Anthony Gary Lopedota
Has been a great honor to interview Anthony Gary Lopedota, one of the most important yogi in the world. Thank you very much for your time and inspiration.
You are one of the persons in the world who practices all the series (with the old advanced A&B) , i was reading a bit that you had some private sessions with Sri K Pattabhi Jois, i would love you to explain to me a bit about this experiencie with Guruji.
Anthony:I had four hour privates for about two months. It was the best time for me, really almost 4 months with a quadriplegic girl there for about two months. What I gained was imparted with his sincere touch every day and watching him work with the young girl with such inspiration and willingness to do whatever it took to bring about positive change. As much as i love and respect Guru Ji, I truly believe that we ( the yoga therapists ) have the ability to take the practice to a new and more healing level, maybe not more healing for all but definitely for some who do not respond to the ashtanga practice verbatim. I learned that we need to think outside the box form KP Jois who definitely thought outside the box. I will be coming out with a short video of a vinyasa series that addresses brain function, hemisphere balancing, addressing learning disabilities like dyslexia. Guru Ji's genius came a lot from his passion and love. When I would discover something that worked well with the practice and discussed and shared it with Guru Ji, he would get excited and showed me a lot of support and trust. I am sure that my injuries and challenges with my body are all blessings in disguise, it is no accident that doctors, therapists and clinicians have often felt like sharing their wisdom with me. Guru Ji and I would sit and drink coffee after class. He was so humble and yet very self assured. He believed in what he did. Those yogis that are inspired to learn and incorporate other body therapies are the next generation of this lineage. The fundamentalist approach is not in line with what KPJ did in his life or we would be doing exactly what Krishnamacharya taught.
You discovered that many injuries are the result of poor nutrition. And you applied a therapeutic form of ashtanga,do you think that ashtanga can be practiced for all of our lives.
Anthony:Ashtanga yoga puts an extraordinary amount of repetitious strain on the connective tissue of the body. If a person’s connective tissue is breaking down because of poor nutrition and acidic life style, the result will be an eventual and certain break down of the body. One could continue practicing the latter limbs of Ashtanga yoga but the asana practice would be a waste of time and would merely accelerate the breakdown of the articulating surfaces and the surrounding connective tissue. Guru Ji stopped his asana practice earlier than a lot of us would even consider. He continued with daily shirshasana and padmasana during pratyahara, pranayama, dharana, dyana, samadhi practice/experience.
why did you begin to practice yoga, and how much time did you spend with Guruji studying?
Anthony:Wow, never counted before, I believe it was eight times the longest being three times in Mysore at 3 to 4 months each.I was always attracted to yoga, martial arts, healing. It came natural to touch people in a healing way and ashtanga, like no other yoga, is practiced in that way. I remember touching and massaging relatives at gatherings when I was 9 years old and remember counseling in a spiritual manner when I was 5. Blessed to be born blind by California standards and sickly as a child, the path of healing and healer was carved out for me.
When I was fourteen, yoga became an interest as well as martial arts; actually judo was my first practice when I was 12. At fifteen Paramahamsa Yoganada, Allan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Wilhelm Reich, Swami Ramacharacha, and many other authors became my interest and salvation. Yoga was in my stars.
Do you think you've finally taken mula bandha in full control in the physical and energy sense to control the prana?
Anthony:As my body, subtle and gross adjusted to Ashtanga Yoga, it went through many changes some were quite radical. At one point when Brad Ramsey and I practiced together, this being after many private pranayama classes with Guru Ji, I started having convulsions. While I was sitting in padmasana doing pranayama, my body(torso) would start slamming forward so that it hit the floor with great force and total disregard for what my physical body was going through. This was an electrical response on the most subtle level of ida , pingala, sashumna nadi cleansing/reorganizing., although it looked anything but subtle. Good thing Bradley had my back. He was good at not emotional response and added only positive support. Other yogis when I explained this to them became quite scarred for me. Not everyone is cut out to meet Shiva. Later in my practice which has included three 40 day fasts in my life so far ( hand full of food and as much water as I wanted every day with some variation but not on the amount of solid food. All three times my weight ended up leveling off at 125#s.). It was during one of these fasts that the breath stopped during pranayama. I actually got scarred when I noticed and that ended the experience. Our prana and mullabanda develop at different rates. My mullabandha is quite developed but my prana is a bit behind. I have always had vices that are not yogicly pure if you will. The truth is, with grace we may have the control of both in the necessary situation and that is all that matters. Trying to cultivate siddhis is part of the egos arrogance.Siddhis naturally acquired and expressed are divine.
Matthew Sweeney
Matthew Sweeney is the author of book "Vinyasa Krama" and"Ashtanga as it is", one of the best books about ashtanga. Thanks a lot for your time, is a great peasure.
More info about M.Sweeney:
Do you think there is any relationship between the three Granthi and diseases such as depression or anxiety?
Matthew: The three Granthi EXPRESS themselves as stress, anxiety, depression, mental illness, physical illness etc etc. It is not possible to separate these concepts. It is also not 'wrong' to have these illnesses - they are your journey, your lesson, and your pathway to make contact with self and the divine. When your system is out of balance, whether mentally or otherwise, the contractions we feel are the three Granthi at work. They are not bad - we contract and resist as a form of balance against greater pain - rightly or wrongly.
What is the main difference between your vinyasa krama sequences and Ashtanga series?
Matthew:Vinyasa Krama is intended as a support to Ashtanga Yoga - not to replace it - rather to enhance it, they allow more people to keep practicing with greater ease and greater joy.
Do you think that ashtanga can be practiced for all live?
Matthew:Some people can practice Ashtanga for most of their lives, most people cannot. They either need to vary the system a little, or change it entirely.
Do you think that after all this years of practicing, you already have found Mula bandha (in the full sense physical / energetic) or you are still looking?
Matthew:Mula bandha is ultimately a state of mind - freedom from 'lower body' or lower Granthi contraction. I have definitely felt this in my life, through great joy, bliss and surrender to God. But I still feel pain and contraction also - I am human after all.
Thanks a lot Matthew Sweeney
Ajay Tokas
1-How did you start to do yoga?
I suffered badly with sinus of nose and due to the same had an operation done in the year 2000. But to my surprise operation did not work and I got the same problem after an year , so, I was told by a close friend of mine about JalNeti, shatkriya of Yoga.
I started doing Jalneti and felt a big difference from day one, that was day I felt I should learn more about this deep science of Yoga.
2 -Do you think that the Ashtanga yoga series can be practice whole life?
Yes , I believe that Ashtanga Yoga series can be practice whole life. Its a beautiful practice with different series
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| Ajay Tokas |
and sequence of asanas that makes you learn more about yourself each time you practice.
3-what does Kundalini means to you ?
Kundalini to me is the supreme energy lies at the base of the spine which can be awakened through various practices and can rise up from the muladhara chakra through Sushumna( the central nadi between Ida & Pingla) running through the spine and when it reaches the crown of the head that is Sahasrara chakra the Yogi is detached from the body and mind in other words we call this self realization or enlightenment.
4-Do you think that after all this years of practicing, you already have found Mula
bandha (in the full sense physical / energetic) or you are still looking?
bandha (in the full sense physical / energetic) or you are still looking?
All I feel that through out my practice I stay strong and feel the joyful experience holding on to a force can't be describe in words. I am still exploring Mulabhadha.
Thanks a lot Ajay Tokas!
Thanks a lot for your time and answear some question, its a honor for me. Thanks a lot Alexandros, your practice is a great inspiration.
1-Do you think that the Ashtanga yoga series can be practice whole life?
2-Why did you start practicing yoga?
3-have you ever been injured?
4-Do you think that after all this years of practicing, you already have found Mula bandha (in the full sense physical / energetic) or you are still looking?
I am not very experienced in yoga and I only practice less than 6 years. I started with hatha yoga then with anusara yoga and only with ashtanga yoga a bit less than 4 years. It all started for me because I had terrible pain in my back and my stomach and doctors told me that I was perfectly healthy , then I realized I had to
Thanks a lot Alexandros!!
Sofia Xirotiri
Thanks a lot Sofia Xirotiri for your time its a honor for me. Your practice is a great inspiration.
1-what is your background in yoga?
2-Do you have some special diet?
SX: I started my practice in Ashtanga yoga 2008 with my teacher Savvas Yiantsis we went to Goa for a workshop with Taric Tamic 2010 and then I decided to travel to Mysore...from then I travel to Mysore every year for practice with Sharath.i keep a healthy diet consists many fruits Greek yogurt salads and vegetables.
Daily practice with my teacher and teaching keeps me inspired and happy!!!
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Sofia Xirotiri
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Thanks a lot Dany Sá for your time :) Your clip from the second series was the one first ashtanga videos that i saw, thanks!
1-what is your background in yoga?
Dany Sá:
I was professional dancer and I started to practice yoga in 2003. I fell in love at the first time! Since that, I started to study more and more. I started to practice Ashtanga regularly in 2006 with my teacher Matthew Vollmer that gave to me the first knowledge about the traditional practice and the series until advanced A. Now, I have often gone to Mysore to receive the teachings of Sharath Jois.
2-Have you noticed any change in your body as a result of the Ashtanga practice?
Dany Sá:
Sure, I’ve already had flexibility because of dance and some strength, but with Ashtanga I felt my body more balanced and healthy. The breathing helps me a lot to understand the right way to get into the posture easily without too much effort.
3-Do you think you've finally taken mula bandha in full control in the physical and energy sense to control the prana?
Dany Sá:
I’m still working on it! I think the daily practice helps us to understand this subtle control. My mula bandha is improving day by day.
Interview with Kristina Karitinou
For sure, you can see the senior teachers of our time! They look amazing,they have great knowledge and they practice the series with the appropriate asana variations!
2-Why did you start practicing yoga?
When I was 19 a friend believed that to practice Ashtanga was my destiny! She was right!I continued because
3-have you ever been injured??
Many times,but I learn from my mistakes!!! Sometimes this is the way to experience your one anatomy. Injury teaches us to be more careful and sensitive on the mat.I believe that this method is so powerful in order to teach us to look after ourselves and move forward in life with awareness. Like little children who finally learn to walk.
4-Do you think that after all this years of practicing, you already have found Mula bandha (in the full sense physical / energetic) or you are still looking?
I had my Mula bandha with me when i was born like everybody else. When I start practicing Ashtanga my teachers showed me the way to activate it and since then me and my mula bhanda have been very close friends!
Thank you Kristina Karitinou :)
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