Finding the Goddess & the Rhythm: Within & Without

I first came to yoga on a Saturday evening in Toronto, at my local gym, before what was going to be a raging night out at the clubs. I had planned to get in a quick run on the treadmill but saw that a class was starting and, well, there should always be a first time for everything... so there was. 

And I was HOOKED. 

All that night on the dance floor I couldn’t stop languishing in the new-found springs in every joint and the goddess-like lucidity that coursed inside while I let myself go to the music. That 4pm yoga class every Saturday after a hard week of work and working out was exactly what my life needed at the rat-racing, pavement-pounding, career-detouring, networking-mania, hard-partying age of 26. 

I came back to yoga again and again over the next decade, with every new season and phase of my globetrotting life. As a dancer, it was an easy and natural transition in times of shortage... of time. 

An hour twice, thrice, or five days a week, a carousel of teachers flitting in and out of my encounters with the practice, it allowed me to maintain and nurture the flexibility I’d gained from hours of dance practice through high school and college, and stretch out the tensions that built up during the course of a work day spent mostly seated. 

It brought me joy like dance did, too... 

Endless minutes spent elongating and perfecting the stretch; silent strength and tenacity to do better in your practice than the last time you were on your mat; unwavering focus to find and hold that twinkling, invisible dot in space to ease into your pose, ground it, and make it more beautiful than you thought possible; and the absolute surrender of body and mind to the infinite possibilities of the physical form. 

But never have I experienced a practice like that taught by the teachers of the Amrutha Bindu Yoga 

It has come to me at a time in my life when things fall apart every day and it never fails to make me whole again. I have finally learned to still the yammering of my head and listen to the murmurs of my soul. 

In the space of an hour we receive the gifts of: reflection & meditation, hatha yoga asanas – every day a different style, flow, form, and experience; always slow, always steady, always pushing & perfecting; and thought-exploding pranayama. This seems like a lot to cram into an hour, but the watchful, and mindful young teachers of the shala guide us through it all like serene gondoliers on a placid lake. 

Of special mention is the shavasana at the end of every class, which is comforting and elevating in its sameness and differences, every time. The softly guided meditation on which the teachers embark us transports our bodies and minds from the confines of a room to the outer echelons of universal thought and solitude. 

The class timing couldn’t be more perfect – 6:15-7:15am – for people who enjoy making full use of their day. The location, for me, is almost home – the Catholic Club, 800m from my doorstep. The cost is negligible, far outweighed by what I get in return. 

I have found my stillness in the 1-5 minutes that we stand and watch our bodies at the start of every class; eyes closed, feet apart, hands apart. My creativity luxuriates in this time of silence. It ebbs and flows and courses through me, sprouting & germinating new ideas for stories, poetry, and everything writing. It has helped make my work more excellent, every day that I have completed my morning practice. 

I have rediscovered my unlimited flexibility post-baby, 1 cm a day, each day learning how much more my body can handle, and surprising myself. I have lost unimaginable weight in this gentle, deliberate style of yoga, and gained extraordinary definition and tone in my musculature. I’m fitting into pre-pregnancy designs and all the new fashion styles that I see and love. I’m getting stronger, fitter, healthier, happier, calmer, and more at peace with myself and the world around me. I’m learning to let go of the small stuff and nurture and grow the big stuff. 

I’m loving yoga all over again and hope that we can share the Amrutha Bindu practice with more and more likeminded people who are looking for a peaceful and effortless way to find their god(dess), and their rhythm, in life, while losing weight and losing tension at the same time!

WRITTEN BY

Schonali Rebello