The Yoga of Freedom
by Roseanna Frechette

From the time we enter our first hatha yoga class, we are told that yoga means union. But it is the way in which we experience yogic practices that gives personal truth to this meaning. If, through pranic breath and asana practice, the mind becomes clear as the physical body relaxes and opens, we may connect with our inner truth and the presence of spirit. As we find ourselves progressively on the yoga path, embracing an array of time-tested practices, we may begin to identify the underlying value of these practices, the reason for having yoga in our lives. We may begin to understand what Patanjali, yogic sage and author of the Yoga Sutras, identifies as the goal of our practice. We may experience freedom. Or not.

Somewhere in my experience as a teacher of yoga, I have understood that the yoga of freedom lies in my willingness to continually open the door for my students' independent experience of the practice we share. Thus I become a steward of freedom. But what exactly is freedom? Webster says it is "the quality or state of being free," with free meaning "to relieve or rid of what restrains, confines, restricts, or embarrasses" also "not subject to the control or domination of another." In his book Freedom and Destiny, author Rollo May points out that: "Freedom is the possibility of development, of enhancement of one's life; or the possibility of withdrawing, shutting oneself up, denying and stultifying one's growth." May implies that freedom includes choice.

As teachers of yoga, we are in a position to exert power and control over others in such a way as to impart our subjective experience of yoga on those others. We are also in a position to lead others through a series of shared moments in such a way as to encourage those others to find their own personal meaning for the freedom that lies at the heart of this practice. We are in a position to ride that fine line between tyranny and freedom, the line between having students submit to our will or discover the truth of their own. The subtle differences that comprise this line are, in my opinion, very important.

For instance, I can always tell when I'm teaching too much. I begin noticing a change in my attitude and language. When this happens, I begin to sense that I am telling my students what to do more and leading them into making independent choices less. If not careful, my teaching agenda can become a prescribed practice that forgets the individual. To be fair, we must have structure, some sort of boundary we can recognize and bump up against in order to measure our freedom. Our job as teachers of hatha yoga is one of creating a sturdy framework for our students' practice. How we do that is worth noticing.
I consider myself blessed to have learned early on that asana practice is meant to be a form of meditation in which we can find personal equilibrium, personal equanimity. It is meant to be, as Mukunda Stiles states in his interpretation of Patanjali's Sutras, "…steady and comfortable…" I believe that by offering our students choices, we can more surely facilitate their experience of steady comfort. I also take Webster's words re: restriction, confinement and embarrassment to heart when striving to honor the goal of freedom. Some teaching techniques I favor include:

• giving students step-by-step instructions that invite them to find their uniqueness and the right place for them to be in a pose, often encouraging them to move towards a place rather than all the way to a place (a favorite cue being "as best you can");
• taking long reflective moments of still time in between times of action;
• giving students full permission to do something different than what I am doing if what I am doing is not okay for them;
• being playful and offering creative movement as a way of self-exploration and release;
• allowing for moments of spontaneity within the class structure;
• using occasional cues that specifically honor free will such as: "you may choose to..." "if you will...." or, another favorite, "if this challenges you, you may stay here;"
• reminding students now and then that this is their practice, not mine, and inviting them to take care of themselves throughout; AND
• to "stay tuned in" for their own needs and awareness within the practice.

By inviting our students' willingness to explore who they truly are rather than who they are expected to be in this practice we also invite their experience of freedom. In his freedom discourse, Rollo May asks: "Have we not too easily and readily seized upon freedom as our birthright and forgotten that each of us must rediscover it for ourselves?" As translated in Barbara Stoler Miller's Yoga: Discipline of Freedom, Patanjali tells us "Freedom is...the power of consciousness in a state of true identity." Let us remember the power we have, as teachers of hatha yoga, to offer our students such freedom. Or not.

Roseanna Frechette is Founder & Director of Inner City Yoga in Denver where she teaches all populations and trains instructors. Creator of the audiocassette "Refreshing Hatha Yoga" and www.yogabtyes.com, her writings have appeared in various publications including Yoga Journal. Roseanna is V.P., Programs, for Yoga Teachers of Colorado as of January 2001. This article was written out of a presentation Roseanna has previously made to YTOC.