I have always considered myself to be a devout Iyengar yogi, one that follows the Iyengar tradition of yoga under Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar. I started learning yoga about 4 years ago at the Iyengar Yoga Center Manila (IYCM) and the good effects that my body and state of mind have reaped I cannot stress enough on. Apart from those isolated times when my friend dragged me to attend an Anusara inspired yoga class and that complimentary (free!) core vinyasa yoga class at the office which the HMO scheduled for the company, I have always practiced Iyengar yoga.
4 years ago, the IYCM studio was at the 21st floor of the LKG Tower along Ayala, it was practically a hop and a skip away from the office so I was able to practice almost every day. There were even times when I would attend classes during my lunch breaks. The studio was small but big enough for the small community of yogis that religiously attended class there. About 2 years ago they got another space in Joya Tower in Rockwell, at first they tried operating 2 studios at the same time, the original studio at LKG and the new one in Rockwell but they had few teachers, they only had I think about 4 or 5 teachers that regularly taught that time so they had a hard time plus the space in Rockwell was theirs whereas the LKG studio was leased. Until they finally closed the original studio and had all the classes at Rockwell. It took a while for me to get used to the idea of dragging my butt all the way to the new studio, going there and having no car meant that I had to take the Guadalupe Ibabaw jeep from Ayala, and endure the 40 minute ride to Rockwell. The jeep's route made it impossible for me to relax during the ride because I was always under pressure of having to get to Rockwell in time for the 7 PM class (I get off at 6 PM). Getting to class on time was my biggest frustration, it was already hard to get on a Guadalupe Ibabaw jeep at rush hour it was harder even during the rainy season when jeeps were scarce, traffic naman ang kalaban starting November all the way until the end of December. Last month I only got to attend 2 classes the entire month, it was always raining at ang hirap sumakay, 6:30 na I'm still in Ayala waiting for a jeep. I grew tired of this defeatist routine and so I made the hard decision of attending another yoga school even if it meant steering away from Iyengar.
And so this month, I started attending classes at Echo Yoga which is temporarily housed in Templa Wellness, the studio is just a 5 minute walk from my office so it's really near. Chillax na yung papunta I didn't have to walk like a madman going to the studio. I chose to start with the Gentle Flow class since I didn't have any background in Ashtanga. The teacher was very good, she pulled me aside after class and asked me where I practiced she said that it was evident that I had experience because i knew how the poses worked. Bonggang pawis lang, I felt like my forehead was leaking perspiration. The next week I mustered enough courage to try the Intro to Astanga class, like in Bikram where they had a set of poses and a sequence that they adhere to ganun din in Ashtanga. I was told that it was the primary series that we did. It took some adjustments on my part because there were variations in how they did the poses, some went against what I believed in but I did as I was instructed anyway because I wanted to have an open mind and experience what the others were experiencing and maybe theirs just might be the better way.
I always told myself that before I resign to a lifetime of practicing Iyengar that I would have to try other forms, how could I honestly confine myself when I haven't experienced the other forms right? But deep down I know that my heart is with Iyengar just like I know that no matter how many issues I disagree with the Catholic Church on I just know that Catholicism is deeply rooted in me. I'm not saying I'll stop attending Ashtanga classes because I really enjoyed the primary series class and look forward to learning more but I'll always be an Iyengar yogi first and other forms after. I'm no yoga snob as what the others think.
For more info on Ashtanga Yoga click here.
For more info on Echo Yoga click here
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