Ashtanga Yoga Project

Making the Philosophy and Poses of Ashtanga Accessible for All

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  • Shanna Small
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  • Subscribe
  • Instruction
    • Workshops
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Ashtanga Can Be Accessible

You can Practice Ashtanga w/ the Body You Have

Yoga Philosophy That Makes Sense For Your Life

  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Teaching Ashtanga

    How Can You Have a Unity and Diversity Conference W/ No Diversity!!!!

    February 4, 2019 / 4 Comments

    I am not a confrontational person. That is not what Ashtanga Yoga Project is about but dude….I almost fell off my chair this morning when I clicked on a link for an Ashtanga Yoga and Diversity Conference in Bali that had all white faces. Are you kidding me? We all know Ashtanga Yoga originated in India. Not even any Indian faces!!!! Like seriously, are you kidding me? It is 2019. Why are we still doing this!!!!! Yes, I cannot tell someone’s ethnicity just by their picture but if everyone on the presenter list can pass for White, you didn’t reach far enough!!!! These people are not my global leaders. Stop…

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    Shanna Small

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    New Sharath Conference Notes

    March 11, 2014

    Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Is It True that We are All One?

    December 26, 2016

    The Spirtual Side of Yoga w/ Kino MacGregor

    April 1, 2016
  • Uncategorized

    The Importance of Community in Spiritual Awakening

    January 28, 2019 / 4 Comments

    Community, if we allow it AND we do the work, can wake us up. They trigger us. I am not saying that you should surround yourself with people that trigger you and that you should stick around in all the situations in which you are triggered. If you choose to leave the situation, don’t leave the work behind. Triggers show us where there is work to be done. One of my teacher friends says, “when it is hysterical, it is historical.” When something causes our emotions to go sky high and out of control, there is something in our history that needs our love, attention and eventually our forgiveness. A community…

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    Shanna Small

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    Ashtanga Community or Your Community?

    September 13, 2018

    Slow and Steady Yoga Injury Recovery

    March 20, 2017

    Can You Do Too Much Yoga?

    August 7, 2017
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Alignment and Injuries,  Ask the AYP,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    Yoga Will Not Keep Bad Things From Happening

    January 21, 2019 / 2 Comments

    Yoga is not an inoculation against bad things. It is the science of learning how to deal with bad things when they happen. If you are lucky, you start to view “bad” things as just events and you don’t label them at all. On my last post, someone commented and asked, “how can you hurt yourself when you are practicing Ahimsa?” Easy. Most people don’t wake up in the morning and say. “I feel like hurting myself today. I really want to get in a car accident, maybe get a cold, catch my husband in bed with his co-worker, rip my hamstring, and have to bail my son out of…

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    Shanna Small

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    The Dance of Yoga: Two Steps Back, Three Steps Foward

    August 25, 2016

    Ask the APP: Overweight Ashtangis?

    May 22, 2014

    Sharath: Love the Good and the Bad Parts Of Your Practice

    January 27, 2014
  • Uncategorized

    My New Year Wishes For the Yoga World

    January 1, 2019 / 2 Comments

    Forgiveness:  Jack Kornfield can say it better than me. “Like the practice of compassion, forgiveness does not ignore the truth of our suffering.  Forgiveness is not weak. It demands courage and integrity. Yet only forgiveness and love can bring about the peace we long for. As the Indian sage Meher Baba explains, “True love is not for the faint-hearted.” “We have all betrayed and hurt others, just as we have knowingly or unknowingly been harmed by them. It is inevitable in this human realm. Sometimes our betrayals are small, sometimes terrible. Extending and receiving forgiveness is essential for redemption from our past. To forgive does not mean we condone the misdeeds of another. We can dedicate…

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    Shanna Small

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    Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: A Yogi on the Mat and a Jerk In the Streets

    June 25, 2015

    Habits are More Powerful Than Fears

    April 26, 2015

    Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: How a Yogi Deals with People

    January 25, 2016
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Alignment and Injuries,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Guru,  Interviews,  Saraswathi,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    Random Ashtanga Stuff That Has Been Driving Me Up The Wall

    December 7, 2018 / 7 Comments

    Ashtanga stuff that has been pushing my buttons.

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    Shanna Small

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    Tips For Ashtangis Without Regular Teachers

    February 20, 2014

    A.P. P Goes to Mysore: Everything is Energy. Energy is God

    November 2, 2016

    Memories of Guruji

    February 6, 2014
  • Social Media,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy

    The Gift of Not Fitting In

    November 22, 2018 / 3 Comments

    Not fitting in makes you question life and it wakes you up. Usually, it is not until we see or experience something outside of the norm that we question normalcy in the first place.  I have never questioned whether I am a woman or not.  I have all the things society considers to be normal for a woman like a vagina and breasts. I have a uterus. I do all the things society sees as normal for women like wearing dresses, make up and birthing a child. My shape is considered womanly.  I have never been mistaken for a man.  However, if I would have been born transgendered, less curvy,…

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    Shanna Small

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    The Good Old Days of Ashtanga Yoga

    December 8, 2017

    What does a Good Yoga Teacher Look Like?

    November 21, 2016

    Social Media and the Freedom to NOT Hear Your Speech

    September 10, 2018
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Uncategorized

    What do Kapotasana and Swimming Have in Common?

    October 16, 2018 / 2 Comments

    Bear with me. Like your yoga practice, this story is going some where. When I was in college, I took a beginner swim class. At the end, my teacher told me I could swim, passed me and gave me an “A”. Summer came around and I was at the pool with my husband, an ex marine and expert swimmer. I was ecstatic about showing him my new skills. I get in the water. Show him what I can do and he says, Husband: Sweetie, you can’t swim. Me: Yes, I can. My teacher said I could. I passed the class. He moved me on. Husband: Sweetie, if I pushed you…

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    Shanna Small

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    How To Prevent Ashtanga Crazy Making

    September 28, 2015

    Yoga Sutras for Modern Day Life: Insidious

    August 1, 2016

    Tips For Ashtangis Without Regular Teachers

    February 20, 2014
  • Alignment and Injuries,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Ashtanga Quotes,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    Yoga Practice in Good and Bad Times

    September 25, 2018 / 1 Comment

    “Your toothache is impermanent, but your non-toothache is also impermanent. With that insight, you look at birth, death, old-age, ups and downs, suffering, and happiness with the eyes of a sage, and you don’t suffer anymore. You smile, no longer afraid.” – Thich Nhat Hanh The Sutras does not say that, “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of life.” It says that “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. ”  The world turns, burns, rises and falls. Teachers come and go, hamstrings tear and heal. In yogic terms, the gunas will keep interacting with prakriti and, while I play in this world,  I can’t stop it.…

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    Shanna Small

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    Pose of the Week: Ubhaya Padangusthasana

    June 9, 2015

    Pose of the Week: Garbha Pindasana to Kukutasana

    June 22, 2015

    Yoga Sutras for Modern Day Life: How To Get the Quickest Results in Yoga

    July 28, 2015
  • Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    A Yoga Practice to Wake Up To

    September 20, 2018 / 3 Comments

    In order for our practice to work, it has to be stronger then our negative ideations.  If not, Self Hate will say, “is that all you got?” Addiction will say, “come at me, bro.” Suffering will say, “I can do you one better.” I truly love the idea of a soothing languorous practice. But I know me. If my mind and my body is not given a challenge, it will be an hour of negative thinking with incense, pretty lights and singing bowls. This does not mean doing strong sweaty asanas either. It just needs to be something that effectively stops the mind, and perhaps, turns it in another direction. …

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    Shanna Small

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    The Myth of the Unattainable Yoga Pose

    June 25, 2014

    Trigger….Unhappy

    June 14, 2018

    Yoga Sutras for Modern Day Life: Insidious

    August 1, 2016
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy

    Ashtanga Community or Your Community?

    September 13, 2018 / 2 Comments

    Your circle of friends and acquaintances does not represent the whole human race. A few weeks ago, my daughter talked about how she doesn’t understand how McDonald’s is still in business because no one eats there. I explained to her that just because her vegan upper middle class friends don’t eat there, it does not mean that no one eats there. I see similar conversations about Ashtanga. Big blanket statements about what is going on in the Ashtanga community. Ummm…maybe that is happening with your circle. It is not necessarily happening in mine or India or Chicago or down the street at the next yoga studio. We draw to us…

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    Shanna Small

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    Are You Wondering Why You Should Move On To Another Series? You Are Not Alone

    January 10, 2014

    Is The Fullness of KPJAYI Due To Spiritual Tourism?

    September 3, 2015

    Yoga Sutras For Modern Life: What is Good and Evil To a Yogi?

    December 5, 2016
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