A few quotes by Mahyar Raz

Describing a yoga workshop is daunting. Do I stick to objective reportage or do I share my subjective gut feelings? I won’t even try to describe Mahyar Raz‘s workshop, but I’ll let her words (and she is not shy about sweeping pronouncements) speak for themselves:

• “You must feel the pose, in your muscles, in your body. Before, Guruji taught simply by having students do and experience. Later came note taking and books.”
• “Every injury actually happened one year before.” (In response to a student’s question on injury prevention, she emphasized awareness, moment to moment.)
• “You cannot learn quickly. It’s not McDonald’s. No one wants to cook in a kitchen anymore. [Learning yoga] requires ceremony and discipline.”
• “Don’t raise the humerus out of the shoulder socket. That is like lifting a plant off its roots.” (In Urdhva Hastasana.)
• “I’m not interested in your flexibility!” (To bendy students going astray in Supta Padangusthasana.)
• “This is like yogurt. It looks solid on the surface, but it’s soft underneath.” (Regarding the gluteus maximus in standing poses.)
• “So, you build all of this energy [from yoga]… What are you going to do with it?”