letter from a student

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, a way of doing asanas dynamically under the principles of ashtanga.

Ashtanga yoga is a system of postures initially developed by S.T. Krishnamacharya and then evolved – at a global level – by one of hisalumni, S.K. Pattabhi Jois.

Yoga Chikitsa comes first, because first of all you need to heal your body to eliminate/prevent pain and unbalance in order to prepare for observation. In doing so, you minimize daily unrest and fluctuations of the mind, via fluid and controlled respiration. The result is a smooth flow of energy throughout the body.

Asana practice requires daily effort, compassion, concentration, calm, and the energy that comes from breathing in the shala. Something like this has to be slowly integrated and assimilated in each person: this is the goal of the “Mysore” way of teaching. Of course, our day-to-day experience (on and off the mat) is quite different than this; practice can be seen as a counterpoint to daily automatisms.

The most important goals of this peculiar asana practice are: first, to bring out the pros and cons of our psychological/physical structure; then, to incorporate mechanisms that enables better management of it. This usually brings about a new,different and more interesting perspective on our own lives.

Patricia has been practicing and teaching Ashtanga for several years: Ashtanga Yoga Málaga will not be an exception to the healing yoga practice. Everything starts with a sun salutation; however, I wonder how you cannot be curious to see what follows….

Namaste