WHAT THE HECK IS ANUSARA YOGA? By Kamala Wilkie, E-RYT500, SOYA Lead Trainer, Anusara Inspired Teacher
Kamala Wilkie is an extremely dedicated Anusara Inspired yoga teacher. For well over a decade she has been a Lead Trainer for SOYA in the Okanagan, sharing her love of Anusara Yoga and its heart-opening affects. When someone asks her about Anusara yoga her face lights up and you can tell she is living her dharma. Here is how Kamala describes this yoga pathway for her…
With all the different styles of yoga to choose from, I understand when students are confused about what might be a good fit for them. I’d like to shine the light on Anusara Yoga. It’s usually known and loved for its precise alignment guidelines and classes with heart themes. I have been exploring Anusara Yoga for about ten years and I can tell you that the way Anusara aligns the body in poses has brought a lot of needed stability and healing to my body. I’ve kept coming back for the life affirming tantric philosophy that subtly permeates its classes. Even way back in the day when I didn’t understand how to “scoop my tailbone” I knew I felt more connected to others and better about myself after leaving an Anusara class.
Wanting to learn how to facilitate such a class, I started the path of learning & integrating the specific alignment guidelines by attending Anusara Immersions, followed by Anusara teacher trainings then one on one assessments with a mentor. My seven-year path to teaching Anusara Yoga culminated in receiving my Anusara-Inspired ™ designation last winter. Presently, there are only eight of us in Canada who are licensed to teach the Anusara system (which I have been, every Tuesday and Friday at 9am at Purple Lotus for the last few years).
It’s with incredible excitement that I have the opportunity to share Anusara Yoga in the SOYA 200 hour Yoga teacher trainings that I teach. Students coming to immersions this fall at God’s Mountain Estate, or this spring at Sorrento Centre will have an opportunity to dive deeply into the experience of Anusara. I will offer in-depth detail on how to do your asanas from the Anusara perspective, as well as dynamic, intermediate level practices, and an Anusara restoratives practice. Anusara Restoratives are gentle, although they include more alignment and subtle engagement than our usual Restorative classes. Expect all the classes to be therapeutic and heart opening.
If you are already a yoga teacher you may find the SOYA 200 hour training an opportunity to explore more deeply this style of yoga and its sequencing. We dive deeply into incredible depths with the philosophy studies of the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, chakras and the creation of class lesson plans. Our daily practices in mantra, meditation, and pranayama will keep your energy up while you immerse yourself in yoga sadhana, and hopefully find the entire retreat a life-changing experience.
Kamala Wilkie, E-RYT500, is a lead trainer for the SOYA yoga teacher training, and will be leading the 200 hour training in Penticton and Sorrento. She is the owner of Purple Lotus Yoga studio in Penticton BC, and a passionate yogini with a deeply dedicated practice of yoga.