Advanced postures ~ by Talia

I like advanced postures.
I have to watch well.
But what is an advanced posture?

As you practice yoga, naturally your flexibility and strength grows. Suddenly the teacher guides a posture that you have never been able to do before and all of a sudden, you come into the posture effortlessly. For me, arm balancing postures happen like this. I just come up. The postures look advanced to everyone else, but there is such ease for me.

A challenging posture is where I have to watch very well, such as in Scorpion pose [Vrischikasana] where I must move carefully for balance. Ever so slightly the body moves, so I have to keep finding where my center is and relax there. But as body moves, mind moves and then there is a chance that I get stuck in thought. At that incidence my breathing can stop or my center can become unstable. Often times the thought is to make a more “perfect” posture; and with this effort and tension, I fall out. There can be a very fine line: am I watching or am I pretending to watch and following my ego? 

As I can use my body and breath more precisely, “simple” postures have become “advanced.” And even the smaller postures need more watching as I notice thoughts more readily. When thinking stops, then there is no effort or tension to make the posture. Then no matter which posture I am in, I can simply relax. So for me an advanced posture is where it is still a big challenge to watch well and not follow my mind. This is my practice.