After my first year of yoga I attended an Ashtanga yoga workshop and was hooked! As an Ashtangi you learn to practice on your own over time. As I used to live in a small village with no easy access to regular good yoga classes I loved the idea of eventually being able to practice yoga on my own. The traditional way of practicing Ashtanga yoga is in so-called Mysore classes: you know the standardized series of asanas you’re going to practice by heart and do it by yourself under the supervision of the yoga teacher and in company of about 20-30 other yoga students doing the same at their own pace.
Once I started practicing yoga in Mysore classes there was no way back for me. Compared to other guided yoga classes you are able to focus much more on your own body, breath and mind.
After a few years though I noticed that I stagnated in certain areas of movement and progressed maybe a bit too fast in others. My body created imbalances. I developed some pain. That’s when I stopped practicing the traditional way and changed the series until it was my own flow entirely. This flow changed depending on how my body felt, depending on my energy level and depending on my intentions. - The pain stopped.
This is how and why I created the class called “Free Spirit”. It’s inspired by the Mysore style: as a teacher I intend to help students to develop their own yoga practice with help and assistance but with no guided practice. It enables yogis to listen much more to their own bodies, breathe and mind and to explore. What they will learn as free spirits in these classes is to practice consciously and by themselves. If you have never tried it, you should :)
“Free Spirit” is currently scheduled every Wednesday in our studio in Winterthur from 17:45-19:45. You can practice for 2 full hours or just for 15 minutes. That’s completely up to you.
Questions? Thoughts? :) Leave a comment!