Binkies are pacifiers or blankies for babies. Tonight, at 6pm yoga with Dray, binkies were outlawed. During the first three postures of the class, laughter suddenly erupted from several students. Dray was running around collecting hand towels. He said "no more binkies!" Stripped of their crutches, several students struggled. One of my dear friends uses a hand towel to grip her ankle for standing bow pulling posture all of the time. Stripped of her binkie, she giggled and shook her head during the set up for that posture like "how the heck am I going to do this?" Dray noticed and said "you can do this!" She did. She executed her gorgeous bow as is normal for her cute little self. Perhaps she fell out early, I don't know. Only she knows. What I do know is even if she did slip or fall out and feel uncomfortable, Dray was not being mean. He was helping her. He chuckled late in the class, holding up a few towels. "We've got the binky lost and found right here! Come collect 'em after class!"
Roughly a year into my practice I ditched the hand towel and never looked back. I didn't use it for grips, really I was just wiping my face when I got to the floor, but it was a crutch and a distraction. My practice advanced by leaps and bounds when I threw the binkie out the window.
Do you have a crutch? I know that there are always many reasons why they are needed. Good reasons. But think about it. What if you could ditch the binky and soar to new heights....all by yourself. Just you, your mat, and your strong sweaty grip.....
Wow, good that you explained the binky, I wouldn´t have known...LOL, funny, we are not allowed to use any kind of hand towels in classes (in Prague) especially for grips, our teachers say that "even if your palm was oily you should be able to hold your foot/ankle". Oh well, and we believe :) And try harder...
ReplyDeleteSome people sometimes wipe their faces but then the teachers remind them that by doing so "twice that much sweat will be pouring down your face" so there is no point. :)
Me personally I don´t use anything, before head to knee or standing bow I may wipe my hands a bit into my mat-towel (or my shorts), which is ok - it´s in the dialogue! :)
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ReplyDeleteAh I am inspired, I shall confiscate baby blankets during class. I mean, seriously, how many times do you wanna wipe your face / hands?! It's gonna come back out again!!@$@#%@$
Same for me---I stopped bringing my hand towel into class after roughly a year. My studio here in Boston is pretty tough on towels---most people don't even know to bring them in because, well, no one uses them!
ReplyDeleteProbably my greatest crutch is water, but even that, I'm trying to phase out. Sip at party time, sip at savasana. Still... We all have those days when all we really do want is something to pacify us!
My waterbottle is my crutch, not as I drink much out of it during class, I just want all the water to feel safe and then I drink it after the last breathing.
ReplyDeleteAhh, handtowels. Always an interesting topic of discussion. Bikram refers to props (like handtowels) as "furniture yoga." Same reason why you shouldn't hang on to a bar or the wall for Standing Bow - you don't need it. Don't forget that doing the hand grips properly prevents arthritis.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, and great line from your teacher! It's applicable to so many other aspects of life. I just wrote about the same thing, I think--clinginess! We've gotta let go.
ReplyDeleteMy binkie would have to be sips of water. Oh, and my easily distractable mind. I can really get out of hand!
LOL at first glance I thought u posted "no more bikinis" I thought that was aggressive.
ReplyDeleteLove all of your comments! Thank you. I'm crackin' up about the "no more bikinis" I'm thinkin' Dray would probably encourage the use of those........!!! :)
ReplyDeleteGot me thinking...In everyday life I think I have lots of Binkies!
ReplyDeleteWhat if you could ditch the binky and soar to new heights....all by yourself. Just you, your mat, and your strong sweaty grip.
ReplyDeleteUnderstand what you do so you can do it better.
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