My Journey into Ashtanga Yoga

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The leap of faith is the act of believing in or accepting something outside the boundaries of reason (source Wikipedia). My leap of faith was the decision of quitting a well paid job to travel to India for three months to practice Ashtanga yoga (in the full meaning of the 8 limbs of yoga), come back to share this incredible and trasformative practice with as many practitioners as possible and believe that by doing so, I could make this world a better place. Very ambitious!

I would be unfair, if I was saying that it is easy or that I have never doubted my choice. I doubt it every single day but I am also extremely grateful for this incredible opportunity. Sharing with others something that you truly believe in, that you love immensely, is the most amazing gift that one can receive from life. However, it is not easy. It’s not easy because life challenges you, constantly. You are not always fit, you are not always full power, you are not always in a good mood, you are not always ready to give, you are not always ready to take, you are not always ready to do it. However, as soon as you connect with another human being, magic starts and you both share an energy that is unique. It is a special connection which requires a deep level of empathy and compassion.

On the mat one brings life as a whole, both the struggle and the joy of living and the practice is a mirror of it. We tend to judge ourselves according to our performance: “Today was terrible, my body was so stiff! I could not flow through the poses, I lost myself in so many thoughts… I just could not do it! I feel horrible!” And our day aligns to the practice, bad practice, bad day, good practice good day. So many expectations, so many thoughts around it. However, as life simply happens, the practice happens too. There is no good or bad practice, there is just the practice.

The leap of faith… The leap of faith is the ability to let magic entering our lives. Practice without expectations, practice without attachment, practice without judgement, and magic will happen. Allow yourself to experience magic. And when you are on the mat, never forget to smile!

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Here, I am again, 3 months later

Being back to Germany has been such a shock! India and Germany have not much in common, the weather, the food, the noise, the people... pretty different, both with positive and negative sides. Since my first trip to India, I fell in love with it, I felt at home from the very first moment I touched the Indian ground, however, I doubt I would be able to live there. Whereas, I never really felt at home in Germany, but I spent more than one third of my life here, and here I am again. After 3 months, I am back to the grey and cold Germany, where people blend with the weather turning grey and grumpy too. I am back to the order, to the rules and to the obligations that make this country what it is. I am back to the quiet, I can finally sleep the entire night through! I used to make fun of the “Lärmschutz” sign (protection against noise) that often appears on the German streets; in India that concept does not exist. India is an extremely crowded, lively and noisy country, and because of that, I simply love it! I miss India, I miss the energy I felt and had there, I miss my routine, I miss my yoga practice that was finally flowing like never before. The challenge now is not to let all of this fading away but to take everything I have learned during these 3 months, embed it into my German life and make YOGA my new life style. It’s tough, to begin with my asana practice which is not even close to what it was in India; it’s so easy to fall back into the old patterns. 

Two weeks are over since my flight back to Germany and I have a dream that I hope soon will be reality. Stay tuned!

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Mysore

Time flies. Almost 5 weeks passed since my last post. I moved from Kovalam to Mysore, which are almost 700 km apart but both still in the south of India. During the first 3 weeks in Mysore, I embarked in a very intensive Ashtanga yoga teacher training course (TTC) where I learned about asana adjustments, counting and names, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra (the Bible of yoga), pranayama (respiration techniques) and more. After a quite demanding practical exam where I have been asked to teach to other students, and a written one, I have been successfully certified the completion of the 200 hours Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training Course approved by the Yoga Alliance. Three weeks of teacher training do not make a yoga teacher, however, combined with a solid, daily practice, they are a very good beginning.

Mysore is the playground of yogis, here one can learn anything: Ashtanga yoga, Hatha yoga, Therapeutic yoga, Sanskrit, yoga philosophy, chanting, pranayama, Yoga Sutra, meditation, massages of any kind, Ayurveda... Literally anything. As such, on top of my daily practice with an extremely good Ashtanga yoga teacher, I picked few quite interesting courses, and to be able to move easily from one part of the city to the other, I decided to rent a scooter. I must say that it is really fun to drive it around the city.

Interestingly enough, I left Germany with a clear idea of what yoga was and I am about to leave India no longer sure about what yoga is. However, I am confident enough to say that YOGA is much, much, much more than stretching the muscles or releasing the stress of the day or even reconnecting with yourself. Yoga is a self discovery, a life style, a constant research within yourself and so much more. I feel that my journey into YOGA just started and I have so much more to research and learn. During these three months, I have collected a huge amount of information to work on until my next trip to India. 

The decision to embark into the journey of self discovery through the practice of Ashtanga yoga, has not been an easy one, however, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I have been given and infinitely thankful to whom, despite the fear of uncertainty, supported and still supports me in this amazing and challenging journey.

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The first month of practice is almost over

I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga since July 2012, but I felt that I found my teacher only in October 2016 during a 3-days long workshop in Stuttgart. In few hours, I was convinced to book a ticket to India to practice with Lino Miele on the coming January. Difficult to exactly say what made me choose Lino as my teacher; definitely, the passion he has for Ashtanga yoga. He takes it very seriously, but with lots of irony too. Lino can be quite funny, sometimes harsh and very compassionate towards his students. However, this is not all. Although, Ashtanga yoga consists of a fixed series of posture, the practice is each day a different one. One day you feel super fit and ready to nail each and every asana, another day the practice simply doesn’t flow and the asana feel like a huge obstacle to overcome, another one you feel angry, annoyed, bored... The body is a mirror of the mind, full of power on the good days, weak during the bad ones. Lino knows it, he knows that each day the practice is different and because of that, he doesn’t give much emphasis to it. On the contrary, he values the effort we do to show up on the mat each and every day despite the mood we are in. He truly respects and admire at us for being there ready to take whatever comes during those few hours of practice. I believe this is the reason why I have chosen him as my teacher and many other students too. Lino will accept you for what you are and can give, he will push you or stop you, knowing that each day is a different one. 

Four weeks of daily practice makes up a lot of hours spent on the mat. My body is stronger, more flexible and ready to begin the intermediate series, which challenges the body in a different way and on a different level of energy. I am ready to leave Kovalam and head to Mysore where things are still open. For now I’d like to thank Lino, Desirèe and all the assistants that supported me during the first four weeks of this incredible journey. Namaste.

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Third week of practice just started

Time flies. The second week of practice is over and the third just started. During the last two weeks of daily practice, my body became definitely more flexible and stronger. However, my practice was still very challenging. It did not flow, on the contrary I felt heavy and my expectations were somehow never met. This till the new moon that was on the 17th of January, last Wednesday. In the Ashtanga yoga tradition, during new and full moon (the so-called moon days), one should take rest. Thus, I practiced Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and on Wednesday I took off, relaxed, rested the body, meditated over my practice and came up with a resolution. By nature, I am a competitive and self-demanding/judgmental person and I take those aspects of my personality with me on the mat where I engage in a inner competition with the other practitioners. The Drishti (focused gazed) is an essential component of the practice. Each pose has its own Drishti which greatly helps to be focused and enhances the meditative aspect of the practice. However, from time to time, the gaze falls on other practitioners and the judgmental/ego-driven mind starts to compare my practice with the one of the others and to demand the execution of perfect asana (yoga poses) in the perfect vinyasa counting. As a result, my practice was as heavy as the amount of frustration I generated by aiming to an unreachable idea of perfection. Therefore, on Wednesday, on the Capricorn new moon, I made a resolution. I decided to align my practice to the energy of my body, rather than to the practice of someone else and to no longer reach the end of it totally exhausted in the name of a unrealistic idea of what the perfect practice should be. Surprisingly, on Thursday and Friday the practice was way better and today, I felt really well. Tomorrow, we’ll see. Each day is a different one and learning to accept what comes is one of the great teachings of Ashtanga yoga. Practice and all is coming, ALL...

(View from the terrace of Paradesh Inn - An awesome location own by a couple of Italians that decided to spend their life in the beauty of Kovalam, surrounded by palm trees and the Arabic see on the horizon)

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The first week of practice is over

The first week of practice is over and it was terrible! Everyday, from Sunday to Friday, at 8:30, I faced the struggle of the body and the struggle of the mind on the yoga mat. Prior to my trip to Kovalam, I have not been able to practice as regularly as I wished and now my body struggles to keep up with the expectations of my mind/ego. I wished I could do so much more and so much better and so much smoother! It simply doesn’t work! I have to take extra breaths between the asana, most of the asana hurt and I have so little power that each single day, I asked myself if I should just stop at half primary, lay down and relax... Terrible! However, instead of wallowing in self pity, I decided to reward myself with a very pleasant post-yoga routine consisting of coconut, Chai tee and a swim in the Arabian see! Straight after the practice, I use to stop at the beautiful coconut lady. Drinking the coconut water ad eating the coconut pulp feels like the well deserved reward for showing up everyday on the yoga mat. At 3 pm is Chai time. The Chai man opens his shop in the morning for breakfast and in the afternoon for Chai. An authentic Indian shop, with Indian customers and Indian prices. My 3 pm snack is a Chai tee with sugar and a sweet, fried ball made out of cashew and coco. So delicious! The day is not over without a swim in the Arabic see. Flat in the morning, wavy in the late afternoon, beautiful during sun set. Tomorrow, the second week of practice will start. I’ll keep you post it!

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Santa comes to India too

Kerala is located in the south-east of India and is one of the main tourist attraction for its beaches and Ayurvedic treatments. It is also the state with the highest number of Christians and one of 3 states in India with a strong communist political influence. I arrived in Kovalam on January 6th which is, in the Christian tradition, the day of the Three Kings worshiping Jesus by bringing him gifts. As I started roaming around, I’ve noticed Christmas decorations all over the place: restaurants, hotel, houses... Quite different from the ones I am used to. Instead of the usual Christmas threes, here coconut trees are decorated with super colorful ornaments and bright, huge stars. However, the best, was a glowing Santa wearing a proper red hat, a long white beard and sunglasses! Because here the sun is shining the whole day and the average temperature is 30 degrees. This is Christmas in Kovalam, very colorful, sunny and hot so that Santa needs to wear sunglasses (and maybe a swimsuit too) and I bet he enjoys it much more here than in the cold and dark North Pole!

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Kovalam - First day of practice

Reaching Kovalam has been quite a journey! The travel started already few days prior to the actual flight when I spontaneously decided to travel to Munich to personally pick up my passport, as 2 days prior to my flight, was still not delivered. I ended up at the Indian consulate crying for my passport and the visa which was finally given to me. I packed my stuff at the very last minute, bought few things and with my pink suitcase, my backpack and my yoga mat I left to Dubai, to reach Trivandrum airport the day after. India was exactly as I left it, awesome! The day of arrival is always tough, the warmth, the jet lag, the noise, the smoke (any kind of waste is simply burnt) and the lack of sleep are pretty hard. However, today as soon as I unfolded the yoga mat and stepped on it, I felt grounded again. My first practice in one month! Weak Ujjayi breath, lacking energy but still I managed to go through the full primary series. It’s the first time I feel no pressure to perform or progress fast with my practice, the first time I have no time restrictions, the first time I feel good about leaving my body to set the boundaries and lead the practice. Let’s the journey begin!

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Home sweet home (Heidelberg - Germany) - Everything began here circa 5 years ago, 2012, the year of my PhD graduation and the end of a 3 years long relationship. A friend brought me to my first yoga class, Power Vinyasa and since then, Pure and Laurie’s classes have been my happy place for several years to come. The journey into Ashtanga yoga began just few days after my first Power Vinyasa yoga class, with a half led primary series. At that time, I had no idea about the so-called Mysore style and the power of the practice. Only 2 years later, in Italy, in search of a Power Vinyasa yoga class, I discovered Ashtanga yoga Mysore style, an extremely challenging, meditative and powerful practice that I have never left since then. I considered January 2014 the beginning of my journey into Ashtanga yoga Mysore style. Several great teachers after, I am ready to pack my stuff and fly to India for a 3-months long journey. Here I am, on the last day of 2017, a year filled with awesome people, challenges and discoveries. Looking forward to welcoming the new year.