Ashtanga is an individual practice at its core, yet one reason I love it so much is because of the people I have met inside and outside the shala since I started. Everybody has their own story, yet we all come together to share a practice each morning. In the Mysore room we practice together, yet everyone does their own thing. It’s quite special I think.
Over the past couple of years a lot of people have influenced my practice. Teachers, fellow students, friends, cute guys at parties, who challenge me to explain why yoga is different from a gym workout. Sometimes I see something at the shala or someone says something, that makes me think or re-think or just reflect and questions my own convictions and whenever that happens, it’s such a gift. A friend once said to me: Every person comes into your life to teach you something, you just need to figure out what that is.
I want to use the “People” section of this blog to write about the people I meet along my yoga journey and reflect on what they’ve taught me. Some are yogis, some are not. Some challenge me, others make me feel like I’ve known them forever after just one long conversation. They will all have one thing in common though: In one way or another, they are part of the Ashtanga community, my Ashtanga community. And I want YOU to meet those people too and see how diverse those “Humans or Ashtanga” actually are, how they all have their own ideas, habits and reasons for practicing or not.
Humans of Ashtanga. I’m excited about that. Hopefully you are too.