Pandoraspace

A simply lesson on non-violence through Yoga

In order to teach us how to do Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog) correctly, Jawahar asked one of our classmates to get into that asana. As the explanations of Jawahar and corrections on my classmate took some time, my classmate began to sweat profusely and his legs and arms began to shake. My classmate, like me, was a beginner yoga student.  For beginners, pain in the arms and legs and the shakes were a common experience.  Correct practice through time will make getting into and sustaining the asana easier and will eliminate the pain and the shakes.

While my classmate was sweating and shaking it out in Adho Mukha Svanasana, Jawahar asked him if his legs and arms hurt.  I was surprised by the question as it was very obvious that my classmate was in pain.  Jawahar then told my classmate to remember the pain in his arms and legs and told him to get out of the pose.  Then, in a quiet voice, Jawahar said that our legs and arms have the ability to inflict pain on others. Quite possibly, the pain we inflict on others is the same pain we feel in our arms and legs as we get into an asana.  Immediately, I tried to remember those times when my sister and I would have spanking and hitting sessions when we were children and I was horrified at the realization that I must have inflicted so much pain on her.  Over twenty years after my parents scolded me for hitting my sister, I am now truly sorry for what I did.

As we strive, through constant practice, to eliminate the pain in our arms and legs when we do the asanas, we should constantly work to avoid inflicting the same pain on others as well.  According to Jawahar, the asanas teach us how not to inflict violence or injury on ourselves so that we may learn not to do it to others.

Perhaps this is a very simple lesson in non-violence but I must say that the full impact of this lesson will dawn on you once you feel pain in your the arms and legs as you learn to do Adho Mukha Svanasana.