Words from Khadine
July 23rd, 2006
Khadine Morcom on asteya (one of the five yamas)…
‘Any selfish act is acting without asteya, it is taking somehow, maybe taking someone else’s choice or freedom or opinion. It is about being aware not just of myself but of others, how do I interact with others (for instance not jumping in during a conversation, which I do too often).
There is an enormous aspect of letting go, especially for me, letting go of a need to control. It is basically trust.’
On resistance in practice…
‘In asana practice we may find an obvious resistance such as a strong stretch in a muscle. We can choose to ignore the sensation, usually resulting in totally the opposite result and an almost compulsive fixation with the sensation. Or we can chose to move ourselves into the sensation and work with it which ironically allows us to release from the sensation and let it go.’
On the five yamas and resitance…
‘All five yamas play their part (in working with resistance) so, with satya, truthfulness, we are accepting that we have resistance, we are not in denial, and we are also accepting the calmness beneath the surface. Asteya; we are not stealing, so we are not trying to steal that we don’t feel when we have resistance, we are allowing calmness to come to us. Brahamacharya; as focus and commitment to being with and working with our resistance. And of course Aparigraha, freedom from hoarding, combined with Ahimsa so that we are not holding onto our resistance we can let it go.’
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