Ron Reid Rules

Came from Yoga Lab today, under the tutelage of Ron Reid - the best damn technical ashtanga instructor in Canada. Today's topic was arm balances, and my forearms are still burning from the intensity of the work.

Ron has a way of looking at the body and breaking it down to various fundamental actions. Not a ton of actions - but all key ones. Actions that can be carried all the way from the simplest asanas to the most hair-raising. Actions that have been lost in our day to day life that take blood, sweat and tears to find again.

If you get a chance to study with Ron, do it. There are things Ron's told me that completely flew over my head. But then, 2 months later, in the middle of it all, when my asana clicks and things feel so right, I have this moment where I go, "Oh! So THAT's what Ron meant!"

He retold a great quote in teacher training the other day. It was by BKS Iyengar:

"Before I started yoga, my body was whole and my mind was in pieces.

Now that I do yoga, my mind is whole and my body is in pieces."

Classic Ron Reid, storytelling.

j

BTW, like all the luminaries of the world, BKS insists on using Macs: