By Faye Martins
The Four Gateways of
Speech are a series of four contemplative questions that are considered prior
to engaging in conversations with others, especially difficult conversations.
This practice originated in the Sufi tradition. The four questions that are
internally posed prior to initiating an exchange are: Is it true? Is what I am
about to say kind? Is the conversation necessary and is my timing appropriate?
Pausing for just a moment before offering your suggestions, advice or
commentaries to another person gives you the opportunity to weigh both the
merits and effects of what you are about to communicate.
As Yoga practitioners, we
are ultimately striving for peace and well being in our own hearts and minds.
Extending and supporting others’ peace and well being is a natural outgrowth of
this goal. By pausing to weigh whether or not the conversation you are about to
initiate is true, kind, necessary and appropriately timed; you will be more
free to choose to interact in such a way that is both freeing and uplifting to
yourself and to the other person. If your commentary is not kind, true,
necessary or appropriately timed, you may wish to refrain from the conversation
all together.
For example, often times
we may experience and witness situations and events that are not quite “up to
par.” Maybe a situation feels unfair, unprofessional or inaccurate. From the
perspective of a Yoga student, you may occasionally find that you know more
about the specific alignment of a pose, or the modification of a pose, than
your Yoga teacher. This may present a situation where you feel it is necessary
to let you teacher know that his or her instructions are inaccurate according
to you own understanding.
However, it may be the case
that there are a number of ways to practice the asana you are concerned about,
and that your Yoga teacher has learned a different way of aligning in the
pose. Before interjecting during Yoga class, you may wish to consider whether
or not you think it is truly necessary to publically comment on your teacher’s
instructions. It may be more appropriate to respectfully ask for clarification
and communicate your concerns privately after class. In this way, you will
honor your own truth as well as respect your Yoga instructor’s knowledge of
optimal alignment principals.
A side note: There is more
than one method for practicing any Yoga technique. If you observe asana, meditation, pranayama,
mudra, and mantra, each style emphasizes particular points, which make it
unique. At the same time, each Yoga
instructor is indeed unique.
© Copyright 2012 – Aura
Wellness Center – Publications Division
To see our selection of
Online Yoga instructor training courses, please visit the following link.
FREE Yoga Report. FREE
Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book,
“Yoga in Practice.”
FREE CONTENT: If you are a
Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in
need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles).
Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box
above. Namaste!
No comments:
Post a Comment