Yoga journey to India

Nov. 2, 2008

Three area women just left Traverse City for a four-month sojourn in India to study ashtanga yoga in its most pure and ancient form.
Jessica Sharry, who teaches ashtanga yoga at Sared Space Yoga, will travel with students Tracy “T.J.” Andrews and Lillie Wolff. They have been planning the journey for months. All three will share an apartment in the city of Mysore—and, yes, they’ve heard the jokes.
In ashtanga yoga, the student flows vigorously from one pose to another—the sequence of poses are the same each time. Upon mastering the primary sequence or “series,” the student is permitted to go to another series, with six series in all. The women will practice under the two masters in India -- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, 93, and his grandson, Sharath Rangaswamg -- at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. The two men are among the few ashtanga practitioners alive to have reached the sixth series.
In a not so ancient tradition, the three women will blog about their journey—check it out at http://lilliejesstjinindia.blogspot.com. The website for the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute is www.kpjayi.org.