Kotsu Kotsu

Thelonious Monk When a great jazz musician plays a solo it looks like the most spontaneous thing in the world. But as a musician I know that the relaxed spontaneity and command of the material that make for great music are the result of many hours of meticulous practice and preparation. I can't think of a single situation involving getting up in front of a group of people, whether to speak, teach or perform, when it's appropriate to do so without preparation and, in most cases, rehearsal.  In teaching yoga and aikido I've learned that I teach best when I'm prepared. Like anyone, I hear that inner voice that tries to talk me out of planning: "Oh, you've done this for years, you know your stuff. You're not like all those other people." That particular inner voice is mistaken.  If a yoga instructor, for example, is ill-prepared, instead of a class when students can be attentive to their own transformation, students are forced to ...

A friend wrote to me that she was having anxiety problems, and that her husband is having difficulty sleeping. "Aren't you both still practicing yoga?" I asked. "The breathing is usually really great for stress and sleep problems." "Oh, yes, we both still go regularly, but more for the stretching and flexibility and less for the breathing." Two weeks previously I had attended a yoga class at a community center, and I believe I heard the words "inhale," or "exhale," approximately four times in an hour. When I tell people about the benefits of yoga and they take a class that doesn't emphasize breathing, I feel like I recommended a great restaurant and they ended up in the fast food place next door. Yoga taught without incorporating breathing is like eating food without nutrition. It may make you feel good but ultimately it doesn't sustain you. I understand. The benefits of any practice are highly dependent on the teac...

Over the last few years I've had the privilege of taking several yoga classes with Max Strom . He's a great teacher and I think one reason is his knack for coming up with memorable concepts. One of these is to keep in mind your "Three Things." Max spoke of a student who he described as "all over the place." This student had trouble focusing, and as a result he was distracted by every external stimulus and seemed unable to listen to verbal cues. Max decided to give him just three things to work on, but they would be three things that would work in every pose. From then on, every time he walked by this student, he'd say, "Remember your three things." This gave the student something that he could grasp to bring his attention back to his own body in the pose. Gradually the student progressed to the point that Max would just have to catch his eye occasionally and hold up three fingers. Most of us could benefit from introducing this kind of co...