We learn what the process is, not just what the posture is. When we put in the time, we develop faith in the posture, our body and the practice as a whole. When we take the time to really work though the postures, the experience stays with us. While the postures may come and go as our bodies change, our time and effort is never lost. We always have the experience that our practice provides us. This is priceless.  Occasionally we will hear that people feel worse after taking class than before. Maybe the body hurts, there's tension or there are negative mental reactions to what the body did or didn't do. It is so important that we don't ignore these signals.
When the body hurts we must listen. The simplest reason for this is that we will inevitably get more seriously injured if we push into what hurts. (At that point we will be forced to listen.) However, the deeper reason from a yogic perspective is that we are trying to deepen our connection with truth and understanding. When we ignore something on the physical level, we shut down our curiosity and openness. The action of ignoring pain suggests that we (or our ego!) already knows where we are going, how to get there and what is and isn't part of our journey. This is the opposite of yoga. In yoga, we should work to remain open to the path as it unfolds in front of us. We should remain humble and open to new information. If we ignore the signals in our practice on a physical level, we will have a very difficult time sorting through them on a mental or spiritual level. This is not to say it's easy or we will always be successful. We don't always know or feel pain accurately and sometimes we don't know how far is too far until we find too far. The only option we have is to do our best and then adjust as we have more information. If we have pain in our practice and we also have the desire to push through it, we really need to ask ourselves: What goal is worth harming our body? Most people today practice for reasons related to feeling better or better health, so the answer has to then be NO goal is worth doing harm. This leads to the next point which is: Don't beat yourself up! Regardless of where you are right now, it's where you are. All practice is part of the learning process. The body and the practice are both resilient.  This year, Ida will be speaking at the Kolkata Lit Meet. She is part of a panel talking about "Forgotten Foremothers" including Reba Rakshit.
If you haven't read Strong Woman Reba Rakshit yet, you can get your copy here. It's the story of a star, a yogi, a circus performer and stunt woman from the mid-twentieth century. Reba Rakshit was a student of Bishnu Charan Ghosh and Ghosh's Yoga College. She was one of the early female, physical yogis in India. For more details on the panel and the whole literature festival, visit this link: kolkatalitmeet.in/2025/  Are we doing the postures or are they doing us?
When we practice physical postures, it's easy to think that we are trying to accomplish a certain look. Even subconsciously, we practice in a way that is trying to get our body in a certain shape. We think (and have often been told) that if we are trying to find some perfect expression of the posture. However, practicing in this way means the postures are doing us. A posture is a set of benefits. Each posture is a set of contractions and relaxations that manipulate the body in a unique way. If we use the muscles correctly, we get benefits specific to that posture. Depth and perceived "expression" have very little to do with it. Let's take the example of running a marathon. Would we think that we had failed and received no benefit at all because we didn't run 5 minute miles like the winner? Probably not. We would still have run a tremendous distance, have used our cardiovascular system, found mental focus and accomplished a huge feat. When we practice postures, it's so very important to ask ourselves "Am I getting the benefits?" If we are practicing in a way that is using the body correctly, we are doing the postures. This means of course, we must know what we are doing in each posture! This requires that we ask ourselves, What is the purpose of the posture? That is a great way to get clear on the postures, the practice and allow for the benefits to arise.  Scott and Ida with (L to R) Srinjoy, Muktamala, & Shantanu Mitra - Taj Mahal, Agra India January 2025 (Photo by Gideon Elron) In 2015, we arrived in Kolkata, India and knocked on the door at Ghosh's College of India. We introduced ourselves as students of yoga and visitors to Kolkata. We were working on the Buddha Bose manuscript project with Jerome Armstrong, and knew essentially nothing about what we were getting ourselves into or how the yoga world and our lives would change in the coming years.
Now, ten years later we are celebrating a decade of connection, friendship and collaboration with the very people who answered the door that day: Muktamala (granddaughter of Bishnu Ghosh), Shantanu, & Srinjoy Mitra. We are here in India for the month promoting Strong Woman Reba Rakshit, and very kindly, the Mitra family offered that we all go visit the Taj Mahal together. It was a spectacular experience. Not only did we see one of the world's iconic monuments, but we discussed the current yoga landscape. We talked about what might be next in the yoga world, and how we can work to preserve Ghosh's Yoga College, which is over 100 years old and holds various histories of yoga across a century. Mrs Mitra works as the current principal of Ghosh's College. We all discussed how yoga may be changing (as it always has been) but how there is value in knowing where yoga has come from and learning specific methods like the therapeutic, prescriptive yoga of Ghosh's College that she teaches. Yoga has roots and has histories. Even as it changes, we hope people will remember and seek out an understanding of where it came from.  This year, I'm taking a different approach to my list. It's all fiction. I also read a lot of non-fiction and yoga related scholarship. There is a lot I could recommend! However, for a change, and to highlight the importance of fiction, I'm selecting only from that genre. Therefore, I'm not sure this is a collection of books I recommend you read-- you may have a very different reaction to any of these! But rather this is a list of books I personally enjoyed. As a side note, in general I seek out works in translation. I've found I really enjoy the depth that translation brings. It reminds me that we are always trying to communicate, and essentially, translating what we are trying to say into a version that someone else can understand. I like that works in translation are a literal version of this phenomenon: humans trying to communicate and understand. The first on the list is not a book that has been translated, but deals directly with translation. Translation, in various ways, is a theme of this list.  Babel by R.F. Kuang This book is set in Oxford, England and is about translating languages from around the world, including Sanskrit. There is travel involved, as well as ethics and questions of power. A young team of students works to learn many languages but the purpose for this is not always clear. They are at the whim of those who hold positions of power until they take matters into their own hands. It's a magical and epic tale that illuminates many present day issues. Yogis may be quite interested in how Sanskrit features in this book. It certainly brought to light the act of interpreting history and culture and the power dynamics at play.
Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor & Western Lane by Chetna Maroo I grouped these two together because of how they both speak through the voice of a younger girl. In Western Lane, the girl is a bit younger. In Whale Fall, she's a teenager. I thought both of these books captured the perspective of their protagonist so well. Whale Fall is about a research team that comes to a very remote Welsh island. For me, it captured the uncomfortable and, in this case, problematic nature of research. Research can easily become a process of taking something that is dear to someone else and packaging it up for one's own gain. I thought O'Connor tackled this very carefully and usefully. I loved the nature in this story and the sense of place it provided. I felt like I was on this remote island. Western Lane is about family dynamics and the talents of a young athlete. It too captures the voice and heart of this young girl in a way I thought was quite well done. I wasn't too interested in the subject matter-- I'm not a Squash player and know nothing about the sport. Yet, this story is about loss, developing a vision and personality, wanting comfort and a home. It was a lovely read.  Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson, trans. Saskia Vogel This is a very unique book: it's all in verse. I had a hard time putting this down. It poetically tells the tale of three generations of the Sami people. It is set in the arctic circle. It too captured place so well. The use of verse really made the bleak, northern cold come to the forefront. (For me, that's a good thing.) Perhaps it's because my family comes from Scandinavia, but I really enjoyed this epic.
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy & Hangman by Maya Binyam Pairing these together is perhaps confusing. They are nothing alike! The reason I am putting them together is because I think they are both books where you love them or hate them. I have seen quite a few reviews of Soldier Sailor that were not comfortable with the book at all. Yet, I really enjoyed both. Here are the reasons why. Soldier Sailor is about a young mom who is not doing well with caring for a new baby. She's extremely depressed, tired, lonely and struggling with her life as it is. The book starts with a somewhat disturbing scene. However, the mom corrects her actions and the book continues from there. It's bleak and extremely raw. I really appreciated the honesty in the book. It presents a very distinct point of a view on something that is probably a lot more common than we realize. If you want a good audiobook, I suggest Hangman. I adored the recording of this. I thought it was so funny! The repetition in the writing and generally confusing scenes were great. (My opinion! I could see someone finding this very annoying too....) I honestly had no idea what was happening in this book until the end. I got many good laughs out of it and didn't want it to end. What is it about? It's about a man traveling back to his home country in Africa. It's his homeland, yet he doesn't recognize it and generally doesn't know what to do with the pigeons, buses and ugly clothing he encounters on his journey.  The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood This is a book I felt I needed to have read. In order for that to happen I just had to do it. This was the year. Wow-- the writing. I am particularly taken by books that are really dark in subject matter but don't necessarily read that way. I found this to be that way. The subject matter is very intense, but the humanity was never lost. The characters were people being people regardless of the structures around them. I read this with my mom and she commented on how when people build up rules and structures around them, they still find ways to act out. They find ways to express their freedom, desires and curiosities. No matter what we try to do, we are humans. Lastly, the end shocked me. (I actually missed it because I didn't realize what was happening.... I had to go back and read the end.) I had no idea about the structure of this book but it illuminated just how masterful Margaret Atwood is.
Kindred by Octavia Butler & God's Bits of Wood by Sembene Ousmane, trans. Francis Price Kindred was another one, like The Handmaid's Tale, that I wanted to have read. I wanted to make sure I knew for myself what the book contained as it has become a book that some think is dangerous or should be feared. I think we should fear the destruction we as humans are capable of, but we should certainly not fear this book. Butler's writing is somewhat simple. It doesn't flow in ornate constructions, but rather, clear and to the point sentences. I really enjoyed reading it, despite it being about slavery and the horrific violence people endure. The science fiction of it worked for me. I thought it was powerful and well worth reading. God's Bits of Wood is set in Mali & Senegal. It fictionalizes a railroad strike in colonial Senegal. It engages with French colonialism and the women who ended up marching in protest of the treatment of the workers. It too captures humanity and is a fictionalized take on a historical moment. Yet, the themes of this book such as the effects of colonialism and worker's rights are important subjects today. I heard again recently from someone who dislikes fiction. I do understand this to a certain degree. But over and over again, I find fiction can express depths of humanity in ways we don't always sit with when content is "fact". Fiction is strange, complex, illuminating. Sometimes it's sweet and easy, other times extremely unsettling. Often a mixture of all of the above.
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Scott & Ida are Yoga Acharyas (Masters of Yoga). They are scholars as well as practitioners of yogic postures, breath control and meditation. They are the head teachers of Ghosh Yoga.
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