Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Yoga and the violent imagination

Downward facing dog. Downward. Facing. Dog. The pose is supposed to be fluid, but my body never quite gets it. Each time a new adjustment, a different tweak in the pain-without-pain-just relax-just-breath sphere of iconic poses. There are five ways to do downward facing dog correctly, give or take a million; and five ways to do it incorrectly, give or take a million. Downward. Facing. Dog.
"Push your hips back, straighten your legs. The elbows should be tucked underneath the arms. Extend the fingers wide," Down--ward, "the index fingers should be pointed to the front of the room," face--ing, "your hands are rays of sunlight reaching, reaching outward beyond the self,"
rays of sunlight. I like it. I imagine an assault, I blind the bad guy with rays of sunlight. This makes me smile, and smiling kills the pose.

No comments: