dear ashtanga, i'm falling for you.
remember this photo?
i took it two and a half years ago, after one of my first bikram classes, marvelling at the sweat. it feels like a lifetime ago, really: i'm a different person with a different body, a different life these days. and i owe it all to yoga.
i took the above shot last night, after an ashtanga class i've been going to these past few months. haven't counted how many times i've been, really, but i first took a class with jenny in florida, and realised that what i thought had been ashtanga in my yoga past, was someone's interpretation of it.
so with no bikram studio round here, i've since been taking yvengar classes and ashtanga classes at my gym twice a week, and it's been surprisingly good. while i still don't like all the accessories you use in yvengar, i love the precision, and the depth, and the calm. and ashtanga.....is a whole different beast altogether. it's been challenging, and fun and oh so very good.
last weeks' class though was terrible. i was exhausted and weak and kept holding my breath. last nights', though, it was glorious. everything was wonderful, the chanting, the breathing, my strength and balance and the backbends and everything. it was a total breakthrough: i finally managed to breathe in ujjayi for much of the class. and with it came the heat and the sweat and the endorphins. and it felt so very very good, and my teacher, who brings a lot of fun and dedicaton and love to the practice, really helped me make the most of it by making just the right adjustements.
"..but I sweat that much (more, actually) during ashtanga yoga!" calvo commented on my sweaty post-bikram photo two and a half years ago. last night, i finally got how he did that. these days, i do, too.
thank you.
dear ashtanga, i'm falling for you.
remember this photo?
i took it two and a half years ago, after one of my first bikram classes, marvelling at the sweat. it feels like a lifetime ago, really: i'm a different person with a different body, a different life these days. and i owe it all to yoga.
i took the above shot last night, after an ashtanga class i've been going to these past few months. haven't counted how many times i've been, really, but i first took a class with jenny in florida, and realised that what i thought had been ashtanga in my yoga past, was someone's interpretation of it.
so with no bikram studio round here, i've since been taking yvengar classes and ashtanga classes at my gym twice a week, and it's been surprisingly good. while i still don't like all the accessories you use in yvengar, i love the precision, and the depth, and the calm. and ashtanga.....is a whole different beast altogether. it's been challenging, and fun and oh so very good.
last weeks' class though was terrible. i was exhausted and weak and kept holding my breath. last nights', though, it was glorious. everything was wonderful, the chanting, the breathing, my strength and balance and the backbends and everything. it was a total breakthrough: i finally managed to breathe in ujjayi for much of the class. and with it came the heat and the sweat and the endorphins. and it felt so very very good, and my teacher, who brings a lot of fun and dedicaton and love to the practice, really helped me make the most of it by making just the right adjustements.
"..but I sweat that much (more, actually) during ashtanga yoga!" calvo commented on my sweaty post-bikram photo two and a half years ago. last night, i finally got how he did that. these days, i do, too.
thank you.