Yoga and the city

I never thought I would be one of those crazy people that willingly put themselves into a pretzel. And well, what do you know, I’m kind of addicted!

If nothing else, yoga teaches you some cool party tricks! But it has become a lot more than that for me over the last 4 years. I have become a big fan of Anusara yoga and am getting kind of tired of listening to myself brag about how amazing it is!

But the reality is, it keeps me on my feet and out of pain. Brings me down to earth while making me levitate and reminds me of how grateful we should all be to be here now to enjoy what life has to offer. And lets not forget, I have now a few party tricks I can show off!

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I was bored with the bright and clean and super monotonous way in which yoga practice is pictured. It really is no surprise that people look at it with a smirk when it’s presented to them as something perfect and other worldly and oh so squeaky clean. All that spiritual BS has us all looking at it as too healthy for our own good.

It would be fantastic if we could all do yoga in a huge white bright space or on a beach, overlooking the sunset. Oh, ya and lets not forget all the yogis in grass and waterfalls, by the pool overlooking the jungle…

Whatever! How many times have you practiced yoga in that kind of environment? Sure, it’s a lovely fantasy, but the reality is very different!

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So I though, why not look at it from a different angle.

I don’t know about you, but I love living in a city. The buzz, the activity, the opportunities and all the people. It’s exciting! But I also feel the need to practice yoga to balance all the static energy and organize the chaos. Yoga gets me through my week and onto the next. It has become a big part of my life and when I was presented the opportunity to photograph some amazing yoga teachers, I jumped! I wanted to show yoga as I relate to it. As a part of urban living, not some bright pretty fantasy.

It’s sweaty, its tough, it makes you smell, ugh pretty bad. But it belongs here more than it belongs on the beach and in waterfalls. It’s here we need it most, it’s here where it’s most challenging.

I came up with an idea and the girls were so sweet, they indulged me and went along with it! Thank you both very much Christi-an and Josie, two amazing Anusara yoga teachers!

It was a really fun sunny day and we headed downtown with a few pieces of equipment and my sweet assistant Adam.  Since there was no paying client, it was a bit of a guerrilla operation. I like to look around the city and find fun spots and I knew of a place we could use, as long as nobody noticed we were doing it. The office building in the heart of downtown, where Derooted, the creators of my fabulous website have their beautiful studio

We were on the roof for less than 20 minutes before a maintenance guy came along with the very words I was afraid he would say: “you do have a permit for this! Right?”

Well, what’s a girl to say? “Of course I do! Do you think I would be here without one?” I thought I did well, the guy looked at me smirking and says “Oh yeah? Who did you get the permit from?” You’d think I’m done and out of there, right? Wrong! I have never met the owner, but I do my research! I dropped the name and the guy walked away!

So we had a free pass and played around. I just love the guy with the disco ball head! It’s like he came to the party!

We got intense sunshine right before we got some crazy clouds and refreshing little rain. We toughed it out, the camera toughed it out! The girls were up side down and twisted this way and that! They were doing things I never even heard of before and looking as graceful as queens! I couldn’t believe the stamina and strength! How hot is that!

And all along I wanted to be doing yoga with them! Ah, so inspiring!

The traffic was buzzing all around and below us, construction noises and the maintenance guys lingering, I don’t even think I heard them at all! It’s captivating watching someone go into a headstand with full control and adjust just so and hold it for a while for the camera! But that’s not all! They also look graceful!?

I have many more years of practice ahead of me before I look like that!

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I love to see what the day will bring. And even though I love control over the results when I’m working, on an outdoor shoot like this, one also has to put faith into the elements and hope for the best. My hope was for bright sun, but shot of show we got a little bit of everything within the short time we spent on the rooftop and it kind of worked out just perfect! I don’t think this shot would be the same if the sky was ideal. The dramatic skies add substance to this photograph! It is a metaphor of what yoga does for me. It quiets the storm in my heart and helps me see clearly.

This is only the outdoor part of the photo-shoot. We continued on inside and I may post some more of those photos if you guys give me some feedback here!

I don’t know how we lasted as long as we did! We got a lot more fun stuff done in the staircase of this building. And let me tell you, it may be one of the sweetest old staircases I have seen in this city!

But as we were starting to seriously fade, we got caught by the, at the moment not so super, superintendent. The poor guy didn’t know what to do with us! He freaked! Walked away. Came back, freaked out some more, threatened a little, yelled and bullied. But what was he going to do? We were in a public area of the building and about to leave!

I would do a lot more than just sneak onto a roof and into a staircase of a building for a great shot! Even being yelled at by the old guy was totally worth it! But you’d be the judge! I want to hear some feedback here! If you like them, let me know! If you hate them tell me why! Just don’t be shy!

There is a couple more images here, I just love! I really don’t think I would look as serene in the position Christi-an is in in the shot below! And Josie in her sneakers and the sunglasses! Priceless!

Let’s do more!

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