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Ashtanga Yoga Students
(A) Ashtanga Yoga students’ backgrounds and experience
AS1 is twenty-six years old and has a MSc. She was first introduced to yoga
through a CEGEP course. She explained that one of the class assignments was to create
your own posture sequence. She used her own sequence at home for a little while after.
She hurt her back and decided that she was better off getting some proper instruction. She
stopped her practice during her university studies and started going to Sattva Yoga Shala
five months ago. AS1 claims she was attracted to yoga because “it‟s beautiful, peaceful;
sure better than lifting weights!” She admits she did not know anything about Ashtanga
Yoga before going to the studio. She picked Sattva for two reasons: first, it was the
closest studio to her apartment and second, it offered the best dollar value. She feels
Sattva to be the “perfect studio, adorable”. She finds that the Hindu statues and the chant
“fit with yoga” but wishes the instructors would explain it. She added that without
knowing its meaning, the chant was useless. As to the practice, she finds Ashtanga very
challenging but like the movement and finds it very graceful. She does not practice at
home and tries her best to attend four classes a week at Sattva. She hasn‟t tried any other
styles of yoga but said she was curious about Moksha Yoga after reading an article about
it in the Montreal weekly newspaper „The Mirror‟.
AS2 is a sixty year old ballet dancer (BFA) and said she had also worked in
numerous other professions. She has been practicing seriously for the past year and a half
although she has attended classes occasionally since her thirties. She said she wanted to
like yoga but couldn‟t because she found it too static. She had practiced Tai Chi but had
given it up for the same reason. She was looking to try yoga again and Sattva was a short
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walk from her residence. She likes Ashtanga because of the much more dynamic and
physical approach; she likened it to a dance. She appreciates that the classes teach the
exact same series every time; it allows her to move forward and see her progress. She had
tried the “Mysore” style class but prefers a led class as she feels she was “not quite ready
yet”. She had tried Hatha-yoga and found it boring due to its static practice. Yoga in
gyms was very aerobic but she said something was missing. That is why she said she
likes the Indian decor of the studio because the “cultural part is not found in gyms”. She
does not practice at home and her class attendance has varied. At first, she went three
times a week then increased to four. She quickly found that “going on two consecutive
days was hard on the body”. Presently, she attends a minimum of three and maximum of
five classes every week.
AS3 is a twenty-nine year old graphic artist. He was always quite active in sports
as a young man and more recently with jogging and a little weight training. He started
practicing yoga three years ago. He was attracted to yoga by the physical challenge as
well as for attaining increased flexibility and relaxation. He knew it was about stretching
but he was interested in the self-improvement side of yoga, “kind of like karate but not
aggressive”. His first yoga experience was a men‟s yoga class but after a year of
attending classes, he did not find it challenging anymore. He started going to Sattva
because it was two blocks from his apartment. When he started he found it extremely
challenging and he sweat a great deal. He said he grew to like the pace and flow of the
sequence and appreciated that one always knew what was coming up in Ashtanga. He
also found it helped him gauge his progress. AS3 said he knew about the “Mysore” class
but had no interest in attending. He said he was “not a spiritual guy” and that he was not
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comfortable with the decor at Sattva. At first he wasn‟t sure if it was the place for him but
he enjoyed the pace of the class. He found that the teachers at Sattva were great but felt
that the other students were “a little snooty; so serious”. He does not usually practice at
home but if he is between studio memberships/passes, he occasionally practices with a
DVD. On a good week he attends three classes.
(B) Ashtanga Yoga students’ belief about yoga practice and its benefits
Seeing as AS1 was not an active person, she said that practicing Ashtanga Yoga
helps her feel “less guilt about being inactive”. As do many students, she claimed the
greatest benefit was the feeling after practicing; she usually feels “fantastic, rested, and
accomplished” after a class and she sleeps wonderfully that night. Her short term goal is
to be “able to do everything easily in class”, and the long term goal, she said with a
giggle, is to be able practice like AT1. She aims to increase her concentration in class and
hopes to “grow in the practice”. She enjoys all the classes and teachers at Sattva Yoga
Shala but she said the only classes she does not like is when she feels “on the spot” or
“under a harsh eye” by the teacher.
On the whole, AS2 reflected that she is benefiting more the longer and the more
yoga she practices. Physically, she had increased strength and flexibility as well as much
more awareness of her body. She also said all the aches and pains of age are gone due to
her practice. What she called the mental and spiritual benefits were that she felt more in
control of herself, more accepting of herself and generally more calm. She got laid-off
from her job recently and credits yoga for helping manage that personal crisis with ease.
She hopes to work herself up to the third series. She would also like to be able one day to
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