I’ll make a little confession here. In my pre-Ashtanga days, I taught this vinyasa class at this studio in Florida, and I sometimes ask students for requests on days when I didn’t feel inspired (that’s really a euphemism: I think schoolteachers would call this being unprepared and unprofessional!). I have never hurt anybody doing this (at least not to my knowledge), but then again, even at that time, I knew better than to put halasana anywhere but as a finishing posture.

But this is probably why I stuck to ashtanga after I started doing it regularly: Doing the same thing everyday might seem boring to some people, but it actually gives one a safe space in which to understand and appreciate one’s limits, and to grow organically based on this understanding. Besides (and I know I sound like a fundamentalist when I say this) if anything goes, why bother to go to a yoga class?

I hope this is not too much information. Just thought I’d share.