by Kara-Leah Grant She's sometimes referred to as "the Madonna of Yoga" - at least, that's what Vanity Fair called Shiva Rea when she did a desert photo shoot for them in 2007. But magazines love catchy monikers and as someone who grew up idolising Madonna and has studied with Shiva... the two women are nothing alike. "I'm not sure what exactly what they were referring to, whether it was my boldness, but I'm not into being a yoga celebrity at all. At all! Humility for me is a really important … [Read more...]
Breaking Down, Hitting Blocks and Finding Beginner’s Mind in Ashtanga Yoga
by guest author Pip Bennett At the beginning of this year, I chose love and moved to Costa Rica (from NZ) to be with my partner. In doing so, I left everything I knew behind. Work, family, friends, culture. I have found it hard making the changes. Everything is different. Even on my best days, the smallest things can piss me off or make me miss home. Most of the time I can’t even work out what it is that is so difficult. I have a suspicion that whatever it is, it lies within me, rather than … [Read more...]
The Evolution of Ashtanga Yoga Part II
by Matthew Sweeney, The Yoga Temple Although Yoga, meditation and self inquiry are gaining popularity worldwide, these are still relatively new concepts for many people. How we define these concepts and the clarity with which we pursue them is of great interest to me. I am using the following definitions to shine a light on how adherence to a tradition can either help or hinder your practice of Yoga. It might be useful to note how you personally respond to these definitions and to … [Read more...]
The Evolution of Ashtanga Yoga
by Matthew Sweeney, The Yoga Temple Ashtanga Yoga is a wonderful practice for the body and mind. It is an evolving practice that is changing and growing to suit people of all ages and abilities. At least that is its potential. The tradition and its changing nature can be a difficult thing to reconcile. Understanding some of the principles at work is important. At some point in a student’s learning process, they will have difficulty, physically or otherwise. At this point they need … [Read more...]
Parampara: The importance of lineage in Yoga
by guest author Mike Berghan, Te Aro Astanga Later this year I will celebrate 20 years of Ashtanga Yoga practice. My first year of practice was like most people, attending a class 2 evenings a week, but from Nov. 1993 I have maintained a daily Ashtanga practice. In this time I have learned many things. One of the most important being the concept of Parampara, or Lineage. Parampara is the passing down of knowledge over generations, from teacher to student. This concept is central to Yoga … [Read more...]
An apology to the Ashtanga community
Yep - I messed up. My recent article Why I may never take another yoga class was intended to articulate a view that it doesn't matter what kind of yoga we practice, only that it is the right kind of yoga for us. Instead, because I was unclear, and less than skillful in my use of metaphors, many people have felt that I was dissing Ashtanga as a practice. In the article, I used my recent experiences in yoga classes to demonstrate that doing a particular practice when it's no longer right … [Read more...]
Why I may never take another yoga class ever again
by Kara-Leah Grant There's a lot of debate going on in American yoga circles right now about what is yoga and what is not yoga. Elephant Journal is full of it, even the New York Times has got in on the act. I'm no yoga scholar, and I know there's various yogic texts which one can refer back to that expound on exactly what yoga is and isn't. Patanjali is oft-quoted, although he's not the only guy that wrote about yoga back in the day. His take on it is simply that yoga is: the … [Read more...]