Pandoraspace

Life lessons from Yoga

I do not know when it happened that Yoga became more than just an exercise for me.  Perhaps it was that time when Rina started a class by quoting Pema Chodron who said “Fear is the natural reaction as we come closer to the truth.” My initial reaction to those words was dread. I thought to myself,  “Oh no! This is going to be a difficult class.” Panic. Panic. While the class was indeed difficult that day, I mulled over what Rina said for a long time after the class.

Then again, Yoga probably became more than an exercise for me even before then.  Maybe, I just did not realize it. Looking back, the seemingly innocuous instructions on how to execute the asanas could be lessons on how to live. 

For instance, in one class, I was feeling frustrated about not being able to get into an asana that everyone else seemed to able to do with ease when I heard Rina say to no one in particular - “Don’t feel frustrated if on some days you can do a pose and on other days you can’t. In life, it is the same. Sometimes things come easy and other times things are difficult.”  

In another class, my other teacher, Alya, taught us how to do Virabhandrasana by giving out these instructions:“Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Think of the back leg as the past or where we came from. The leg that is being bent is the future as it directs us to where we are going. It is important never to forget where one came from in order to ensure that when we move towards the future we remain stable and grounded.”  Virabhadrasana is a pose that requires one to stand with legs about four feet apart. While keeping the upper body facing the front, one foot turns outward, while the other turns slightly in. The leg with the outward turning foot is then bent until the knee and the ankle are aligned. Meanwhile, the other leg is kept very straight.  It is only when both legs are activated that once could actually maintain balance in this pose.

As I said earlier, Yoga could be different for different people.  For me, Yoga has involved into something more than just a physical activity.  It has become one of my life teachers.

On learning compassion

After the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum experience, I was greatly disturbed by the idea that people are capable of committing such atrocious acts that bring untold suffering to others.  To this day, I cannot accept that people could be innately evil. To somehow understand why it is that the torture at Toul Sleng took place, I told my friend Simon that  those who cause suffering probably did not understand what it felt like to experience pain.  Consequently, the child torturers did not realize the extent of the hurt they caused others.

I am relieved to know that, in one of my Yoga classes, my theory was somehow validated.

At that class, Rina asked us to take a partner, bind that partner’s outstretched leg and step on the other leg that was bent. When Rina was demonstrating what to do, she repeatedly told us to be merciful to our partner.  Of course, I was too distracted by the instructions about what to do to really understand what it is that Rina meant by being merciful.

I asked my Thai classmate, Ubon, to be my partner. Ubon was one of those naturally lithe and flexible girls who could get into most of the poses easily. Ubon got into the pose quickly, I bound her leg and stepped on the other leg that was bent. Until she frantically signaled for me to get off her leg, I paid no attention to how Ubon was doing.  After all, the pose seemed like a piece of cake to her.

When it was my turn, Rina came over to help me get into the pose. Guess what?  I could not even get into the pose.  Just bending my leg was extremely painful.  Rina did not even get to bind it. It was then that I realized that poor Ubon was probably in pain the whole time she was in the pose and I did not even know it.

Mercy or compassion literally means “to suffer with”.  This presupposes that one understands the other’s suffering.  In that Yoga class, I realized that it is impossible to be compassionate without knowing how the other is feeling.  My experience with Ubon taught me the importance of placing myself in other’s shoes in order to be compassionate.

As the child torturers in Toul Sleng had no idea of the pain they had inflicted on the victims, they probably had no qualms about executing the acts of torture.  I do not see how it is that they could have done those acts if they had know what suffering was like.