Our Bella Prana Ashtanga Community had a unique opportunity to practice with Saraswathi Jois this month. Saraswathi is an amazing source of love, motivation and inspiration to practice with!
Every one of us had a unique experience of parampara, the direct transmission of knowledge from teacher to student. Read on to hear about Dr. Lisa Rambaldo’s experience.
“A few weekends ago I had the fortunate opportunity to practice with renowned Ashtanga Yoga teacher Saraswathi Jois in Jacksonville, Florida. I have often experienced that great teachers transmit knowledge less by what they do than by the space they hold. This was my experience of Saraswathi whose steadfast, sweet, understated strength offered the space for me to experience a potentiation of the physical healing of primary series. I felt movement initiation and stabilization continue to be handed over from the superficial pelvic muscles to mula and uddiyana banda and had the insight that this was analogous to support people handing back the power to the source. This was a fantastic experience on a physical level but it was also fulfilling on an energetic and emotional level as it felt like a returning home to a natural order of movement. I once heard the word divine defined as remembering a truth you had forgotten. At the close of Saraswathi’s guided class laying in savasana I experienced the divinity of returning home to an innate stability and strength that is without effort, that through practice is remembered.” -Dr. Lisa Rambaldo
R. Saraswathi Jois with a few of the Tampa students who made the trek to Jacksonville Beach for practice!