Ashtanga Yoga in Sharbot Lake

Mar 10, 2011

Photo: Ashtanga Yoga practitioner and teacher Milosh Rodic

Ashtanga Yoga practitioner Milosh Rodic of Sharbot Lake has started offering classes to those interested in this ancient yoga practice at the Oso Hall. Rodic has been studying and practicing the technique for over four years, beginning in Toronto in 2007 under the tutelage of Paul and Rochelle Gold of Ashtanga Yoga Shala Toronto. His studies also took him to Mysore, India where the practice began in 1927.

Based on a system of Yoga popularized by K. Pattabhi Jois, the practice is made up of three main elements: postures, breathing and muscle locks. The alignment of movement and breath turns otherwise static yoga postures into a consecutive flow of connected movements. The entire practice is made up of a predetermined number of poses, and often includes the better-known sun salutation.

The particular breathing used in the practice is known as Ujjayi, also referred to as “the victorious breath”, a type of relaxed diaphragmatic breathing that resonates in the throat of the practitioner and acts as a mental focal point throughout the practice. Each class is comprised of four main parts: an "opening sequence," one of the six main "series" of movements, a back-bending sequence, and a set of inverted postures. The practice always ends with savasana, or resting pose.

Rodic says, “I've never done anything in my life so intensely and with such devotion and consequently have never had anything give so much back.” He says that the benefits are not just physical but also intellectual, emotional and spiritual as well. He had struggled for years with depression and other physical ailments and says it was his yoga practice that put an end to both. He adds with enthusiasm that, “Anyone can do it regardless of age, physical health and other impediments.”

Milosh Rodic says that beginners should not feel shy even if flexibility and physical fitness are not their strengths. “Everyone and anyone can benefit from the practice. It's never about competition or perfection but is just about yourself and the process. Everyone takes the same path but perhaps starts along it at a different place.” He says the practice never ends by reaching a final goal but is rather “a life-long practice that is never ending.”

Eventually practitioners will come to a point where they will be able to carry on their own practice at home as they become more familiar with the techniques and postures. Rodic currently practices for an hour and forty minutes a day at home. “For me it is both one of the most challenging and hardest things that I do but every time I practice I never regret it.”

Milosh Rodic will be starting nursing school this fall and hopes to share the benefits of Ashtanga yoga with patients. “In sharing this practice I want to help people to become physically healthy and disease free so that they can really start living their lives.”

Anyone interested in joining Milosh can contact him at 613-279-3377. He has yet to confirm a regular schedule but is currently holding three classes per week at Oso hall in Sharbot Lake, with the hopes of holding more. Participants need to bring a yoga mat, towel and a blanket. Classes cost $5.