Photo Credit: Jeffrey Ball
1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?
I’ve read so many yoga teacher bios outlining their ‘aha’ moment in yoga where they were dragged to their first class in the midst of despair, got into a down-dog and were radically and instantly transformed. I feel that is entirely misleading in that it disregards yoga asana as a process, rather than a state of arriving at perfection. I have no fairytale romance for my relationship with yin yoga. It’s been a long-term, sometimes arduous, daily development into stillness. Sometimes it feels dull or dark, other times it’s quite light and lifted. The passion stems from a willingness to be there, with and for yourself, in every moment. This is a practice you return to throughout every realm of the life process.
2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?
I think I started teaching yoga lifetimes ago. The transition into leadership will be happening for many more lifetimes ahead.
Photo Credit: Jeffrey Ball
3. What makes your classes unique?
I’ll outline some essential elements, or the main ingredients, of my offering:
-A gentle, restorative textured longevity practice to approach sustainable health of connective tissues, joints, and ligaments normally neglected in a more active yoga practice.
-The observation of internal stillness as you hold each posture anywhere from one to twenty minutes! This allows us to develop the inner resources for tranquility even amidst discomfort or chaos. Meanwhile, the effect of gravity over time deepens and compresses the stretch to eradicate toxins, and lengthen and lubricate the denser tissues.
-A switch to the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest & digest component of our neurology) as we release deeply into the body, allowing for rejuvenation and vital healing on many levels, physiologically emotionally and otherwise.
Lastly, my classes are unhurried, still, and contemplative. We relax deeply into our essential Self and give ourselves the permission to simply exist, exactly as we are.
Photo Credit: Jeffrey Ball
4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?
I love to work with sound healers and live musicians to intermingle with a deeply resonant live Soundbath to experience therapeutic resonance and vibration in the deepest aspects of the connective tissue.
5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online.
Los Angeles Weekly Classes:
-5 Elements Yin Yoga & Soundbath – Bhakti Yoga Shala, Los Angeles – Thursday’s at 8:30 pm
-Yin Yoga – Sanctum Urban Temple, Los Angeles – Wednesday’s at 8 pm
Upcoming Teacher Training:
-5 Elements Yin Yoga Teacher Training – Sedona, Arizona – September 2018 – {$100 Discount with the code: DTO}
https://durgaexcursions.com/sedona-yin-yoga-teacher-training-september-2018
Summer Festival Appearances:
TELLURIDE WOW FESTIVAL – TELLURIDE, CO – JUNE 7-10
HEART AND SOUL SOULSTICE GATHERING – ANGELS CAMP, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 11-12
BEANSTALK FESTIVAL -BOND COLORADO -JUNE 28-30
Instagram: @kali_durga
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kalidurgayinyoga/
Website: http://www.kalidurgayoga.com
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