I attended a Hatha Yoga class this morning, quite unlike any other Hatha class I’ve been to before. It reminded me of what Hatha Yoga truly is.
I walked just under a mile with my yoga bag slung across my back, through the winding streets of Rishikesh. My new friend, Ayn, who I met in my hostel and is from the Philippines was leading the way. He had only attended one evening course at the yoga shala before, with a different teacher. Apparently Surinder Singh was the “who’s who” in Rishikesh when it comes to Hatha Yoga. I was eager to see.
I had only attended one Hatha yoga class in Rishikesh last year, before falling into my morning Ashtanga and evening Yoga Alignment routine at Vidya Yoga. That shala and those teachers gained my deep respect and admiration for their dedication to yoga as a way of life. Yoga as life. Not just yoga as asanas. Vidya yoga is a home for me in Rishikesh, and I was reluctant to venture elsewhere. However, my new friend talked me into it, and I decided an early morning mile full of meandering streets was best done accompanied by a friend.
Swasti Yoga and Surinder Singh
Swasti Yoga, the shala of Surinder Singh, was tucked behind what felt like thousand buildings so it was pressed against the clean, green mountainside. It involved an uncountable amount of right and left turns down two-meter-wide narrow pathways, but once we were there… I knew we had arrived.
Around 30 students filed into the classroom, various ages and countries. Given the amount of students in the room, the mats were closer together than I’d ever had to place them before. Students stretched complacently, or laid down on their backs in relaxation. When Surinder entered the room, the energy shifted.
The 90 minute asana practice was centered on holding one asana for half a minute to a minute, as Surinder walked around the room adjusting and encouraging us to hold it longer and longer and just a little bit longer. Even our sun salutations, which I usually hold for a single inbreath or outbreath, were held for extended amounts of time until the challenge in the body presented itself.
I loved watching the asana unfold in the body. With the extra time under tension, the muscles, really the whole body, begins to speak. Yoga means embracing that discomfort, and not seeking to crave comfort.
And After Class…
After our asana practice and after shavasana concluded, Surinder had us gather around him in a tight semi-circle. He spoke of the yoga sutras and how the body and mind are the same. He spoke of Ha means sun and tha means moon and how the sun is the light, and the moon is the essence of light. How the energy of the sun and the moon are present in our practice, and in our very bodies.
I appreciated the thirty minute yoga sutra philosophy talk Surinder Singh gave, it was a unique experience for me, as I’ve never had a yoga instructor give a philosophy class after a class. Only in my teacher training did that occur.
I hope to go back to Swasti Yoga again, soon. To soak up more classic hatha and more sutra knowledge.
To view Swasti Yoga’s website click HERE.
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