200hr TT on Gili Air, week one - The body, breath and energy, by Briahn Martin

I can't compare this yoga teacher training to any others, but from my personal experience as a student in Western yoga studios, I'm pretty sure that Zuna Yoga take a different approach and methodology to the practice of yoga. Zuna Yoga really emphasizes the science of yoga as being a comprehensive guide or tool to self knowing. My previous practice of vinyasa flow in Western studios hardly gave the energetic space or depth to explore the larger and deeper implications behind asana practice. 

We spent the first week learning about anatomy, alignment, breath and energy. Rudra made it clear on the first day of teacher training that the Zuna Yoga approach was going to bring home the idea that yoga is really about learning and practicing tools to help better know who you are. The methodology includes understanding how the breath brings awareness. Rudra emphasizes again and again that our asana practice is just one of the yogic tools that allows us to know this awareness/breath through the vehicle of our body. "It's not what you do with the body, it's how you breathe ...  what the asanas do energetically to the body is the magic of yoga."  

From my beginner's understanding, Prana is breath or vitality that brings forth the various expressions of life as we know it...(and also what our minds don't know, as it transcends what is manifest). Rudra explains that within the body, Prana is divided into 5 types according to its movement and direction...collectively called the Prana Vayus.  The asanas effect movement of breath in the body and this movement of breath has a direct and specific energetic manifestation in the body.  A knowledgeable teacher can create an asana sequence, or recipe as Rudra likes to say, to help create positive change in a person's life. The asanas and movement of breath act as a conduit of change through the space of awareness within which teach of us begin to live and practice.

It was here, at this piece of the puzzle that I realized what an amazing tool the practice of asana can be. It was only 6 months ago that I began to really see how important it is to BE in the body in order to really know/see your true self. That the body is a highly intelligent tool constantly in communication with you... regardless of whether you listen or not. This might sound simple and obvious to some but for me it was simply, profound. In my limited experience I'm only beginning to see that coordination of the body and breath are key...breath brings the BEing back into the body and for us humans in this physical reality....the body allows us to access and learn more of who we really are! 

It was clear to me that Zuna Yoga delivers this approach. I couldn't have asked for a better yoga teacher training, it seems that the universe has brought me to the right place for exploring more body and breath connection and consequently exploration of self. I feel lucky to have found Zuna Yoga and am excited to learn and explore more over the next two and half weeks!

- by Briahn Martin

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