Yoga & philosophy
Hatha yoga came into my life when I was around 40, in response to constant backache. When it comes to asanas, for a long time I used to be one of those "eternal beginners". It was the regular meditation and the need to work on calming my mind down that had led me to make progress in Hatha yoga. My master is Lyndon Mason from Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. Succumbing to his persuasion I went to study yoga in Shivananda Ashram in Kerala. And so, after years of wandering on the outskirts of yoga, I had finally entered the right path. In 2017 I passed the teacher exam at the Routes of Yoga School in Bali, Indonesia.
Yoga, though treated as such, is not an elitist activity! All you need for the practice is simply getting up from the couch, standing barefoot on the floor, straightening your back, relaxing your face, and beginning to breathe deeply. Sure, with time it's cool to buy a special mat and colorful leggings. But let's keep in mind that yoga was invented by the hermits who lived in the Himalayas! Its purpose was to keep the body in good shape, mainly in order to be able to spend long hours meditating sitting up straight in the lotus position. As legendary yoga father Patanjali wrote, "Yoga is the calming of the mind’s fluctuations". To those who claim they cannot afford the luxury of practicing yoga and meditation, I always say that both are being practiced in the worst jails in the world. Yoga and meditation practiced regularly improve our physical health and expand our inner freedom.
Yoga, like all things affected by the western culture, has in the recent years become a swag and an object of aggressive marketing. Social media is filled with impressive contortions of super slim, often very young, and even more often photoshopped, bodies. As a result, many people who dream about yoga and sense it would be good for them, feels embarrassed and lacks the courage to enroll in classes. I would like to help changing this approach. I’m convinced that yoga is absolutely for everyone*. Because it is not about perfection here but about the act of kindness for oneself. About the work and its progress, with no attachment to its effects. Therefore you won’t find skillful yogic tricks neither in my classes, nor in my pictures. I do not practice or teach to impress anyone, even myself. I practice to beautifully start each day and to give my body and head the necessary dose of movement, breathing, and relaxation, in order to maintain health and balance.
Since I started teaching, I try to share my knowledge in a way that would allow participants, after each session with me, to stay calm and confident that they can practice simple asanas at home and with no help. Yoga begins to work in our lives when we make it an easily accessible, everyday practice. Really, even 10-15 minutes of yoga practice a day and twice as much of meditation can do wonders. I know from experience.
