You have done yoga before and heard of or practiced Ashtanga but it being “freestyle” sounds weird? Well … Traditional Ashtanga yoga as put together by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is a beautiful albeit very strict system consisting of six series, the primary one being yoga chikitsa or “yoga therapy”. Ashtanga yoga is a wonderful, dynamic and physically quite demanding style of yoga that moves you thoroughly while calming your mind.

If you practice traditional Ashtanga, you will do the same asanas or postures in the same order, with the same count of breath each and every time. This practice clearly has uncountable benefits, including that once you master the sequence(s), your mind will stop racing and all you do is concentrate on the breath and the movement. And finally, you will be doing what is so eloquently called a “moving meditation”.

However, it feels great to be able to give your body a chance to make signals on what it’s really craving in a certain moment. For instance, the primary series comprises of a lot of forward bends and lacks asanas that truly prepare you for back bending. So in my freestyle class, I like to include postures where the lower back, the back or the hips are more in focus, while the class is still based on Ashtanga yoga. We open the class with some breathing and warm up exercises and close it with 6-8 minutes of deep relaxation or savasana.

However, what we are talking about here is only the physical aspect of yoga … which is just the surface as yoga doesn’t happen purely on the mat. It happens in your mind and soul.

Come check out my classes, held in English, Wednesday evenings 7-8.30pm or Friday mornings 7-8.30am at The Shift in Budapest or drop a line if you are interested in private yoga classes.