r/ashtanga

Greetings. In this post I wish to open the conversation to those familiar with yogic texts, philosophy and practice.

If you are familiar with Yogic traditions and the scriptures of many like Hatha Yoga Pradipika or the Shiva Samhita you will find that there is emphasis on having a guru and that this aspect can not be overlooked in Yogic initiation. It is an absolute necessity within many Indian Traditional Yoga systems.

If you are in the west, you will not find a guru. Simple as that. Although it would be nice and amazing to have a guru to help and oversee the process of pranic and kundalini awakening, such a person with dedicated Yogic wisdom is highly unlikely to be bred here in America.

The reason I am typing this however is that this view of “Needing a Guru” is useless to those practicing in the west yet much Yoga material available to read is geared towards the Westerner to understand. Which makes me believe that many swamis who write these books perhaps desire the Westerner to fly to India to receive the diksha from a Guru to embark on their Yogic journey.

I understand the reasoning behind a guru, however in this day and age if one is on the path of Spiritual Liberation, it is futile and inane to wait for or to seek a guru, when the theory and practice is described within the material. However I’m also aware that the typical westerner looks at Yoga in only 1/8th of its capacity(Asanas).

With that said, reading some of this literature has made me ask myself some interesting questions. What are your thoughts surrounding the idea of a Guru being necessary in the practice of Yoga?

Been stuck on marichyasana for almost four months now and it's starting to feel less like progress and more like a wall.

Please let me know if this is normal and I’m just being sensitive here. Im currently taking my teacher training course and during our second day, while we (students) are all siting down on in lotus pose, my yoga teacher, standing, used his feet to adjust my knee to the side and and press it down to touch the ground.

Instinctively, i was stiff when he was doing that because even though i hadn’t undestand what was happening, i felt offeded that instead of explaining it properly, i felt like he was too lazy to use his hands while adjusting.

That overall experience didn’t sit right with me.

Am i overreacting or is this a normal way of teaching?