Tag: Ashtanga

“I don’t want to see your body doing asanas. I want to see your mind doing yoga.”

Kathrin3 Comments

What drives you? Wanna reach a certain posture? Get ‘better’? Babe, honestly, that’s not what yoga is about. Who cares if you can do Garbha Pindasana? Does it change who you are, if you can bind in Marichyasana D? Is it important? Nope. It’s just your ego complaining and trying to convince you that you’re not good enough. Your ego telling you, when you can do this posture, you’ll be happy.

Yoga is not just physically. Be prepared to struggle and questioning yourself. From time to time you might think, that you’re slipping back into your old story. But this is not even possible, as you have changed, there is no back! There might be battles with your thoughts and old demons – yep, this is exactly the way to grow.

Some time ago I wrote a post about my learning that stiffness is rather in my mind than in my body – when I reached Kurmasana and Supta Kurmasana. I was not aiming to go into this posture, surprisingly I just did it, with some adjustments from my teacher. Of course it felt amazing and I was so happy I can do it (hello ego!), because it was such a surprise. But you know what? It’s not important, a natural development, just this.

Allow your mind doing yoga. Quieten your ego for a while and be happy without a reason. Allow your body to move and improve in its own pace, without forcing anything. Let it happen. Breathe through your practice without expectations. Stop the ego talk and start riding the flow. Enjoy your practice. Without any additional effort, your body will change, your flow will get more fluent and easy, your breath deeper. Allow yourself to be yourself, exactly where you are in that precious moment.

Be patient yogi

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A difficult word for me. Patience. I’m that quick type of person…. doing everything now, all at once… Injuries hit us usually the moment it hurts most, to get our full attention. Telling us to stop. Whatever we are doing.

On a physical level, it’s not just about stepping back, doing what is possible. Nope. It’s a sign to stop fully. Listen. Look. Understand. It’s about learning the tough way. There’s another level. An injury is never just physical, but also mental. Healing can’t just happen physically. And that’s the difficult part. Trying to understand, why. What’s wrong right now? What’s holding me back, what’s actually not good, not healthy in my life? What are the side effects of the injury? What movements are not possible? What about breathing? This tells us more about where to look at. What are the consequences? Do they matter? Eventually, there’s a person around mirroring? Ups. Be honest with yourself yogi. Once identified, let go. Detach. Say bye bye. What ever is required, do so. You need your health. You need your peace.

I’m back on the mat now, restarting carefully. Yin Yoga only. I miss my Ashtanga practice like hell, but even demoing in class is not good for me. I don’t stop trying to figure out what’s behind. I know there’s more, I know my body talks to me. I’m getting better in understanding. And I’m rebuilding my practice step by step, developing a practice of patience.

Yoga. Every. Damn. Day.

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„The yoga happens within you“ – Sharath Jois

This article in the Happy Mind Magazine (German) is my story. My journey to finally practicing Ashtanga Yoga. And my learnings along the way.

Check it out!

Listen to your body

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This morning, after 5 sun salutations, my body said clearly NO to my usual Ashtanga practice. As I’m currently quite susceptible to injuries, I didn’t question anything but switched to a soft Yin practice. I thought, I might turn some soothing music on to support going internal and release. Guess what, it made me nervous.

I changed the music. Rhythmic, fast, loud. That was it. My body started swinging, vibrating. I joined singing and my mind was quite. I moved into postures without thinking, my body guided me. I even forgot the time in some asanas. It all felt so right and my closing headstand was kind of purifying. No pressure at all, it felt so effortless.

Listen to your body, what fits one day doesn’t work the other. What’s good for others might not be good for you. Listen, your body will tell you what to do.

After practicing I walked my dog and my hips complained a lot. I started swinging even more. Asking them to release all the stored shit. To let go. To be easy and relax. I sent my smile to them carried by my breath. Arriving home, we were in peace.

It’s all about that, isn’t it. Listen to your body, work together, finding a way to take it easy, what ever is happening around you. Forgive yourself, forgive others. Release.

Lunar energy

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In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, we don’t practice asanas on moon days. With this practice we learn to more and more listen to our bodies and align to natural cycles, so we can live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Like the tides, the moon ebbs and flows and as we are made of about 70% water, we are affected by these phases. The position of the moon to the sun creates energetic experiences, that could be compared to our breath cycle. It is said, that the full moon energy corresponds to the end of inhalation (direction up), which makes us fell energetic and emotional, but not well grounded. The new moon energy is said to correspond to the end of exhalation (direction down), which makes us feel calm and grounded, but disinclined towards physical exertion.

I have to admit, I wasn’t consistent so far, but more focussed on my daily schedule, giving my best to have a regular practice. All of a sudden, today I felt I have to. It’s new moon today and I seem to feel that energy. All I want is to align. It feels really good to not doing this just to follow a rule, but feeling this is the way I want it. Time for me now to align to the lunar energy.

So what’s up on todays new moon?

New moon is the time to set intentions. It’s a start. A blank page. Commit yourself to your vision and open yourself to receive. Find your own ritual, there’s no one fits all, it should reflect you and come natural. You might want to write something down, establish a kind of moon journal. Or like me, light a candle, meditate, manifest an intention first in your mind and then let it flow and fill your body. Give it a try, you’ll find out what works best for you.

The next full moon will ask you to take action and celebrate the fruit of your efforts.

Let’s connect to the lunar energy and fill the blank page today!

Home practice – give it a try

Kathrin1 Comment

This is how I get started

I used to go into a yoga studio, when one day I recognized, that I left the studio not that positively energized as I used to. There were a couple of changes, that haven’t been good for me. Instead of hopping through various studios, I gave home practice a try and was surprised how easy it was to keep track. All my former teachers were still in my ears and I could hear them adjusting me. Which helps a lot! I didn’t pushed myself too hard and also found excellent video courses online. I skipped these courses since I jumped into the Ashtanga world, however, once in a while I’m still looking for an interesting class, take a one2one class or attend a workshop. Great opportunities to get inspired, to learn and also get adjusted.

Not to underestimate the amazing energy of practicing in a large group, particularly in an Ashtanga led class, when everybody breathe the same rhythm. Very touching! Love to have this from time to time, as a kind of add on.

Even if I prefer practicing at home for my daily routine, see why:

  1. Freedom – customized practice in terms of what I do, how long and when
  2. No comparison – of course, we should not, but in class we can’t fully avoid to compare ourselves to others. Our abilities to do certain postures, even our bodies…. Yes, non-yogic, but human!
  3. No hassle with what to wear – I practice just as I am or put on what feels best in that moment. Fancy yoga brands, pajama, bikini…. My pants slipping down, my top up? Who cares?
  4. Playground – best place to break the rules! For discovery, play and curiosity. You won’t blame yourself, but might have a good laugh!
  5. Mood-matching – I might feel like having some gentle ‘pling-plong’ music in the background, I might feel like having a good beat to support my body moving or I might want to listen just to my Ujjay breath – whatever, my mood, my choice.
  6. Peace of mind – without any distraction, I found it easier to go internal and focus, to listen to my body and connect with myself.

Give it a try! When you’re a beginner, get started in class. It’s key to get a feeling for the postures, get used to breathing techniques and understand basic alignment.

Start your practice

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Om

Vande Gurunam Charanaravinde
Sandarshita Svatma Sukava Bodhe
Nih Sreyase Jangalikayamane
Samsara Halahala Mohashantyai

Abahu Purushakaram
Shankhacakrsi Dharinam
Sahasra Sirasam Svetam
Pranamami Patanjalim

Om

What is Yoga?

Kathrin5 Comments

A question I had to answer in my yoga philosophy exam. A question that came back into my mind yesterday. My classes this week were different. For one time no smooth asana flow, but hard work on our foundation and stability. Seems not everybody expected this in a yoga class. No? Well, I’m curious to see my student’s reactions when I introduce them to mantra chanting… 😉

Anyhow, this brings me back to the question „what is yoga“? There must be millions of different views on that, when looking at all the different yoga and teaching styles! And new styles popping up each month…

Finally, it’s about our believes, our view of how something should be. There is no right or wrong. Lot’s of people — including me — started their yoga practice as exercise. A different form of gymnastics, work out. Which is absolute fine, even if this means not using the full potential. Yoga asanas are a very efficient way to train our bodies. But yoga is so much more. If you stop here, you’ll miss a lot. My view is, the beauty of yoga is not IN the asanas, but comes to us THROUGH them.

„Yoga is an inner practice. The rest is just a circus.“ – Sri Pattabhi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga yoga.

Boom. What? The guru himself kind of disclaims? Why not using the one to achieve the other? Give it a try. Practice the circus, use the asanas to go internal, to connect with your SELF.

YOGA is usually translated as UNITY. Or as the Bhagavat Gita says, „The journey of the self through the self to the self.“ 

Asana, the yoga posture, is just one of the 8 limbs of yoga. What we practice as yoga in the western world is just a very small part of yoga. The 8 limbs of yoga are:

  1. Yama – ethical discipline
  2. Niyama – self observation
  3. Asana – posture
  4. Pranayama – breath control
  5. Pratyanara – sense withdraw
  6. Dharana – concentration
  7. Dyana – Meditation
  8. Samadhi – state of joy and peace

Yoga is also about not judging. Just practice and see what happens. In your mind, in our body. Watching, recognizing, without changing anything.

Give it a try. Start your next class open. Give your believes a time out. For an hour, no judgement, just do it. Breathe through your practice, connect with yourself, go internal and enjoy your progress.

Namasté