Thursday 19 April 2007

Living Ashtanga


This site is about the study and practice of yoga. Since my personal practice primarily focuses on Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, there is bound to be a lot of focus on this type of yoga practice. Still, over the years I have realized the vastness and beauty of other kinds of practice - the precision and beauty of Iyengar method, the fierceness of Forrest yoga, the phenomenal force of Tripsichore yoga, the healing, soothing softness of restorative practice and so on and so forth. Or the blazing love of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. Some people who see yoga as purely a physical practice shun the kind of practice Bhakti yogis do. And the truth is that Bhakti is what it all boils down to. Why we practice and why we breathe. It should all be devotion. If your practice is purely physical, it might be a nice start but a good headstand is not neccessarely good yoga. A good headstand is not neccessarely yoga at all. It is about much more than a toned triceps. It is my firm belief that no one way is the only way. Some fresh ashtangis will look down on other forms of hatha practice, as Ashtanga is a "strong" practice. The truth is that you can put strength in any practice. And you can have a weak and floppy Ashtanga practice if you practice without breath and focus. And you can have a strong, vigorous Yin yoga practice if your whole being is in it. That`s what I love about yoga practice. It really will tell you where you`re at, on every level. The thing about many of us is that we have no idea about where we`re at and we live caught up in our mundane, delusional everyday spin cycle. If this is the case, your practice will tell you this, if you`re willing to listen. So, this site is for all the yogis, it is for me and it is for those who are curios about yoga. It is for anyone.
Since I live in Oslo, Norway, I will try to hold anyone who is interested updated on yogic goings on in Oslo and in Norway. Still, I have decided to do the site in English so that it will be accessible for more people. So, whoever you are - enjoy! Namaste.

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