Future Ashtanga Yogi
A yogi is a practitioner of yoga. The term "yogi" is also used to refer specifically to Siddhas, and broadly to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of Indian religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
- The hope is that one day I will be not only proficient in my practice of ashtanga yoga, but that I will also be able to teach others. I believe that yoga has in some way called out to me. As a child I would go to the library to check out books to read with my step mother. It was a lot of fun, and I always came home with tons of books to try out. Most of the time it was cookbooks that I was most fixated on, but I once check out a book that had me practicing back bends and hand stands! I don't recall the title of the book, because I was only able to keep it for about 1 week. It did how ever spark something in me. Now i know that the book I picked up was referring to a particular practice of yoga, Ashtanga. I realized it over the summer, when I decided to take a different route to maintaining my physical fitness. I'm a runner. I love the peace and clarity it brings me after running 5- 10 miles, but its an extremely calorie burning way to achieve physical fitness. I'm 24 years old, and my body still resembles that of a teenager. I'm now in search of "womanly curves" with a little more weight on my bones. Unfortunately this means giving up most of my running. So, I tried to be one of those amazing female weight lifters.I had a membership at my campus recreation center, and so I planned on making it there every day to train for my new body! After, about 3 weeks of waiting and waiting for gym equipment to become free at my schools gym, and waking up super early to get to the gym before anyone else, I realized I was going to need to find a way to build muscle with in the comfort of my own home. I'm on a student budget, and building an at home gym was completely out of the budget! This made me realize I needed to build muscle and shape with my body alone. Upon researching ways to train with body weight alone I stubbled upon a form of yoga that served my purpose. Ashtanga yoga can be practiced in a class room, at home, outside, at a scheduled time or a random time. It was the perfect solution, and now my Ashtanga journey begins. Not just to change my body shape, but my understanding of Ashtanga yoga as well.