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Pose of the Week: Paschimottanasana
How To Do Paschimottanasana Shanna SmallShanna Small has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga and studying the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Mysore with Sharath Jois and is the Director of AYS Charlotte, a school for traditional Ashtanga in Charlotte NC. She has written for Yoga International and the Ashtanga Dispatch. Go here for more information on AYS Charlotte. For information on workshops, please e-mail shanna@ashtangayogaproject.com. ashtangayogaproject.com
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Ashtanga Adaptability, Ashtanga Quotes, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Yoga Sutras for Modern Day Life: Quantum Physics Meets Yoga?
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:19 Among the bodiless ones and the ones absorbed in prakrti, there is intention of coming ind being. Defining the Sutra This post may require a suspension of your disbelief. But then again, so does yoga. The thought that there are bodiless beings sounds just as crazy as the idea of Samadhi or getting rid of non essential thought. To help us to fully understand this verse, I have brought in Greg Nardi, authorized level 2 Ashtanga teacher and avid student of the sutras and Gregor Maehle, author of many popular books on Ashtanga and Yoga, such as, “Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Philosophy and “Pranayama, the…
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Ask the APP: Ashtanga For All Bodies
“Old man, stiff man, weak man, sick man, they can all take practice but only a lazy man can’t take practice.” Sri K Pattabhi Jois There was an inquiry on the APP regarding Ashtanga and being overweight. Anyone can practice Ashtanga. Ashtanga is best learned using the Mysore style method which is learning the practice pose by pose from a teacher who has a firm and consistent practice. When learned this way, the teacher will teach you how to approximate ie get as close to the full version of the pose as safely as possible. The key here is finding a teacher who understands your body and knows how to…
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The Magic Happens When Your Yoga Practice Sucks
Unfortunately, the magic happens when it sucks. This is why the yogis and Patanjali told us to practice consistently. They knew that we needed to come face to face with the suckiness and often. I am not talking about pain from injuries. I am talking about the suckiness of being uncomfortable. The suckiness of wanting to be anywhere but on that mat. When it sucks, the biggest opportunity for transformation occurs. History shows us this. When we hear stories of huge internal life shattering transformations, it is usually prefaced by a heart wrenching story that sucks. For something to transform, it need to hit its “boiling point”. The boiling point is where the…
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Words of Wisdom For those on the Ashtanga Yoga Path
A friend posted this and I wanted to share it. Great advice for the Ashtanga journey from David Swenson * I want you to understand, the Ashtanga Yoga can be practiced for the rest of your life. You can enjoy this practice. About Yoga * This mat should be the place we come to free ourselves from all the stresses of the world. Don’t make it another place to be stress to you. * The mat is like a loving mother; The practice is a loving place. * If you enjoy your practice today, you will want to practice tomorrow. No one has to tell you. * Keep…
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Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Reblogs, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Videos, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Asteya: Stealing a Yoga Practice
Photo above by Wanda Koch When our culture (our media, our power structures, our society) says, “people who look like you shouldn’t expect to have a life like that,” we’re stealing. Stealing from people capable of achieving more, and stealing from our community as well-Seth Godin I feel blessed to have started yoga with my Atlanta teachers. In my 5 or so years of working with them. Never once did anyone tell me that I could not do anything. There were never any talk about the short falls of my anatomy. There were never any talks about disadvantages of my body or body type. The message was always…
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Why It Is Important To Be Uncomfortable in Yoga
One reason why ascetic paths were set is simply because of this: you start doing things that are naturally not comfortable for you. If you have to do something that you do not like, you can only do it consciously. There is no other way to do it. Things that you like, you can do compulsively, but things that you do not like, you can only do consciously. That is why the ascetic path. You start doing everything consciously. There is no other way to be. You are practicing how to be conscious in various situations in your life-Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Yoga is supposed to wake you up-Peg Mulqueen …
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Pose of the Week: Garbha Pindasana to Kukutasana
How To Do Garba Pindasana & Kukkutasana Shanna SmallShanna Small has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga and studying the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Mysore with Sharath Jois and is the Director of AYS Charlotte, a school for traditional Ashtanga in Charlotte NC. She has written for Yoga International and the Ashtanga Dispatch. Go here for more information on AYS Charlotte. For information on workshops, please e-mail shanna@ashtangayogaproject.com. ashtangayogaproject.com
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Pose of the Week: Urdhva Dhanurasana
How To Do Urdhva Dhanurasana Shanna SmallShanna Small has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga and studying the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Mysore with Sharath Jois and is the Director of AYS Charlotte, a school for traditional Ashtanga in Charlotte NC. She has written for Yoga International and the Ashtanga Dispatch. Go here for more information on AYS Charlotte. For information on workshops, please e-mail shanna@ashtangayogaproject.com. ashtangayogaproject.com
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Pose of the Week: Ubhaya Padangusthasana
How To Do Ubhaya Padangusthasana Shanna SmallShanna Small has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga and studying the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Mysore with Sharath Jois and is the Director of AYS Charlotte, a school for traditional Ashtanga in Charlotte NC. She has written for Yoga International and the Ashtanga Dispatch. Go here for more information on AYS Charlotte. For information on workshops, please e-mail shanna@ashtangayogaproject.com. ashtangayogaproject.com
Acessible | Trauma Informed |Philosophy |Social Justice
