Morning Ashtanga in Bermondsey: Practice, Breath & Trust

Teaching at Oca Yoga this August felt like stepping into a living conversation with the practice and with the students who gathered each morning. My own time on the mat has taught me that Ashtanga isn’t just about shapes or series, but about the way discipline softens into presence. On one special day, we explored elements of the second series — not as a display of advanced postures, but as an invitation to deepen awareness, trust, and breath. What moved me most was the quiet courage of the group: the willingness to meet challenge with curiosity, to laugh when balance wavered, and to return again and again to stillness. Those mornings in the shala became a mirror of yoga philosophy itself — abhyāsa (steadfast practice) and vairāgya (letting go) lived out in real time. I left feeling grateful- for what I received from students: a renewed sense of why we practice, and how practice continues to shape us, together.

With gratitude,

Aleksander x