Feel free to disagree, but please have a foundation of disagreement based on something other than personal offense or “but that’s what my teachers told me."
I believe the yogin, just like the martial artist, is another embodiment of the warrior archetype. It takes the endurance of the warrior to confront what arises in the stillness of the present moment.
When I hear the word Faith, I associate it with elements of my Catholic upbringing. There is perhaps even a little undercurrent of judgment. Faith is lazy, blind, disconnected. I see a room full of believers waiting for someone else to tell them what's so. But when I really look at this ...
Do wear the cobalt-blue floor-length gown to a formal party. No one else will. Others will be off in corners, bleating like sheep in a different version of the same little black dress. Saunter in like you own the place, sing your best karaoke version of You're No Good by Linda Rondstadt, then ...
After teaching 25 private yoga clients a week for eight years, I can say with the utmost certainty, that if a student is doing a version of the pose that is interesting, challenging, and (most importantly) beneficial to them, they are doing the pose.