Ashtanga Yoga Pune

At first, it was all about asanas, until 2009, when I decided to quit my corporate job in banking and insurance, to delve deeper into my yoga studies. I completed my Yoga and Philosophy Course from The Yoga Institute, Mumbai, in 2010. It was in 2011 that I found my calling - Ashtanga Yoga. One class in a festival in Rishikesh was all it took to convince me to book my tickets for Mysore, to study with my Guruji Shri R Sharath Jois. I've been studying under his guidance ever since, and received my Level II Authorization in 2016. I now run my own Mysore program in Pune, and regularly travel and teach Mysore rooms and workshops in other Shalas. Along with yoga I have completed my certificate course in nutrition from Ashworth College, USA. Being an ardent dance lover, I have practiced jazz, contemporary and ballet dance forms, and have attended various workshops at Broadway Dance Center, NYC and New York City Ballet. Ashtanga Yoga is an ancient system of Yoga that was taught by Vamana Rishi in the Yoga Korunta. This text was imparted to Sri T. Krishnamacharya in the early 1900’s by his Guru Rama Mohan Brahmachari, and was later passed down to Pattabhi Jois during the duration of his studies with Krishnamacharya, beginning in 1927. Vinyasa means breathing and movement system. For each movement, there is one breath. For example, in Surya Namskar there are nine vinyasas. The first vinyasa is inhaling while raising your arms over your head, and putting your hands together; the second is exhaling while bending forward, placing your hands next to your feet, etc. In this way all asanas are assigned a certain number of vinyasas. The purpose of vinyasa is for internal cleansing. Breathing and moving together while performing asanasmakes the blood hot, or as Pattabhi Jois says, boils the blood. Thick blood is dirty and causes disease in the body. The heat created from yoga cleans the blood and makes it thin, so that it may circulate freely. The combination of the asanas with movement and breath make the blood circulate freely around all the joints, taking away body pains. When there is a lack of circulation, pain occurs. The heated blood also moves through all the internal organs removing impurities and disease, which are brought out of the body by the sweat that occurs during practice.