Thursday, January 30, 2003


intriguing new yoga concept

i'm very interested in the philosophy of a new yoga center opening in manhattan around the first of march. called the breathing project, its mission is a little different than many yoga studios, and its outlook is certainly unique. since it's a very new idea, parts of its website are still under construction.

however, when i read the mission statement, right away i felt a sense of excitement. the project's aim is to create 1-to-1 relationships between students and teachers, instead of the large, impersonal, aerobics-like classes we in new york are so familiar with. of course the 1-to-1 relationship was the traditional yoga teaching method.

it will also appropriate the self-practice concept commonly seen in ashtanga -- go there, throw down your mat -- but instead of doing some set series, you use the time to discover an inner-directed yoga.

teachers will be there to assist, not to impose. the emphasis is on the student discovering their own yoga, the practice that speaks to and through them. no more being led through some whack sequence irrelevant to what's happening with you that day.

i also was interested to hear that the project will promote a rational way of thinking about yoga. no new-age talk here. so often you go to classes and see unqualified or simply poorly guided teachers presenting a mishkabahble of new-age thinking, garbled hinduism, and life-denying, anti-body, pro-pain concepts.

frankly, i've read the gita, some upanishads. . .all that. and i just don't see how we get to the aim of yoga, which is said to be peace and joy, through a life-hating journey of pain.

that seems to me like that pain-loving, anti-life ideas are a movement away from yoga, not toward it. this is one reason i'm still trying to learn more about the medieval yoga philosopher abhinava gupta, who among other things, thought of yoga as a theory of beauty embodied.

if you examine the list of teachers, you won't be surprised to see punk yogi j. brown (flash required) teaching there, as well as my gentle friend zack kurland. further you'll note that the beautiful amy matthews of amrita yoga and the intense carl horowitz are also teaching there.

(the spirit of mark whitwell lives! you'll find all these teachers on mark's certification page. )

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