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| I'd never tried yoga before a month ago. I bought a 10-class card to a Bikram yoga studio near my apartment. I like it, but I would like to try other forms before settling on a practice, and I wasn't too keen on how the Bikram sessions seemed more like a "workout" than anything.
A friend of mine (who lives in a different state than I do) recommended I try Anusara. She said it was a good yoga for beginners. How do I go about finding a studio in my area? Here is one studio I've found:
http://www.brooklynyoga.com/2.html
Should I give that one a go?
Thanks. |
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| Check out anusara.com and look under the affiliated teachers. It will allow you to do a search for your state. The teachers are listed with their e-mail addresses, web sites, etc. Keep in mind that the cities the teachers show as an address may not be the actual city the studio is, so check out anyone who is remotely close to where you live.
If you're looking for something very different from Bikram Yoga, Anusara is it 
Peace,
Gwyn |
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| That's Jonathan Gordon's studio. Definitely give 'er a go.
Your friend is absolutely correct in that Anusara is a good yoga for beginners. It teaches you a great "foundation," and Anusara in particular can nourish the spiritual side of you if that's what you enjoy.
Christine |
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| Thank you both for your replies!
Christine, I don't want to swim in details, but my friend also told me that Iyengar is also a good foundation. There's a Iyengar place near my work, and the Anusara place is by my apartment. I'll probably give both of them a try, but in your opinion, which is "better" for the beginner? Any thoughts? |
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| In my opinion, they're both fabulous. If you browse the board you'll see I consistantly recommend beginners start with one or the other.
Now, remember, this is my opinion, OK?
Iyengar is extremely technical. in my experience, the teachers are the best trained in form and alignment (ie "foundational yoga) you can possibly have. No ifs ands or buts. However, I find the Iyengar method to be sometimes a bit dry. They can discuss the position of the little finger's middle knuckle to the point of numbing boredom. The thing is once you get that crazy knuckle's position, oh, 30 poses open up for you. These little yoga party tricks really further your practice.
I have also found that sometimes, in my experience, they can tend to lose sight of wrong, vs. what the body can do at that moment. Iyengar will teach you how to prop, belt, block, hang, and tie yourself into an asana if it's the last thing you do. What sometimes stops them, IS the fact that that might be the last thing you do. It's fine, though, because that teaches your body where it should be going. Sometimes, though, it's as though you're wrong until you get it to be what's right in their eyes. I frequently felt/feel somewhat disapproved of. But then, I drive teachers nuts so it could just be their disapproval and frustration with me leaking out.  I guess I'll never know!
Anusara is similar to Iyengar in its focus on form and alignment. The founder, John Friend was an experienced Iyengar person for a very long time. He worked out his system of the body's "Loops and Spirals" by the way energy flows in the body, how the bones, muscles and joints line up, etc. (The Loops and Spirals work in every single pose, every single time. The more I practice, the more I detect and feel it to be true!) He did not leave the spiritual side behind, though, feeling rightly so that asana is only a small component of yoga, balance, mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Many Iyengar and Ashtanga teachers are very at home with this practice, because they're "sister" in asana form, but where the former two might leave an element behind (Softness in Iyengar and biomechanical alignment in Ashtanga), Anusara contributes the missing element to these practices.
So what I would do, is to try both. I don't know about NYC, but here in the DC area Anusara and Iyengar studios are session studios (13 weeks or so). Between sessions we offer free weeks so people can come and experiment. If they don't offer free weeks up there, find out when the beginning of the session is and drop in then. Don't waste your time and the end of the session, because you'll be behind and lost. Truly, you can't go wrong with either method. It's going to depend upon what speaks to you in this instance.
J. Gordon used to teach at OM Yoga. Cindy Lee has kind of gone out on her own thing, but trains her people and teachers in a very nice, accepting and body-developing (not muscle, body) type of yoga. In this sense, I'd call it "hatha" because it's a mix from many different traditions. I don't believe JG is necessarily Anusara, but I did meet him at the J. Friend (Anusara) Special Conditions & Therapeutics Teacher Training here in DC. So I know he's familiar with the idea of lining the body up for freedom of movement and core strength building.
How fun. |
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| Christine:
Thank you for the thorough reply! That was extremely articulate and informative.
I am going to go to the Anusara class in Brooklyn this Saturday at 11am. Johnathan Gordon is teaching the class. I will let you know what I think!
—E.M.  |
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| Erik,
How did it go?
Christine |
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| I had to work both Saturday and Sunday  so I haven't gone yet, except Sunday evening to find out exactly where it is and to gauge how long it takes me to walk there.
I'm going Thursday evening for the 8pm class for sure! |
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| YogaDancer - 2004-05-19 12:35 PM
Erik,
How did it go?
Christine
Finally went.
I really liked it! As I expected, it was a lot less intense and more alignment-oriented than Bikram. It was still a workout and I still sweated, but it definitely seemed to stress basics more so than Bikram. In an ideal world, I'd like to do each form twice per week.
Thanks for the information! |
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| Erik,
Not sure if you are still checking this board, but I wanted to let you know that there is also another studio in Brooklyn that offers Anusara classes. Its called Every Breath You Take Yoga, www.ebytyoga.com. It's in Park Slope, on 7th street and 5th ave. They used to be just Hot Yoga, but they are merging with another studio from the area and incorporating tons of new teachers and classes, including 2 new Anusara Classes. If you live in or near Park Slope, you might want to check it out. Jonathan is great. This would just be additional choices. Also, this studio still has Hot Classes as well, so if you wanted, you could go to both at the same place. In reading your thread, I agree with everything you discovered and was delighted to hear about your process!
Good luck and Congrats!
Rgdancer |
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| Hi Erik,
I just started Anusara a month ago, so I'm headed down that path with ya!
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I'd like to try Anusara yoga
