Working on my website, I used to wander along the Web viewing various small yoga clubs all over the world. In Canada, Australia, in the USA, in Europe — I’ve seen lots of them. Thousands of different, niche, cozy small studios, each with its own flavoring for yoga like soundhealing, meditational practice or SPA.
Yoga got adapted to fitness clubs and large sports centers, it’s like a fish to water there. But where yoga’s in its own element, is in those small yoga studios, with long sessions including obligatory and ceremonial pranayama and yoga nidra. Here yoga spreads its wings, creates, attracts, and penetrates into the mind of each student. It makes you look for the universal life energy, and find it. It has its own tools to make us feel this energy, recognize it, value, preserve, and the most important – to make use of it.
If my city had as many studios as pharmacies, it’s possible that the latter would become less popular. This would make us closer to countries I mentioned in the beginning.
For now, this proportion is based on present conditions we live in. There’s no choice for teachers who dream of their own yoga centers but realize this business won’t feed their families.
I would never venture for it – to make my house a triyoga center, but for hundreds of similar small triyoga clubs all over the world. And for covid, too. The former inspired, and the latter forced me: I wasn’t able to rent a big hall in the sports club.
This spring is the anniversary of all our sessions being held in my triyoga center only. There were many of us in the rented gym. There are not so many in my triyoga center. Ten persons is a maximum. In summer, when we practice in the garden, the number is higher, but not much.
It turned out that the number of students in some enigmatic way influence the dynamic and ambience of the session. Two entirely equal flows pass differently in the group consisting of two-three persons, and in the hall full of students. On one part, in a small group, the teacher can come up to students, assist, check the correct position, suggest something. The session becomes the impromptu master class. Meanwhile, the full hall generates the common energy, which, in turn, sends the healing “current” to each student. This is alike to a need for sharing our emotions and impressions when we have read a book or been to a travel. We want to tell someone who can understand and share it. Most likely, that’s what usually called synergy.
It’s useless to persuade or propagate yoga sessions. It’s difficult or even impossible to advertise it. It’s like water, earth, flame, air, ether. One realizing this resemblance stays on the mat.
But why people leave it on some day? Watching this phenomenon during nine years, I can make a few suggestions.
First, I remember myself changing teachers and yoga systems until I met triyoga and its creator Yogini Kaliji. There were different reasons for these changes but mainly it was due to large gaps between the sessions. Certainly, a teacher has profound meaning in yoga. Summarizing my yoga experience, I can say I lacked mental aspect. Just a couple of words, at least some phrase for encouragement, or some story that would be beyond hatha and concerned the mind. Once our teacher in one of the fitness clubs went for a whole winter to India to her mentor. I remember I was afraid to miss the first session after her return, and not to hear what she’d tell us. But she didn’t tell us a word about her trip, and the practice didn’t change.
At the same time, someone can love the mystery about the teacher, his or her reticence. Just like with yoga systems, it’s all individual.
The teacher and the yoga system are probably the main landmarks. To make a conscious choice and find your own system, you should try several types of yoga.
My favorite group wasn’t an exception. Students come and stay or leave, then new ones come, and it’s quite regular. In the very beginning, I was upset by this, as it seemed to me that triyoga is a perfect science and yoga art. It seemed that getting to know it, our bodies won’t refuse all those benefits they’ve got. Still, afterwards I recalled myself searching for several years. Over time, I realized that each of us needs something separate, individual.
Often, after a big gap, old students come back to sessions. Their unique energy returns with them. It as if recognizes the hall, the energies of other students and my own. Then, the session is alike to homecoming – there’s a knowledge from the past, which joins the new, never fully embraced triyoga.
