What do you love? What absorbs you, calms you, gives you life? What keeps you going when nothing else will? That, to me, is yoga. Not simply the physical practice of yoga, or the larger philosophy from which physical yoga comes, but what brings us into now. Yoga is a yoke that joins one’s awareness to the present moment, joins heart and mind, joins reason and intuition—you get the idea. Yoga can be anything.
In this blog, I wed my love of yoga (the philosophy and practice) with my love of communication and creativity, in this case through words, dialogue, images, and design on the internet. In my years as a yoga teacher, the scheduling has not provided much time before, during, or after class to talk about the issues that come up around yoga, and questions that arise. I hope to provide a space for that here, as well as for students and teachers everywhere who’d like to be part of the dialogue. Welcome.
Some possible topics of discussion include what you get out of yoga, which aspects of yoga work for you, and which don’t, how you feel about pranayama (breath work) and if you notice a difference after classes with and without, meditation, how to start and maintain a personal practice, and anything else of interest. What else acts as yoga in your life? What absorbs you so that you forget what needs forgotten, and what relationship might there be between this and your physical yoga practice? I’d love other teachers to participate, as well as yogis of all sorts.
Feel free to use a pseudonym if you are averse to being identified online, though I encourage you to comment rather than email so that everyone benefits from the discussion.
When commenting, your email address is safe! I promise. It’s just used to identify spammers.
Dearest Cocco,
Your website is lovely – and provides a much needed space that will give people the means to discuss all of the things they are filled with, but are too shy, or too overscheduled to be able to discuss after class. I love the colours, the concept, it works!
Much love,
Avina
I would love to talk about pranayama and what specific types people find helpful for various things. I love to do some sort of centering technique before asana to draw my attention to the midline, like nadi shodana (alternate nostril) or a ham-sa kriya (attention up and down the spine). I would love to hear what other people do *after* asana, if not going right into meditation.
Anastasia- beautiful site!
Great idea! I look forward to the discussion.
Shoshana
Anastasia
I think this is a super idea. Iyengar teachers going to Pune often
share on a blog what Geetaji is teaching that month. Greeta is always encouraging us to share what learn.
I wish you the best with your “sharing project”
Tamar Kelly
Anastasia, this is an absolutely wonderful idea ! After your class each Monday and Wednesday, I frequently had questions that, due to other classes right after, could not have answered. I’m interested in learning more on the different breathing techniques and how I can incorporate these techniques into my life when I am not practicing.
Best of Luck!
Lauren
looks great Miss Cocco!
i will most definitely participate!
amy h
A really excellent idea, Anastasia. It’s nice to have a place where we can ask questions, share ideas, etc. I look forward to the conversation.
I was actually wondering what poses people find most essential in their yoga sessions (i.e. if you only have 20 minutes in a really busy day to squeeze in some yoga, what would you do with that time?).
Anyway, best of luck with this project!
sara
Sara, I’d like to post on this to hear what others have to say. In the meantime, the practice section of my faq might be useful, especially the first question. Hope you’ve found somewhere great in Boston to practice! ~A
Hannah, this question as well as the above might help you as well, though maybe not so much in Egypt (thought the yoga journal site does have sequences). Until a post, start adding one pose to your list that you don’t like! You might surprise yourself.
Great Post!
We are going to be waiting more Yoga
Good blogging!
I really enjoy how you explain the health benefits of certain postures. I felt better mentally and spiritually after class knowing that my physical body was not being forced (for instance as it might be in an aerobic class), but instead I was reflecting and putting that energy into action, slowly and gently re-generating my body’s inner strength through an ancient ritual. I’ve been practicing yoga for almost ten years now (on and off) and I’ve finally reach the point where I no longer compare the limits of what my body can or cannot do to the person practicing next to me. But that has taken years to get to. I wonder if other yoga practitioners have a similar issue? It’s a hard thing to do–to stop comparing–but I’ve realized that we are all at different levels. I guess that’s where the philosophy part of yoga comes in. Practicing is a fascinating experience in that in a yoga class you are there paying attention to your breath, to your joints, to your core, to the unquiet mind and then there are these very close physical beings (distractions?) nearby and you still have to stay focused. When I first started practicing, a lot of my concentration was devoted to (re)turning attention to myself. But isn’t this a bit ego-centric? How can we care for the self and acknowledge the other without clinging to either?
Avina, Shoshanna, Tamar, Amy, & Trecos, thanks for the kind words. Tamar, beautiful site! Trecos, gorgeous designs! Sarah & Lauren, thanks for these thoughts. I’d love to discuss pranayama and am tickled to hear that you’re interested. Sara, this is a great Q. I’ll send you a link to one answer on my FAQ, and discuss it more, hopefully with other teacher opinions, on the blog. MM I love the honesty of your words and question. I think it will lead to something interesting! Thank you so much for tuning in.
This is a good idea! I’d particularly like to hear some discussion on how to start and maintain a personal practice. I really enjoy your classes, but I’m finding it difficult to make time for practice at home, and I also tend to end up going through more or less the same set of favorite poses when I do, so it would be very helpful to hear how other people manage their practice.
love the idea. i’ve been thinking a lot about technology and yoga, since i am out in the burbs and have been following some yoga podcasts until i can join a studio that i like. the community of an in-person class definitely drew me to yoga in college (especially the chanting at life in motion) but i’m realizing that the idea that you are one of thousands of people subscribing to a podcast is pretty powerful, too.
A- Love the site and the name. Also it is my favorite color. Yoga is an essential part of my life. I love incorporating the postures and philosophy into my daily life to help me ride the waves. i know I would be a different person it is were not in my life. Good luck.
Thanks for the blog. I am very excited about this and hope it takes off. I have always felt the same as you in regard to sharing your feelings about the practice as it happens. I think it is so important to be open with others about our experience so we can dive straight into the spiritual aspect of yoga and not just the physical..
Shanthi, Meg
Hello Anastasia. Thanks for the comment on my site if you still need help with the thirteen theme I might be able to help.
By the way interesting blog Im very much interested in Yoga cause well I need flexibility training right now and strength training to get better at dancesport and it would do wonders for my posture too
Hi MK. Thanks for the offer. I fixed thirteen, but didn’t end up using it. Might for something else. There were problems with the rich text adding code. So glad you are interested in yoga. It’s great for both flexibility, strength, and yeah, posture too. Join us on the blog if you’re inspired or have questions. ~A
[...] going to backtrack on this, because it also relates to M’s comment on virtual yoga, and because it seems to me that there is a lot of mystique and self-worth tied up with sirsasana [...]