Lotus

This relief of Mr. Iyengar in Padmasana is on the outside of the Institute. We have done a lot of this pose in Geeta's classes: in forward bends, in back arching, in arm balances (for those who could do it!), and inversions. Because of the repetition, my pose is getting better.

Today Geeta was talking about the yoga sutras that discuss asana. If I understood correctly, she said that the "effortlessness" mentioned in II:47 ("Perfection in asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached") could / should be understood as "natural." So it's not that we're looking for ease in the poses, but we're looking for the condition in which doing the practice has become completely natural. Of course, getting to that point requires effort.