Hilary Chasin
Most Difficult Aspect of My Practice 

The most difficult aspect of my yoga practice? Letting my hair down. And by that I mean to explore my practice freely, with a sense of curiosity, unbound by fear and self-consciousness.

Does the metaphor of tearing out “one telephone book page at the time” work, as Iyengar suggests? If we were to sit cross-legged on this very fat book, removing one page a day, would our physical structure eventually change? Opening the hips, and perhaps some deeper insights, as our sits bones ultimately reach the earth?

My hips are tight. External rotation? Not happening. Hamstrings, gluts, the deep six? Willfully resistant. No Padmasana, Agnistambhasana, or Sukasana for me. No worries.

No?

Well recently, while in Ardha Chandrasana, a “perfect” one I might add, my teacher uttered, “Hilary, turn your standing leg out more.” I did. “More” he repeated, as I fell out of balance while clumsily groping for his hand to remain upright and uptight.

Everything effects everything. Each part of body, mind, and breath plays a role in every pose.

I explored relationships between bones, muscles, and joints, and began breathing into related Asanas. Still curious, I looked further and explored the Sacral chakra. The energy center that includes the pelvis and hips. Apparently, in response to deep trauma early in life, we can become acutely self-protecting, bound physically, mentally, and spiritually. Well that explains it; I even kept my hair short as a way to shield my feminine spirit. No hair to let down.  

Can we really find hope in a telephone book? Can the idea of patience, trust, and awareness, open us and release years of binding?

Pema Chodron expounds,

“We are stuck in patterns of grasping and fixating which cause the same thoughts and reactions to occur again and again and again. In this way we project our world. When we see that, even if it’s only for one second every three weeks, then we’ll naturally discover the knack of reversing this process of making things solid, the knack of stopping the claustrophobic world as we know it, putting down our centuries of baggage, and stepping into new territory.”

Becoming aware of when we grasp for certainty and safety (even for only one second) and freely releasing it (one page at a time), we will naturally be open to experiencing life in new ways.

So as my hair grows, just one short centimeter a month, I can begin to let my hair down, both on and off the mat. 

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Hip Opener Sequence

1   1) Supta Padangustasana A (Reclining Big Toe)

     2) Sucirandhrasana (Eye of the Needle)

     3) Vashistasana Modified (Side Plank with bent knee – lift upper leg)

     4) Trikonasana (Triangle)

     5) Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (Pigeon)

     6) Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon)

     7) Ardha Matsyendrasana (Lord of the Fishes)

     8) Virasana w/ Gomukasana Arms (Hero with Cow Face Arms)

     9) Viparita Karani on block at mat (Modified Legs up the Wall)

10) Savasana (Final Release)