"WHAT KIND OF YOGA IS IT?"

This is an often proposed question from prospective clients and students.

The answer is: “Its my yoga. It′s YesYoga”.

YesYoga is something special, it’s not like any other yoga routine. To be somewhat cocky, I would say that most yoga performed in Sweden today is boring, whether it’s called ashtanga, hatha, vinyasa, kundalini or whatever. It follows a series of postures, often the same from class to class, repetitious, monotonous.

I get inspiration from a few, free-thinking, un-orthodox, sometimes mind-blowing yoga masters. Like Julie Martin from Hawaii. She has taught me to avoid static, rigid postures and instead keeping the movement, even if it′s minimal, IN the positions. She advocates keeping the negotiation with your body open - to communicate with your limbs, ligaments, muscles and joints.

If you want to know more about this strong lady, keeping both of her feet firmly grounded without any esoteric mumbo, please listen to my podcast talk with her.

https://play.acast.com/s/yogaradiosessions/julie-martin-the-queen-of-yoga-rebellion

(And there’s more of them here, 40 to be precise, many in English: www.yogapodden.se)

Julie is among the masters who constantly re-innovative and evolve her yoga practice, taking into consideration new research into the human body, the importance of fascia and not being tampered by rules or preconceptions about what yoga “should” be like. Not surprisingly, she′s very critical towards contemporary yoga teacher training.

Fueled by her free spirit, I include movements that can be considered “dance-like”, also some tai chi routines which I learned from my friend Henrik, a tai chi master since some 20 years. I tell my students to imagine that they are in a park in Beijing on a Sunday morning, performing the slow, soft and still steady and precise movements of chi gong or tai chi. It′s a great way of obtaining focus, of rooting oneself and strive for balance before the flow begins.

I’ve been pretty much all over the world seeking inspiration from other yoga masters, as can be seen on my YesYoga.se Instagram www.instagram.com/yesyoga.se. Sometimes it′s been the same routine all over again, sometimes it′s been rewarding.

During my visit to Tel Aviv over New Year, I stumbled into something new and inspiring, just by chance.

At a yoga studio there was a class in “Gaga” and I had no idea what is was. I went there and found a deeply inspiring class of constant movement, a body language. It′s called Gaga Movement Language and was developed by the famous choreographer of Batsheva Dance Company, Ohad Nasrin.

Gaga is about developing your very own body language, about about getting to know your three-dimensional body. The teacher suggests, you follow. 

My teacher was Londiwe Khoza from South Africa. A few days later, I went to see “The Look”, performed by Batsheva. To my surprise, one of the dancers was Londiwe Khoza! I find this attitude towards dance and movement from professional dancers vs average people very intriguing. They want to share the experience of feeling that deep connection with your body. There is Gaga for professional dancers and there’s Gaga for all of us - Gaga People. It′s for everybody, just like my yoga. You can be old, you can be young, big or small, man or woman, child or grown-up - everybody can participate, from your potential but also realising a new potential leading to a path you never walked before.

The funny fact is that I’ve already included some of these moves in my yoga, I somehow felt that it was right to bring new moves and music to the floor. By experiencing a total of five classes of Gaga, four of them Gaga People classes open for everyone at Batsheva, I found new inspiration for my practice, new angles, new moves. During the year, I will definitely include some of it, at the same continuing to deepen my knowledge of Gaga by taking part in classes in Stockholm.

One revelation from Gaga, and from my own mix of moves, is that in or after class, you do not experience any pain, probably because the movement is reaching every corner of this human machine, the whole body is lubricated. It's like oiling the muscles, bringing life to every single corner. An analogy is stepping out from a techno club after five or ten hours of dancing, thinking: "wow this is gonna hurt my bad knee" or "soon I'll get my punishment". But pain does not arrive. Because dance is inner ointment for the system, it's medicine - the body is lubricated all over, opening up between body parts, equalizing, balancing.

I sometimes tell my students that going to yoga is like leaving your car at the workshop for general overhaul. Difference is, in Yoga you're the mechanic and I'm the supervisor. Another analogy is that, by moving it, you massage your own body. And just as after massage, that's how it feels - wonderful. 

A little strain. But definitely no pain. 

Gaga was a high - I was totally absorbed by the constant move and felt a joy of being me, alive, more open to other people after class. And this is something I want to achieve in my own classes; students being totally into it, moving at all times, experiencing the super-high of being 100 percent present in their bodies and leaving with smiles of their faces. 

I have hundreds of postures and moves on my repertoire, many of them from the the goldmine of hatha yoga. This gives me opportunities to surprise my students at all times. They never know exactly what’s coming up; a new ingredient might pop up in a series that we’ve been doing for some time, adding spice, surprise and challenge. Some people want to stay on auto-pilot and it has it′s rewards to be able to perform series that you know well with your eyes closed - and we do this from time to time. But for the curious yoga practitioner, the feedback has a clear message: “Keep on hitting me with surprises! I’m all up for it, as long as it makes sense and feels good for my body”.

The idea is not only to keep interest up for the restless, it′s about what is beneficial for the body. A static yoga can be bad for your body, just as any form of static training can be. YesYoga adresses your whole body and can become a life-saver for office staff who suffer from work-related, read: on-line, computer-related, pain - often in the shoulder area, neck and back. The goal is to move without pain. “No pain no gain” the saying goes. For me, that’s not it. “No strain, no gain” is enough. Step back when you feel pain. Let go of the competitive mind and do it only for your own reward - feeling good.

So why not feel good this year? Hire me to invigorate your mind, body and, eventually, contribute to a more positive atmosphere at your place of work. 

[email protected] +46 708228982

PS: Playlists for my classes, although constantly changing, can be found on Spotify, yesyoga.se