An update on my yoga practice is well over due.
For those of you who know me well you will know that I have been practicing Ashtanga Yoga for around 7 years now.
Every morning, between 1.5-2 hours, following the flow of a practice that is probably one of the most practiced yoga sequences on this planet.
I refer back now, to a post from a few weeks ago, where after a 16 day juice feast and a flash back to a 2 years previous yoga retreat.
I decided to step off the Ashtanga train and take a journey back to a practice reflecting that of a teacher I discovered and an approach I fell in love with a few years ago while studying for my teacher training in London.

Shiva Rea

Shiva Rea’s practice is based on the same lineage as Ashtanga.
Krishnamacharya passed on his teachings to many, including Pattabhi Jois (the founder of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga), B.K.S. Iyengar (founder of Iyengar yoga) and T.K.V. Desikachar who was his son.

Krishnamacharya

***Read more about Krishnamacharya***

“Shiva Rea, M.A., is a leading teacher of transformational Prana Flow Yoga and Yoga Trance Dance.
She began exploring yoga at the age of fourteen as a way to understand her name, given to her by her father, a surfer and artist. Her studies in the Krishnamacharya lineage, Tantra, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Kalaripayattu, world dance, yogic art and somatic movement infuse her approach to living yoga and embodying the flow. She is known for bringing the roots of yoga alive for modern practitioners in creative, dynamic and life-transforming ways and for offering the synthesis form of vinyasa flow out in the world”.

And so… for the past 4 weeks or so i have found myself each morning being drawn back to my yoga mat with an excited anticipation as to what will arise from each days practice.
When I first decided to make this transition, I wasn’t 100% sure why or if it would last for that matter.
Today I realised it was an experiment that had been simmering in the back of my subcinscious for too long.
It doesn’t even matter ‘why’ I have decided to do this.

The point is a shift has occurred on a deeper level.
For me, yoga is about truth.
It is about finding your truth and allowing it to flow through you like an elixir of life or a resonant song.

This morning, something inside me asked me to visit old ground.
So, rather than following the rules I jumped on my mat without a thought and went straight for the Ashtanga ‘Second Series’, without a blink (usually you would practice primary series for a while or at least once a week before leaping in here… not me!).
And…
It felt amaizing!
Back bend after back bend…
I enjoyed every breath, every posture, every drishti, and for sure I enjoyed every second of savasana!

However, this is not to say my experiment is over!
Today only taught me how important it was for me to make this change.
Todays asana practice felt fluid and free.
I could see, hear and feel  the difference since I have been exploring my new approach to yoga practice.
Places that felt so hard, blocked and tight (on all levels) are now open and receptive to change.
This is just the beginning!

I am excited to see what’s next, but for now, a breakfast of raspberries, blueberries, grapefruits and bee pollen with Steve.
With this inspired mind, our search for the sun continues…

The X-ray solar corona as viewed by the Yohkoh observatory