Melissa (she/her)
Melissa started practicing hatha yoga in 2004, but has been an ardent student of the ashtanga method of yoga since 2012. Ashtanga is exceptionally demanding, not only physically but committedly, as it asks the student to practice 6 days a week, the same method. What the practice teaches you is not how awesome you become in asana,(the postures) but how through labour and effort, the 8 limbs of yoga start to become a natural part of your life. The ashtanga system teaches us that we can't have a pure mind and heart if the body is impure, so the practice is meant to "boil the blood" and cleanse the physical body so our temple is pure to start working on the inside. One starts to acknowledge that yoga is not about the poses but the trial of doing something everyday can start to make things a bit easier, making the impossible seem possible and that starts to change our mental state from negative to positive and changes our view of the world and of ourselves, which is truly what we are all trying to do anyway. In her opinion it is the most beautiful practice for transformation and growth, but still allows you to have a morning coffee and enjoy an evening beer along the way. :)