Well, I am officially a certified yoga teacher as well as a yoga photographer here in lovely Boulder, Colorado! I still have to muster up the courage to actually get in front of people and teach now, something I am completely and utterly terrified of. But like my teacher says, if you are nervous, that means it is important to you. And “all your dreams are on the other side of fear.”
As a yoga photographer, I capture amazing people express their uniqueness and connection to nature by putting themselves into these shapes or yoga poses. But these “poses” can seem to have a stagnant or frozen conotation which couldn’t be further from the truth. These asana, or yoga poses are inherently dynamic. They are about an internal experience, an opening to a stronger and more flexible body, more balanced energy, a more open heart and clearer awareness. The word asana is usually translated as “pose” or “posture” but its more literal meaning is “comfortable seat.”
Even when we practice yoga and hold a pose, we are still in motion, our heart is still beating, the circulatory system is functioning, there are nerve impulses, the breath is flowing in and out.
These asanas or shapes or expressions we put ourselves in resemble animals, nature, brave warriors and wise sages. Each movement demands that we hone some aspect of our consciousness and use ourselves in a new way. By exploring both familiar and unfamiliar postures we are also expanding our consciousness, so that regardless of the situation or form we find ourselves in, we can remain “comfortably seated” in our center.
In asana practice, there is an dynamic internal dance happening in the posture. What is the difference between an asana and a stretch or calisthenic exercise is that in asana practice we focus our mind’s attention completely in the body. We can move as a unified whole and listen what the body has to tell us.
So, I am absolutely jazzed to capture these beautiful expressions of asana and to show how they are so much more than just “poses.”
Julie Kruger Fine Art and Photography 