Santosha

As a treat before taking off for the holiday, my teacher worked with me on my drop backs. After weeks of practicing backbends, I felt I still wasn’t prepared to be dropped back, but Peachie Kilayco (above) is the type of teacher who rewards students who are diligent and practise hard. Of all my teachers, I think she knows me and my practise best. She has spotted my enemy poses and helped me overcome them while introducing me to new and challenging postures. I also love the nuggets of information she shares while calling out the poses during our Led classes as well as the neck massages she gives during Savasana.

After Peachie lifted me up from the Wheel I was struck by a rush of elation, almost euphoria. Peachie explained that the backbend is a “happy pose” which invigorates and releases endorphins into the bloodstream and along with inversions and such postures as the shoulder stand or headstand alters the flow of blood, lymphatic drainage and cranial sacral fluid. This increases the availability of oxygen and glucose in the brain required for the production of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin collectively known as the feel-good neurotransmitters.

But I was still silly-happy days after my practise. In fact, I’ve been feeling supremely serene lately. I came to realise that I may be experiencing contentment or santosha which is cultivated by finding happiness with what you have and who you are according to the eight limbs of Patanjali. Santosha is one of five niyamas in the eightfold path of yoga. Niyama is inner discipline and responsibility. The other niyamas are austerity, purity, study of the sacred text and living with an awareness of the Divine.

It’s nice to know that yoga has positively affected my life on both a physical and emotional level.

Clayton Horton Mysore workshops at Yoga Manila

It was intimidating to say the least. Towering over 6 feet, Clayton Horton himself let me into the Yoga Manila Makati shala. The director of the San Francisco-based Greenpath Yoga glanced at the clock, silently chiding me for my tardiness and seemed to worry about where to put me in the crowded studio of 17 practitioners.
Maritoni Tordesillas graciously made space for me at the far end of the room. There were four other YM instructors attending Clayton’s Mysore workshop: Hoze Arando, Peachie Kilayco, Cherry Du and Kitty Arambulo. I arrived only 30 minutes late so it made me panic to see a number of people already dropping back. In my trepidation, I somehow erased the primary series from memory. I must have skipped 10 poses and stopped at Navasana. Maritoni had to remind me every so often what asana came next which made me feel like a major pain for interrupting her practise.

Upside: getting that warm, fuzzy feeling from practising beside my teachers; finding inspiration from watching them doing 2nd series poses like Dwi Pada Sirsasana and Pincha Mayurasana; seeing my friend Allen Enrique grasp her shins for 5 breaths in Urdhva Dhanurasana (woo-hoo!); and best of all--Clayton Horton’s gentle and painless adjustments especially for my enemy poses Marichyasana D and Supta Kurmasana.

Downside: workshops are usually packed and run for a limited period, so try to learn as much as you can as not everyone may get adjustments. Most importantly, DON'T BE LATE.

OM the Road

“You’re a Yoga butterfly!” said Lyn, a new friend I made at Yoga Manila. She recognised the “symptoms” of my yoga affliction easily: fluttering about from one shala to another and trying out different classes and teachers was something she herself was guilty of since she began her yoga journey two years ago. She was among the first students of Pio Baquiran when VYC opened in Ortigas and now combines a restorative hatha routine with a brisk Ashtanga practice.

Thanks to Lyn, who has given me inspiration for my new task: to get off my sit-bones more often and go Om the Road to tour Manila’s yoga studios. I suggested to her that we re-visit Pulse Yoga after Tesa Celdran returns from Mysore, India (can’t wait for that!). Lyn, let’s make sure we time this carefully so we can both do the inversions, ok?

This weekend I was at Yoga Manila’s new home in Good Qi Circle, an elegant and tastefully-designed holistic wellness centre on the 5th floor of the Greenbelt Mansion. The Good Qi Circle website claims that the 100 square metre studio can fit up to 30 people per class but the Led Ashtanga session I attended seemed already cramped with just 10 practitioners. The changing rooms could also accommodate only three people at a time. Nevertheless, what the studio ostensibly lacks in floor space it overcompensates for in the quality of teaching. After all, this is the mecca of Ashtanga Yoga in the country and is home to an elite breed of certified yoga instructors some of whom trained under Paul Dallaghan in Thailand as well as from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Rangaswamy.

To my surprise, Peachie Kilayco was conducting a Kid’s Yoga class when I arrived twenty minutes early. I was so sure she would have little energy left for the Led class after teaching the munchkins. One little girl was repeatedly asking why the A/Cs were not swtiched on seeing as there were 3 units inside the shala. Her brother, in the meantime, would flick li'l sister's shoulder everytime Peachie was looking away. But throughout their shenanigans, Peachie would always reign them in patiently and contain their energies. According to Peachie, it's important to relate to them in their language. Hence, Urdvha Dhanurasana--or the bridge--is called "Yabadabadoo" (a trademark Yoga Manila term she says) and Shalabha-asana is more commonly referred to as the Grasshopper.

Her teaching style for the Led Ashtanga class was the complete opposite. As it turns out this was not a beginner's class, so she had high expectations for all students to perform the postures on their own with little assistance. In cases like this, I urge students to raise their hands for help as this is a service that you are paying for as much as it is the duty of a teacher to recognise and respond to an SOS. Peachie was at my side with a wave of my hand to carefully, and clinically, coach and explain the procedures in executing the pose. This blend of personalised training and military-style instruction helps in completing the entire primary series in under 2 hours and should attract classic Type-A personalities and serious practitioners looking for a challenging yoga discipline.

In terms of the facilities, the studio does not provide towels nor offer hot tea but it is equipped with props like blocks, straps, and even spritzers to lubricate your arms during Garbha Pindasana and Kukkutasana--a clear sign that Yoga Manila focuses more on a student's practice than his or her comfort which is fine by my standards. So from a customer's point of view, Yoga Manila is the place to learn world-class Ashtanga Yoga and if it's your first time to try other yoga classes it's best learned here from the experts. I give Yoga Manila 4 and a half out of 5 Lotuses :-)