I went to a John Prine concert a couple of nights ago and I can’t stop thinking about how one of his songs relates to yoga.

The song,"Dear Abby," is about all the ridiculous, trivial complaints we have about our lives. Anyway, it sums up two of the niyamas better than I ever could: samtosha, or contentment, and asteya, or truth. I’ve included an excerpt of the lyrics below:

"Dear Abby, Dear Abby . . .
My feet are too long
My hair’s falling out and my rights are all wrong
My friends they all tell me that I’ve no friends at all
Won’t you write me a letter, Won’t you give me a call
Signed Bewildered

"Bewildered, Bewildered...
You have no complaint
You are what your are and you ain’t what you ain’t
So listen up Buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood

"Dear Abby, Dear Abby . . .
My fountain pen leaks
My wife hollers at me and my kids are all freaks
Every side I get up on is the wrong side of bed
If it weren't so expensive I'd wish I were dead
Signed Unhappy

"Unhappy, Unhappy . . .
You have no complaint
You are what your are and you ain’t what you ain’t
So listen up Buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood"

It goes on from there, but you get the point.

I was so inspired I wrote my own yoga-related verse:

Dear Abby, Dear Abby . . .
My hamstrings are tight
When I bend forward, it’s a horrible sight
I hope no one saw my face turn all red
When I strained my neck trying to stand on my head
Signed Beginner

Since the concert, I’ve also been thinking about how teachers interact with their students. I wonder if it would ever serve a student for a teacher to be so blatantly honest. Sometimes it seems like teachers are so worried they’ll offend their students that they don’t point out when students are letting their ego put them in dangerous situations.

I’m not saying teachers ignore the potentially harmful actions completely. Perhaps, they try to gently suggest that a student use a block in Triangle Pose because each and every class the student wants so badly to touch the ground she rounds her torso instead of keeping it long and straight, compromising the integrity of the pose (and her spine). At what point should the teacher take the student aside and say, "Listen up, Buster."?