I have begun my chair yoga certification training. Most of the information has been a review from my 200-hr. yoga certification course. However, there have been a few pearls of wisdom that I “heard” better this time.
Ahimsa
One appropriate concept for tango is ahimsa, or non-violence/non-harming. Yes, we all know about being nice to other dancers, diplomatic about feedback, and avoiding injuring others. However, what about yourself?
Non-violence includes not harming yourself:
Instead of pushing your body to the point of injury, maintain a middle level of effort: challenge yourself instead of injuring yourself. Choose variations of moves that allow you to protect your body while moving towards harder techniques.
Focus on positive speech towards yourself. Banish “my stupid foot” and “my bad boleo” and instead, think of how well your body serves you, and praise yourself for what you can do competently!
Sankalpa
The idea of sankalpa, is to set a mental intention, and then to follow through with that intention. Sometimes it is difficult to stick to an intention, so here are several ideas to help:
Set up a gradual set of steps in the intention, so that you develop a path towards change. The path is not a straight line, but gradually, you will achieve your goal.
Put the goal in writing. Envision success. You may not get there, but if you do NOT envision that goal, that success, you will never get there.
Each time you dance, remind yourself of that intention. For me, I remind myself that my goal is to have fun :-)
Non-violence and clear mental intentions: in the total chaos of what’s happening around us, we need to stick to taking care of ourselves and each other, to envision our goals clearly, and to move towards achieving positive gain.