LIFESTYLE • HEALTH
Ashtanga-Yoga
meditation through movement
By SPREADABLE MAGAZINE
Ashtanga Yoga is a dynamic yoga system taught and promoted by Sri K Pattabhi Jois* in Mysore, South India. Untable Magazine spoke with Florencia Pérez Millán, Ashtanga Yoga San Telmo teacher, about this practice that is gaining more and more followers.
What characterizes this style of yoga?
Ashtanga Yoga is based on the link between breath and movement. It is characterized by the repetition of a sequence of postures that we learn and memorize to be able to do in silence.
How do you deepen and advance in this discipline?
With practice, we gain experience and understanding. When we let ourselves go through the memorized series, we can savor the present in a dynamic, silent and meditative practice. The heart of the practice is in the breath. Through the body, movement and breathing, we can access a calmer state of mind.
How can we get started?
The best way to get started in Ashtanga Yoga is with someone who has great experience in the method, who knows it in depth. You learn little by little, it is progressive.
Do all practitioners do the same sequences?
Yes. Although it is the same sequence of postures for everyone, each body, each person, each biography will go through it differently. What changes is the practice of each person and the energy available that day.
How is the practice transmitted?
The transmission is given in a personalized way, little by little and through instructions on breathing techniques, among others, and the correct assembly of the postures. Once we have learned one posture, we are ready to move on to the next. It is also transmitted through the manual adjustments that the teacher provides to the practitioners. The most advanced achieve autonomy in practice. This can take years of work.
What is Mysore style?
In the Mysore style, students carry the same practice forward, but individually. A Mysore-style room is characterized by silence. Only breathing is heard. The newer ones receive the necessary guidance so that, in the future, they can take ownership of the method and forge their own practice. In this way, they will be able to repeat it, letting themselves be carried away by the memorized series and thus savor a meditative state.
What is the role of instructors in a Mysore-style room?
Accompany and promote the practice of each one, of each one. The guide of teachers or teachers with more experience is essential. In addition, we must have affinity and trust with them, to continue learning. This is very important.
What is it like to give Ashtanga Yoga classes online?
In the practices or disciplines that involve the body, moving to the virtual world is today a great challenge. As an Ashtanga teacher, my challenge is to translate those manual instructions into words. Now I am dealing with the Zoom platform, where I can see my students.
Why practice?
After a class you feel better, with clearer thoughts, you want to repeat the practice and commit to that dynamic that is good for you. This is how changes come into our lives.
* Probably 3rd century BC. c.
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Photos: courtesy.