“Variation is great, but make sure you’re grounded in the basics first.” ~ Wendy Newton, ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher
On Sunday, I went to a session on meditation techniques at ISHTA Yoga as part of my advanced yoga teacher training. Wendy, one of our teachers, fielded questions from us about the basic meditation techniques we’re learning. One of my classmates asked about using and teaching modifications to meditation techniques as we’re learning them.
Wendy encouraged us to get grounded in the basics. She used the analogy of learning to play music. All musicians want to play complex, complicated pieces right off the bat but in order to find the richness in those compositions, they need to start with the scales. There’s no way around that. We build a house on top of a foundation rather than trying to squeeze the foundation underneath a constructed house. We learn to create grands meals by first learning to make toast, boil an egg, and chop vegetables.
Learning meditation is no different. We would do ourselves a favor to know the basics, get grounded, and grow from there in everything that we do. Of course it’s entirely possible to move through this beginning phase very quickly, but everyone moves through it in some fashion. Have patience and diligence in equal amounts and everything becomes possible.
Christa Avampato 