KayaYogini

In my yoga practice, there are mainly three things I focus on. One is the physical, practicing the positions precisely and functionally and moving towards more and more advanced positions. Second is calming the breath and the thoughts so that I get that feeling of stillness both in my body and my mind. Third is the connection to something Divine, that I do by setting my intention and also focusing my gaze. By doing this, I feel like I am getting more in alignment with my higher self and the flow of the universe. When I have done all these during my practice, I feel like my practice was successful, otherwise there is something missing for me.

Practicing yoga asana (positions) is a long journey. It is challenging as well as rewarding. One thing that I have learned in my practice, which I have also been witnessing when I teach, is how important it is to practice in a way that makes sense to your body. At your level so to speak. And although that might seem easy to do, some people practice one style of yoga for years and years and do not get the benefit they should. Or they practice it in a way that do not benefit them. That doesn’t make their bodies more healthy, more flexible or stronger. I have also been doing this to some degree. I have had lots of back issues that where quite complicated and did not heal from doing yoga. It got less painful, but the issue was still there. Whatever I did, it did not go away (I won’t go in depth on my issues here, but if you are interested, go to the «About me» page to read more about my story). I have been practicing a lot of advanced yoga, and while some poses come easy to me (because after all I have been practicing for over ten years), other poses have barely progressed due to my issues. It has basically been useless to practice those same things over and over again. It is like trying to force a door open that I didn’t have the key to. As a result of this, as well as my desire to accomplish those positions, I’ve been trying out lots and lots and lots and lots of different things to find a solution that works for my back. I have found some things that makes it better, that has taken away most of the issue, but I still need to learn more. I am currently teaching yoga for back health, and I will continue to do that. I am teaching all the positions and techniques I find that actually work (If you are interested, I recommend to follow me on facebook, where I post all my classes and events. You will get informed about live classes as well as online classes).

It is so important to feel into your body when you practice, to be real and take notice of what works and what doesn’t. Also getting help from a good teacher is a really good idea. Sometimes working with a teacher privately is better than a group session. Or grab your teacher after class and ask for some advice. Do some research on your own, find your style, your teacher, your platform. One thing I think is very important that is very different from teacher to teacher and style to style, is how they are teaching to move into the positions and how to move within the positions. Do they have enough knowledge on anatomy and functionality? The yoga teacher training is very short, and so you should seek out the teachers that have the knowledge you need. Some teachers do not really focus on functionality at all, and for some people that is fine. It is all about what your needs are.

Ashtanga yoga is my main path of yoga that I teach and practice. Ashtanga yoga is considered the hardest form of yoga. It is very physically and mentally demanding. My own Ashtanga practice has been on and off, and actually really hard because of the back issues I’ve had. Like I said, I’ve had very little progression in some positions. I’ve had to go back to basics so many times to find those missing links in my bodys movement pattern. I had to take breaks from my Ashtanga practice and do other forms of movement. Figure out what works for me and what doesn’t. One thing I have learned, is how incredibly important it is to have a stable body. That means you can keep your center stable while moving your joints in all directions. This is such underestimated information in the yoga world, that is very much focused on flexibility. In my classes I put a lot of emphasis on stability. I always do a little warm up with stability exercises before I start my own Ashtanga practice.

Although Ashtanga was not the solution for my body, it was the biggest motivator to learn about my body, about back health, movement patterns and stability. I had to learn from other sources to advance in my Ashtanga practice. Because of it, I have done so much research, learned so much and as a result of that, I can also teach more about back health. The 46th sutra in the second chapter of the Yoga Sutras (which is the main philosophy book in Yoga), teaches how to practice yoga asana. It goes like this: «sthira-sukham asanam», which translates to «Posture should be steady and comfortable». Often the word «ease» is used instead of «comfort».You need to practice the positions with ease/comfort and steadiness. If you are not steady in the positions, you won’t have the necessary easy or comfort to breath calmly, and thus you won’t get the benefits of the positions.

Ashtanga Yoga takes you on a journey deeper into your true self. The practice looks like a linear prosess with the sequential structure, where you progress along a line of poses. But really it’s not a journey forward, it is a journey inward. Inward deeper and deeper into the body, mind and heart. The eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga teaches how to move deeper into the heart and mind. I love Ashtanga Yoga so much, although it is so hard and challenging. To me it is the best style of yoga, even though I had to stop and do other things to heal my body. What style of yoga is your favorite and why?

Thank you so much for reading!

Love, Kaja