In the past several years we've experienced the downfall of important 'modern' yoga leaders including John Friend who originated the Anusara yoga practice and Bikram Choudhry and his hot yoga practice. While no one can take away the fact that these people have introduced and inspired many people to practice yoga, it is most important to understand that ego and yoga just do not mix.
Yoga and social media has become an interesting trend in recent years, something you will have to make your own personal judgement on. In some cases good instruction comes along with the pretty poses and in other cases it appears to just to be about gaining influence and making money.
While yoga can be a physical practice, is is really about healing and focusing inward. When ego becomes involved we start focusing outward; caring too much about how we look, teachers seeking to control and not guide students, injuries, and even sexual abuse.
A good teacher is your guide to developing a personal practice unique to your needs, both physical and emotional. I've personally taught Ashtanga yoga Healing Therapy to people 13-85 who are athletes and with serious physical problems including cancer, obesity (now slim and fit) spinal surgery, arthritis (adult and children), emotional issues, and even someone with late stage emphysema. Therefore perceptions by most people of what Ashtanga is as a purely physical practice are wrong.
By Allen Barkus. Allen has been practicing Ashtanga yoga since 1998 and teaching since 2004. His initial teacher training was with David Swenson and has been the student of Manju Jois since 2004. Manju, along with his father, introduced Ashtanga/Vinyasa yoga to America in 1975. His studies focus on Healing Therapy. He is available in Philadelphia for private lessons and clinics and travels around the world teaching clinics. www.AshtangabyAllen.com
