Yoga – Page 11 – Matthew Remski

November 11, 2014

WAWADIA /// My Left Hand: I Am That (draft excerpt)

At the age of 30, I went to a yoga class in Manhattan, trying to pull myself out of depression. It was at Alan Finger’s old place. The instructor was a woman my age who seemed charmed in a way that both irritated and attracted me. Like she had some pleasurable secret. Smiling, she said: “Today we’ll try to see if we can join the small self to the larger self.” The words jostled some memory of the Arjuna story, but they didn’t help my mood.

November 8, 2014

WAWADIA: Meeting Nancy Cochren (draft excerpt)

Year by year, hundreds of thousands of women around the world who are committed to modern postural yoga are also negotiating childbirth, effectively bringing two forms of spiritual practice into contact. The lived reality of these practices collides with the social narratives of how they are supposed to be in the world, throwing off stories of pain, bravery and learning like so many sparks.

November 2, 2014

WAWADIA: The Cremation of B.K.S. Iyengar (draft excerpt)

The following reflection is featured in the full prospectus for WAWADIA, released Nov 1 in support of the IGG campaign to help fund publication. In the eventual book, this piece […]

October 22, 2014

WAWADIA Update #17 /// Question: Is Injury-Free Yoga Possible?

I acknowledge that a completely injury-free yoga is not a reasonable goal. Nor a desirable one, perhaps. Firstly, it’s impossible: all things tend towards entropy. Secondly, people who crave growth will at times overstep their means and even ignore their wits as they leap in fear and faith towards a fantasized future self.