What made you start ashtanga?

[Guest guest]

I'm interested to know how did you others got

into ashtanga. Me, I saw a TV program last summer

where 2 Finnish ashtanga teachers from Helsinki told

about this. I had thought of going to yoga lessons

earlier too but I chose ashtanga because of that program.

=) I also thought of Sahaja yoga but how come, I

couldn't find a teacher!<br><br>So thanks for my starting

ashtanga studies goes to Juha Javanainen and Petri

Räisänen. (I don't think they'll ever read this but if they

do; THANK YOU - KIITOS!)<br><br>Now it's your turn to

tell! <br><br>btw, any other Finnish ppl here? Did

you watch Marcon kanssa kahden?

[Guest guest]

Secret song,<br><br>Welcome to the club.<br><br>I

live in Germany near Frankfurt, and when I started

with yoga 3 1/2 years ago, I was completely ignorant

of Ashtanga, because Germany is still comatose in

regard to this vigorous and ancient Indian

practice.<br><br>But we have a highly organized and established

Iyengar Yoga community here, and I practised that method

for 3 years. Iyengar Yoga's soft ways however bugged

me somewhat - its profuse use of helping cutlery to

make it all less fun; no vinyasas, ujjayi breathing &

bandhas to make it all more fun - so I ended up

complementing my yoga sessions with weight training for extra

challenge.<br><br>Then, once upon a time 6 months ago, I accidentally

crashed into Ashtanga when I was idly surfing the Web,

and it was love at first sight. I bought David

Swenson's "Practice Manual", John Scott's Primary bible

later, and that's what made me start sweating through

Yoga Chikitsa - weight training adios, with no

regrets.<br><br>I know Juha Javanainen and Petri Raeisaenen from

their website, <a href=http://www.astanga.fi

target=new>http://www.astanga.fi</a> . It always

astonished me that Finland, a smaller country of Europe (in

terms of population size only, of course) and stuck at

its northern periphery, also boasts one of the

liveliest Ashtanga Yoga scenes on the old continent. In

fact, I don't think that you are the only Finn

here.<br><br>But, secret song,please tell me: "Sahaja yoga", is

that in heaven or on earth? Never heard about

it.<br><br>Best wishes for the new year.

[Guest guest]

Hello special secret song! At first I can tell

something about how I started, and then add something in

Finnish, because I'm Finnish too... So,I read an article

about Ashtanga yoga, also with Petri and Juha ( in NYT,

a Finnish magazine). This was in March, so I'll

soon celebrate my first anniversary! I missed the

program, which bothered me enormously, it could have been

useful to watch, or fun anyway! <br><br>The next lines

are in Finnish, because I'm no native

English-speeker, so this is easier for me..So don't worry if you

don't understand!<br> <br>Ok, nyt voin varmaan jo

kirjottaa suomeks. Eli media pelasti niin sanotusti.

Mäkin olin jo pidempään etsiny jotain muutakin kun

ratsastamista, se on ollu harrastuksena jo 7 vuotta..Oon muuten

suunnilleen saman ikänen ku säkin, eli 17 (mikäli tsekkasin

sen oikein, nopeesti kun katoin) Huvittavaa muuten et

tulee kerranki täällä puheeks Suomen Ashtanga jooga ja

sen harrastajat. Ilmeisesti täällä on muitakin, mutta

aika hiljasta ääntä ihmiset on itestään pitäny, eikä

muutkaan ulkomaalaiset oo oikeestaan kyselly, ainakaan

sinä aikana kun oon käyny näitä viestejä

tsekkailemassa.. Nyt ei muuta kuin: hyviä harjotuksia! Jos on

jotain kysyttävää, niin näiltä ihmisiltä saa oikeesti

apua myös, ohjaajien lisäks tietenkin!<br><br> -Shanti

to all-

[Guest guest]

Vielä pieni lisäys: se artikkeli oli siis

Helsingin sanomien viikkoliitteessä, eli asun Stadissa..

Huomasin aiemmasta viestistä, et asut Pohjois-Suomessa.

Mukavaa, että Ashtanga-jooga leviää sinnekin päin!