Kids enjoy the moment and make learning fun. Adults ossify the learning process and turn it into a trudge through a cemetery of dead ideas and lifeless content.

Once we bring the sad and lonely adult sclerotic mind to asana practice things can really go off the rails. Your very own alive, vital and sentient body gets squashed beneath that calculus; the very life force squeezed out by exacting and demanding standards.The tragedy being we conclude the body is a problem. We learn to not feel. It’s no different than a youngster losing his love of learning under the tutelage of an adult teacher squashing the child’s innate brilliant intelligence in the name of learning the “ correct way “.

Kids need guidance and structure. We all need mentorship and discipline. Training the mind and body channels our life force in the direction of wholesome behaviors that result in a happy, fulfilled life. If we are enslaved by unmoderated appetites, things don’t usually end well.

The question then becomes: how do I do discipline? How do I do learning? How do I do asana practice? Do I relate to discipling my body like a task master over his subordinate? Do I shy away from doing demanding practice because I despise and rebel against the part of me that bullies like a taskmaster?

Awareness practice delves into the finer points of navigating these relationships.

Somehow we must find a way forward that integrates these forces. One of many ways to begin: as you roll your mat out each morning, call to mind, and place in the forefront of your conscious awareness, a sense of Fun, Levity, Lightness and Charity. This will open a door to an experience of learning - a place where making mistakes and not being perfect are allowed and actually become the fodder for the learning process.