Ashtanga vinyasa yoga

I moved a lot from a young age, but danced mainly from a young age.

And so when I moved to London at 19 and dance classes were too expensive, I signed up for my first Ashtanga class.

And I guess it's safe to say the rest is history in terms of then the journey, which for many yogis is a very familiar one.

You come in from a movement perspective, you come in from an asana standpoint, and then the journey unfolds, or at least it can and does for many.

So that was kind of the yoga journey through.

But during that time of Ashtanga moving to London was when I was modeling.

And that's when that, yeah, that career kind of, I guess, really started, like quite, you know, fundamentally took its roots in London.

Yeah, 19.

unhappy and depressed so it was sort of like a turning point of like what do I want to focus on what do I really value and that's what led me into spiritual I mean I was always spiritual but like I really started to pursue philosophy and spirituality and I went back to university at that point and And like really started immersing myself in this kind of like inner development psychology and looking at, you know, all the things I was really interested in from an intellectual standpoint.

And then even like with the Ashtanga Yoga, once I got my certification, which, as you mentioned at the beginning, is a very, you know, limited sort of certification that

only a few...

Around 8 billion.

And you are one of those.

I mean, talk about a unicorn.

Yeah, it's a rare, it's a rare recognition to be bestowed after many years, you know, practicing very intensely Ashtanga Yoga in this city, this small city, Mysore in South India, or Mysuru.

And But then after like, you know, 15, 20 years of that, I started to feel like it was surface also, like that I was only being valued for my ability to help people physically, you manipulate their bodies or move their bodies or do a handstand better.

Let's be honest, that's what it is.

Um, it's, she, it's traditional Ashtanga opening prayer, which is used during Himalayan yoga classes.

Yeah.

And at one p- I think there was something that I read about her, there was a line that she pronounced wrong or something, and someone got in touch and corrected her about it, and so she went back and changed it, so fair enough.

Mm.

And if you are teaching at an Ashtanga studio, and you are going in there freeform, everybody do what you want, do what you feel is good-

Mm

...

Mm.

A lovely one, actually.

I used to teach a class which I ran independently, but in an Ashtanga studio.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah

... yoga with things that were yogic, whereas today, people are still getting triggered by that online, saying, "How dare you suggest that my Ashtanga Vinyasa practice isn't extremely authentic, come from the Yoga Korunta-"

Yeah

... um, um, all sequenced many moons ago by some great rishi.

Um, and it, uh, eliminates a few yoga terms for those of us who don't do yoga and really don't know, uh, the terms for it.

Um, so we're told it encompasses Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Iyengar, uh, forms of yoga, uh, which only barely helped me, if, if at all.

Um, I, uh, my first thought was Asana, um, but I thought that's-- I think that refers to a single pose.

Um, and so, you know, that didn't seem quite right.