Judith Hanson Lasater

Just listened to this interview with Eva Norlyk Smith of YogaUOnline.com and Judith Hanson Lasater (find via yogadork) and Judith had some very interesting points. I recommend having a look/listen. She talks about why yoga is not so much about poses as it’s about exploration and experience, and some of the challenges yoga teachers face.
One of my favourite bits...

"...People don’t have to touch their palms on the floor, they don’t have to get their knees down to the floor in Baddha Konasana.
As yoga practitioners, that’s not what we need to aim for, and as teachers, it’s not our job to make them do these things! Our job to create a space in which they can explore being present, a space that allows them to evoke the best parts of themselves. And as teachers, that is reflected and expressed through our words and our touch and our demeanor, and the spirit and context that we create within the class.
When I, as a teacher, can create an environment in which people are choosing, out of their own power and volition, to move in the direction of wholeness and health, then I’ve succeeded. When we help students choose to move in the direction of health, that is a victory.
We’re all here to make mistakes—to screw things up and to figure it out. We make mistakes on all kinds of levels, and then we try to clean up the mess, try to learn from it. We’re here to explore the things we can’t do, as well as the things we can—with love and attention. And that’s practice, that’s yoga."

  --Judith Hanson Lasater