Over the last 20 years of practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, I have developed an amazing sense of trust in life. Practicing for so long shows you that there is no end to the learning, the growing, the exploration. It is fun to do all the fancy asanas, but in 10 years time (or sooner), I wont be able to do that any more. Hopefully, what I have gained from this practice will transcend age and physical abilities.
I have gained a great sense of devotion to the Jois family and all the yogis before them. Yoga has been my priority in life and so my diet, lifestyle, perception of reality are all shaped by this practice. Yoga has made me feel so connected to everyone and to the pulse of life. Especially in Mysore, India, where the students are from all over the world, doing the same practice, breathing together, sharing a similar experience. We have an immediate understanding of each other, even if we can't speak the same language, and we see very clearly that there is really no difference between us. It is beautiful!
The practice brings our awareness to the present moment, the sound and sensations of the breath, the sensations in the body, the focus of the gaze (drishti). Practicing this every day does something to you, it softens you and at the same time makes you extremely resilient both mentally and physically. I had two natural child births and both times, lost the ability to connect with the moola and uddiyana bandhas. But, by starting over again with the practice, taking it slow, and staying with the practice, breath by breath, the bandhas came back...and even stronger than before having children. In fact, I could not do Karandavasana until after I had my second child. I have so much trust in the body's ability to heal and repair and change.
We just have to keep moving, keep breathing, and keep living life fully.
Yoga has also helped me build a sense of gratitude and compassion for myself which has allowed me to feel grateful and compassionate towards others. It has helped me be a good mother, partner, friend, teacher.
I came to yoga through martial arts. I had been practicing Taekwando during my first 2 years at University and I loved how the breath, focus, and stretching was a central part of martial arts. But, I got my nose broken in sparring. I loved the practice/training part of Taekwando, not the physical contact of sparring.
I studied in Australia for my last two years of University and there I looked into yoga, thinking it might be like martial arts without the sparring. I started with the yoga classes offered at the University during lunch time (with David and Simi Roche) and slowly began to make it a part of my weekly activity. It started once a week and then became two and then three. At first, I hated yoga because it was so hard. But, after shavasana, I would feel so alive, so happy.
After practicing yoga for 7 months Tim Miller from the US visited and did a 2 week 1st Series Ashtanga workshop. I had not done Ashtanga before but I was interested in seeing if I could do yoga 6 days a week. The classes stared at 5AM and, as a student, I would usually study until midnight every night. So, when I started the workshop I would sleep with the light on and all my yoga clothes on so that when the alarm went off in the morning I just had to wake up, brush my teeth, get on my bicycle and get to yoga on time. It was the hardest, most invigorating 2 weeks of my life. All I can say is that from the moment I did the Ashtanga practice, I felt like I was coming home. I would get excited about getting to practice and I still feel this way, almost 20 years later!
At first, I loved how physical this practice was and how easy it was to do it anywhere. All you needed was a small piece of floor. I loved how I felt afterward practice. I felt "worthy" of rest. It also seemed to clear my mind every time I practiced. I would often get stressed and worried and, as I did my yoga practice, the worries would go away. I loved that it was the one thing in my life that I could rely on. There were so many changes happening in my life, but the practice was always there for me, no matter what. And practicing with people made me feel like I was part of some family even though, at first, I never even talked to the other students.
I have been practicing Ashtanga for a long time and so now it is just who I am. I able to be so present in my practice. It still clears my mind completely and it shows me who I really am. What I mean by this is that because I love the practice so much and am so excited about it, I am able to connect with my true nature (all of our true nature) which is LOVE and EXCITEMENT. That is me, that is all of us, although not everyone choses Ashtanga Yoga to discover that. Others find that "true nature" through meditation, hiking, surfing, etc (I also find my true nature in those things too).
Yoga is like life is so many ways. Often you feel as if your body cant possibly do another asana, but if you keep going, eventually you have a breakthrough and you are able to do what you thought was impossible. As it is with life. We get so worried about what lies ahead but if we just focus our attention on doing the best we can in the present moment, then we are able to do things in life that we never thought possible.
