In Richard’s second talk in the series about obstacles, entitled “Loose Ends and Stinky Mats” he expanded on the idea of the five kleshas as obstacles and also explained the classic obstacles of mind described in the Yoga Sutra Samadhi Pada verse 30.

Encountering obstacles to yoga is something many of us find almost reflexive—sort of an art form in and of itself. That’s because once you’ve gotten to a certain point in yoga, where the novelty has worn off and the challenges begin to present themselves, it’s of great convenience to discover obstacles so you don’t really have to go deeply into what’s arising. An injured hamstring, too much pizza or the dog eats your sticky mat; all would be considered creative and valid reasons to skip practice by most standards. Doubting that yoga really works is another favorite that can bring a practice to a screeching halt just long enough to avoid what’s actually arising.

Moha, or delusion, is another important, though sometimes under-used, obstacle. Moha is when you misperceive things, seeing them instead according to your own fantasy, desires and fears.

In Boulder Halloween has a tradition of providing the community with a taste of moha with people in elaborate costumes in the post office, shops, malls and schools. (Of course, in Boulder sometimes it’s tricky to determine what’s a costume and what’s just normal garb.) In the early 80’s a short lived tradition called the “mall crawl” was initiated. It was an outdoor costume party held on the Pearl Street Mall on Halloween. Within a few years it had swelled from a small community gathering into a massive, unruly event that attracted people from all over. By 1989 40,000 revelers, most dressed in elaborate costumes, jammed into the four block stretch of downtown creating a pulsating mass of humanity. Mayhem ensued and, not surprisingly, the city council disbanded the event the following year.

But at the Yoga Workshop we’ve continued to have Halloween appearances by celebrities such as Shiva, A George Bush drone, Mother Nature, the devil, a cow and Kali. This year a few of our teachers got into the act with, and without their kids to spur them on.