“The only source of knowledge is experience,” according to Albert Einstein. So, if you are a dedicated Ashtanga yoga practitioner and you want to sample the knowledge borne from the experience of more than 40 years of daily practice David Williams is your man.
In a world of grandiose claims David’s record speaks for itself. Few people have had uninterrupted daily practice as long as David. David introduced some of the world’s most influential Ashtanga yoga teachers to the Yoga practice. These include Danny Paradise, David and Doug Swenson, and Bryan Kest.
I first met David in 2003, when I attended one of his workshops. We became instant friends, as our approach to the practice had many similarities. David demonstrates that it is possible to practice Ashtanga yoga in a way that will make it an enjoyable life-long practice. In the workshop he shows how to make Ashtanga yoga a system that heals rather than hurts the body. David’s theory on yoga is simple. Pushing yourself too hard physically leads to injury. Injury means you cannot practice asana to your full potential and you lose the progress that you have made. Doing the posture practise in a less competitive way allows you to enjoy every breath of every practise and this encourages you to practice more. Your body will automatically want to do what it enjoys.
It sounds easy but, for many people the Ashtanga yoga practice becomes little more than a yoga assault course. To realise that you can do the Ashtanga yoga in a pleasurable way is a real a-ha moment for many people. David’s approach asks us to examine the way in which we undertake our yoga as practitioners and also as teachers, so that we can enjoy the practices that we love for many years to come. Rather than seeing the postures as a series of obstacles to overcome by pushing the body ever harder, David emphasises that we should focus on the two foundations of the yoga practice, the breath and the bandhas, and allow the body to open from the inside.
David makes the practice accessible to everyone and brings the yoga to life with his amazing levels of energy. The workshop covers the primary and two thirds of the second Ashtanga yoga sequences and also introduces the pranayama sequence Pattabhi Jois taught. This is a rare opportunity, in an asana-obsessed world, to really connect with the breath in a structured and enjoyable way.
An additional feature of the workshop, besides the posture practice and the pranayama, is David’s array of amazing anecdotes about his life in yoga. David has spent his entire adult life practising yoga and travelling in a manner that is almost impossible in the 21st century. He has enjoyed a life worth living, a life focused on practicing and sharing yoga around the world. The workshop doesn’t focus on techniques to deepen your backbends or bind in Marichyasana D, rather it presents you with the opportunity to connect with one of the world’s most experienced Ashtanga yogis and leave the workshop inspired to practise yoga daily for the rest of your life.
Charlie has been practising Ashtanga yoga since 1994. He made his first trip to India in 1999, commencing his studies with Pattabhi Jois and learning the Ashtanga yoga pranayama sequence. Charlie started teaching Yoga in 2001 after receiving direct authorization from Pattabhi Jois. He teaches yoga privately in London to individuals and small groups. Charlie has an M.A. in Indian Religions and lectures on yoga history and philosophy on a number of teacher training courses. www.DoAshtanga.com.
Join David Williams at triyoga Chelsea from the 19th – 22nd July. To find out more and book, please click here.
