As most of my students know, my hubby has been attending all my classes since I first started teaching about 7 years ago and he’s gone from barely being able to fold forward after having had back surgery to looking as amazing as he does now....But of course, that’s not what ashtanga is about....Far more importantly, he embraces how it makes him feel. I was asked recently if he ever gets bored with attending my classes and the answer is a resounding “no”.....here’s why.....
Yes, we all practice the same routine, follow the same steps, but within that set sequence we can experiment and explore......we can modify every posture, every vinyasa, to suit how we feel in that particular moment. I give multi level options so everyone can practice at their own pace and do what is comfortable for their own body and there’s always a variation to suit all abilities, including beginners. For more advanced practitioners, there’s always a way to find challenge in a familiar posture; to move deeper, to focus more on the intricate detail, maybe discovering where the energy of the posture goes, how it can send our focus inwards even more, how it can help us connect with the bandha and breath, how it can reconnect us with the nervous system in a more dramatic, healing way, as well as learn new variations that previously looked impossible.
So the same sequence, the same class, will feel completely different for everyone practicing....
And of course, as the series becomes more familiar, we no longer need to listen to instruction and then we can just move with the flow of the sequence, allowing the mind to just drop away as the body and breath take over, turning the practice into a ‘moving meditation’, as when we don't have to think about what may be coming next, the mind can be completely free....and that’s when the magic happens....
So as well as ashtanga yoga building strength, flexibility and balance, and a cardiovascular workout, it will induce a feeling a calm and help relieve stress....
Some forms of yoga might vary the focus of the class each time but Ashtanga yoga is the same set sequence of postures that is balanced and complete Every time. The movement builds our inner fire naturally so we gently sweat out toxins, and the series of postures has been devised to cleanse and purify the internal organs, as well as building fitness, thereby supporting and strengthening our overall health....
And as we grow in our practice, we can see the results of this in our everyday life: we feel more comfortable in our bodies, we have more energy, our emotions become more stable and our minds more focused.....
So yes, we repeat the sequence. But at the same time, we never repeat anything......If you already have a committed ashtanga practice you’ve no doubt discovered that every day is different, every hour, every minute; every day the body and state of mind vary, and this changes the practice, whether we like it or not. The only constant is change....
And remember we have the rest of our lives to practice, there is no “I got this.” One day the practice might feel easy and light, the next it might feel challenging and heavy. There is “no graduation,” as Ashtangi David Garrigues says “There is no gold star, no collecting $200. There is no, ‘I balanced upside down in pincha, I’m done!’ Oh no: There is only the endlessly interesting quest for gold in the breath of wherever you are now.”
