Interview with Geetaji

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Chris: But often we feel that if we take our practice as part of our work that we should have a schedule of what to practice, when. How do you suggest we organise our practice in a typical week?

Geeta: This is quite a big question! I have never felt this to be a problem. I sometimes wonder why people question what and how much to practice. Then I have to think. Whereas in my way of practising it has always come from my heart. I have never thought I should practice this or that. The moment I start my practice, it just comes to me. While practising, certain things like the sequential order come from inside - how these asanas are connected and why after doing this asana why another asana came better; if I do one asana in between what happens. It is not done by calculation, it just comes. I enjoy my practice. I never calculate that this day I will start with Bakasana or whatever. There may have been some imitation of Guruji earlier. On Monday Guruji used to do balancings so I also used to do that. I used it as a guideline but it was never an imitation.

Chris: Well, one reason people try to organise their practice is to work on the lists of poses for certain levels of certification. But it must be hard for you to think like that since your practice always comes from your heart.

Geeta: Yes, but there is always a method. Even in the classes I have said that first in the week you start with standing poses, then forward bends, then inversions, then backbendings, etc.

Chris: When you practice, do you try to practice things that you plan to teach? In other words is your practice affected by your teaching?

Geeta: No, my practice is absolutely separate in the sense that I never plan that I will teach something so I need to practice it. That never happens. But what I learn in practice I will teach some time. Now, today I took standing poses with the arms over the head. I didn't do standing poses like that recently. But there is a reason why I took them in that way today. There are many newcomers this month. I purposely took them against the wall for these first two days so that they have support and the fatigue is less. They do not need to grip their legs so much for fear of slipping. I know if I make them do the poses in the centre there will be less control and they will feel it is slippery. They were also tired from travelling and it is winter so they have to get used to the weather. That is why I used the wall. I also asked them to stretch their arms overhead every time to get the vertical extension and lift the sides of the trunk. That gives them the grip even in the legs and helps the life come in the cellular body. But I didn't practice that way this morning. The idea came to me because one lady said it was slippery. I saw that she has scoliosis and that the grip on the root of the thigh was not enough. So I made everyone do against the wall and nobody complained about slipping. I have done the way I taught today, some time back. But when I stepped into the class I didn't know that that would be the way I would do. That doesn't work for me to plan like that. It is good for others that need strict discipline in the teaching process.

Chris: How can we learn to penetrate deeper in our practice?

Geeta: It is a difficult question to answer but there is a way of looking inside. I gave my example in Kurmasana where I could stretch my arms and legs and I felt that I was going totally inside. Though the stretch seemed to be on the outside, I was going in. Now this is something one has to experience. If you go on practising and don't experience what is happening inside, what can be done? That cannot be taught. It is an art. And the clues have been given so many times. I don't think that this question really should arise. I don't think that anyone can teach the way we are teaching to help you penetrate deeper inside. Like I said in the class a few days back, if I am not explaining but I am making you stand in Tadasana it doesn't mean that it is leisure time for you. You have plenty of time to look inside. If I teach the poses one after the other, you have no time to penetrate. But suppose in Sirsasana you are standing there. You wait for the instructions to come from outside. In those five minutes, you have a chance to penetrate inside, to look at your shoulders, your neck, your spine, your back. You have to travel within and if you don't, how will you penetrate? Penetration will certainly be less compared to Guruji's penetration. You may wonder why can't we penetrate that much, when he penetrates so much. Somewhere you have to go into the process of penetration. But if you don't enter in, if you do mechanically, if you just follow instructions, it doesn't come.

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