One great reason to practice ashtanga?
I am currently in Culebra, a small tiny island off the cost of Puerto Rico.
Everything about this island and its population Inspires you to practice doing nothing. They are very good at chilling and watching time pass.
Comin from New York City This quality felt to me like emptiness, like time is infinate and never ending on this island.
The first few days I must admit i adapted quite well to this non doing, it gave me a good excuse to forgive myself for being tired, and to just rest rather then get up and do. I included in the list of to do things my practice, which for two days i took off from. In my heart and mind I felt a little guilty of taking a break, but everything around me seemed to tell me:"bibi its ok relax"...so I did, or at least I tried to see what would happen if I did.
Come the third day my own body woke up at 7am with a sense of longing for the practice, my mind had settled in the "non doing mind-set" but my body was missing somethig its so usedto do veryday for so long now.
So without giving it much thought i walked over to my mat, unfolded it and without givig it further thought i started my practice, wih no expectation of where i would get to...an hour and a half later i was sittin in lotus taking my breaths...
I guess the answer to my question is..
Ashtanga yoga is a great practice becuse it teaches you to be disciplined, especially trough the first months, when you begin to practice, so you plant the seed, then it just happens inside of you. It becomes part of you, and you can try to keep away from it but when something is part of your life, especially something that feeds and nourishes both physical and psychic bodies, it becomes hard to abstain from it.
The best part of all of this is that Ashtanga allows you to practice in your own (you must always go back to your teacher), the practice itself after a while becomes the teacher in itself.
All you need is to tAke a mat with you where ever you go and unfold it, stand on it and begin, without expectations of whats to come or where youll get to, just begin with your sun salutations, and let the practice unfold.
That is whats really great about it, there is really no excuse to not practice, because you can do as much as you want or can, at the pace that you need at that given moment.. And it gives so much back!!!
I am currently in Culebra, a small tiny island off the cost of Puerto Rico.
Everything about this island and its population Inspires you to practice doing nothing. They are very good at chilling and watching time pass.
Comin from New York City This quality felt to me like emptiness, like time is infinate and never ending on this island.
The first few days I must admit i adapted quite well to this non doing, it gave me a good excuse to forgive myself for being tired, and to just rest rather then get up and do. I included in the list of to do things my practice, which for two days i took off from. In my heart and mind I felt a little guilty of taking a break, but everything around me seemed to tell me:"bibi its ok relax"...so I did, or at least I tried to see what would happen if I did.
Come the third day my own body woke up at 7am with a sense of longing for the practice, my mind had settled in the "non doing mind-set" but my body was missing somethig its so usedto do veryday for so long now.
So without giving it much thought i walked over to my mat, unfolded it and without givig it further thought i started my practice, wih no expectation of where i would get to...an hour and a half later i was sittin in lotus taking my breaths...
I guess the answer to my question is..
Ashtanga yoga is a great practice becuse it teaches you to be disciplined, especially trough the first months, when you begin to practice, so you plant the seed, then it just happens inside of you. It becomes part of you, and you can try to keep away from it but when something is part of your life, especially something that feeds and nourishes both physical and psychic bodies, it becomes hard to abstain from it.
The best part of all of this is that Ashtanga allows you to practice in your own (you must always go back to your teacher), the practice itself after a while becomes the teacher in itself.
All you need is to tAke a mat with you where ever you go and unfold it, stand on it and begin, without expectations of whats to come or where youll get to, just begin with your sun salutations, and let the practice unfold.
That is whats really great about it, there is really no excuse to not practice, because you can do as much as you want or can, at the pace that you need at that given moment.. And it gives so much back!!!
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