MATTHEW ADVAN: TRANSFORMASI DARI DALAM KE LUAR DENGAN YOGA

Saya pernah menulis cukup banyak profil guru yoga di website komunitas yoga gembira (yogagembira.com). Tapi karena website tersebut sudah lenyap, saya akan tayangkan profil-profil guru yang penah saya tulis untuk ditayangkan di blog saya ini. Wawancara di bawah ini dilaksanakan tepat di awal pandemi Covid-19 bulan Maret 2020 lalu via WhatsApp.

LAHIR di Surabaya, pria bernama lengkap Matthew Advan Satriopandu ini menyukai yoga sejak perkenalannya di tahun 2008. “Saya mencoba yoga pertama kali tahun 2008. Saya langsung suka bagaimana yoga mentransformasi dari dalam ke luar, dan melampaui batasan fisik (raga) dan memungkinkan kita menyelami diri lebih dalam melalui napas (tubuh halus) dan lapisan kesadaran (tubuh kausal).

Terinspirasi oleh guru-gurunya dari Dini Maharani dan Ryan Mannix, Matthew yang akrab dipanggil Matt ini memiliki tujuan beryoga untuk mencapai sesuatu yang ditetapkan di awal latihan. Tak peduli sesedikit apapun kemajuan yang diraih, bukan masalah asal terus berlatih mencapai tujuan.

Matt yang juga menggemari aktivitas fotografi secara profesional ini mencicipi yoga pertama kali dan merasakan adanya sejumlah manfaat. “Saya makin memahami bahwa semua hal ada waktunya sendiri dan saya juga menjadi tidur lebih nyenyak,” terang pengajar yoga yang memiliki akun Instagram @meet___matt ini dalam wawancara via WhatsApp dengan YogaGembira.com.

Matt memiliki jenis yoga yang paling disukai yakni Vinyasa Yoga sebab yoga jenis ini berorientasi tujuan. “Saya juga menyukai Ashtanga Yoga karena faktor disiplin yang diterapkan di dalam kelasnya,” jelas Matt yang mengaku dirinya berlatih yoga sendiri 2 hingga 3 kali waktu per minggu.

“Saya berlatih Ashtanga Yoga 1 hingga 2 kali sebulan. Saya juga bermeditasi setiap hari,” ucap praktisi yoga yang menyukai postur headstand karena merasa stabil dan meditatif pada saat bersamaan.

Matt yang menghabiskan waktu luangnya untuk pelayanan di gereja dan bermain piano ini berupaya mengintegrasikan yoga dalam kehidupan sehari-hari dengan mengamati napas ini sehingga bisa lebih mendalami momen saat ini tanpa terdistraksi oleh pikiran-pikiran lain yang melintas lainnya.

Kini sibuk mengajar yoga di sejumlah studio yoga di kawasan Jakarta Selatan, Matt menggambarkan bahwa dirinya di kelas mengajar dengan gaya yang meditatif, progresif, dan ‘cair’. Di kelas, ia mengajar dengan berfokus pada aspek kekuatan, menciptakan ruang yang aman bagi semua partisipan dalam kelas untuk memahami kelemahan mereka.

Pengalaman pertama mengajar Matt bisa dikatakan sangat membekas. Ia sendiri masih mengingat tanggalnya. “Kelas pertama saya pada tanggal 28 Juli 2019 dipenuhi hampir 40 orang dan di hari sebelumnya saya jauh dari kata siap tetapi di hari saya mengajar dan saya pikir saya memproyeksikan sepenuhnya pada kelas yang saya ajar,” ujar pria kelahiran 32 tahun lalu tersebut.

Apa yang menurut Matt paling menarik dalam yoga? “Saya tertarik dengan aspek chakra, kepuasan diri, belajar mandiri, dan disiplin dalam yoga,” pungkasnya.

Akan membawakan tema “Twister Flow” di kelas Komunitas Yoga Gembira, Matt memfokuskan kelasnya pada badan, napas, dan pikiran. Ikuti kelasnya tanggal 15 Maret 2020 nanti di Taman Suropati, Menteng. Jakarta Pusat. (*/Akhlis)

About Doing Challenging Poses, its Benefits and Risks

Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

PEOPLE complain about how stuffed social media and the web 2.0 have become right now with all the self-centered yogic rants, flashy photos and self-worshipping tutorial videos of yoga ‘gurus’ and practitioners. But deep inside, to a certain extent they keep their admiration of it for themselves. Heaven knows…

Oddly enough, most simple and less challenging yoga poses provide greater benefits, claim some. Also, the most challenging poses are often not worth the risks, say some. I don’t know what to believe. Which poses they refer to? There should be more in-depth study and discussion on this matter.

Some people criticize those who keep doing challenging yoga poses as “too physical” or “superficial”. But how dangerous is doing a challenging pose actually? It depends on various factors. Mostly on its stress caused in vital organs, which eventually affects our health in general.

A yoga teacher I know mentioned it’s all about our ego. By doing challenging yoga poses, we try to satisfy our thirsty egos. We don’t care about the risks – whether it can break our neck, ruin our hamstrings, or rip our quads – because what matters most is how it can impress people on social media. “Look at him doing that or this? Is he out of his mind? Twisted that way? Folded in a way no normal human can do? Pure awesomeness.”

Yes, I am one of them. I need to feed my ego at times. Because yoga makes me someone with certain competence. Someone with uniqueness. And this makes my self esteem soar. For someone with no athletic skills like me, it means a lot. Yoga provides us this self-gratification. I know, however, that there needs to be limits here.

There are in fact several points to know about challenging poses as I recall from several chats I had with a friend.

Firstly, it’s all about propaganda, campaign. A friend told me that based on the history of yoga practice, challenging poses are done for the sake of propaganda. He mentioned the legendary yogi Krishnamacharya once stated he did the extreme asanas in front of the Maharaja of Mysore. This also would be great opportunities and moments for photographers to capture because challenging poses are quite rare to witness because it takes perseverance and significant amount of time to master them. That way, more and more people are interested in learning yoga. Admit it, humans are visual creatures easily stunned and amazed by unusual objects. Despite that, Krisnamacharya always advised his students should always do simple poses every single day or in their daily practice. Do simple poses which provide benefits for the body for daily practice, he said. Challenging poses, therefore, are meant to impress and persuade people to practice yoga. That totally makes sense to me.

In my case, I too get inspired to deepen my practice after seeing yoga photos. If I can conquer the challenging poses, that’s lucky of me. But if I can’t, I know it’s time to just relax, and meditate, examining myself, and becoming less competitive and more forgiving to myself, respecting my own boundaries. I won’t hurt myself just because I want to master certain poses. So when the Yang element (the more competitive and agressive) of me declines, the Yin elemen arises. Both create balance in me. So far that’s how I practice yoga.

Secondly, extreme poses were usually done by yogis circa 200-300 years ago in India for financial purpose. They were so financially deprived they needed to feed themselves, earn money by doing challenging poses on streets or places where crowds gathered. So if you can do extreme poses, especially these days when people are excited to learn yoga because of its fitness benefits, you’re more likely to gain financial profits.  Yet, this also needs to be controlled in such a way so as not to spoil the purity of yoga.

Lastly, challenging poses we practice nowadays, said my friend, is the bastardized version of the original, ancient Hatha Yoga. Hatha itself means forceful, so the postures and kriya (breathing practices) were practiced to awaken kundalini. This was way different from Raja Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga (Ashtanga refers to the philosophy of yoga, not the school of yoga founded by the late Shri K. Pattabhi Jois). In Ashtanga, yoga is taught as 8 limbs and asanas are meant to be only in seated position. In Raja Yoga, yoga refers to the union done by calming our psyche and mind so as to facilitate the process of uniting or Samadhi. “What we do now is actually the hybrid or the bastardized version of Hatha Yoga modified specially for fitness and mindfulness practice (except for the followers of Tantra Yoga who seriously learn to awaken the energy of kundalini within,” he explained further. He said he learned it all from yoga literature, which is more accurate and objective.

In brief, challenging poses in yoga are not prohibited at all. Of course there are risks involved in doing them but with risks, there are benefits you can’t ignore. Again, challenging poses are tools. They can benefit or ruin you. But never blame them. Blame your ego. (*/)

Find Efficiency in Your Yoga Practice

“Body is my first prop. The body is a prop to the soul.” – B. K. S. Iyengar

Efficiency matters in yoga practice. (Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mr-yoga-scorpion-pose.jpg)

There are times when we want to achieve something. However, we do not know how to reach it.

People come to yoga for various reasons. Some practice yoga because they want to be healthier. Some want to look sexier. Some others because they want to destress themselves amidst the modern, fast-paced life.

Then they come to Iyengar Yoga classes, which are widely known to use a lot of props.

The problem is that these days people see Iyengar Yoga easy and effortless because of these props.

I beg to differ.

People do not seem to understand the reason why and when they should use props. They use any props at their will.

They actually have their body intelligence, but instead of making this intelligence work, they resort to using many props as shortcuts. It looks like they did anything supported, as if only very little effort were required.

This is NOT the objective of using props in Iyengar Yoga classes.

The purpose of using props is to assist us A LITTLE BIT in our practice.

Not too much. Not too little.

Just a little so that we can achieve the true goal of our yoga practice.

We should never become much too dependent upon props.

The use of props is NOT ADVISABLE when people become too lazy and underuse their own body intelligence. So that is why we have to start understanding the reason why props in Iyengar classes are used.

As stated by Guruji B. K. S. Iyengar, prop is not only for asanas. It should contribute to the position of the body which in turn may allow the mind to turn tranquil. Once our mind becomes serene, we consequently can enter the state of ‘chitta vritti nirodha’. This is where our practice should lead us to.

When props are removed, we can start using our own body which is actually our tool given directly by God the Almighty to help us navigate through life. To use our body means to use our intelligence.

The body is a highly intricate network more precious than any properties we have. All parts of our body fit into our central nervous system. It builds up intelligence.

Let us take our feet for example. They are not only used for walking but also for intelligence helping us to move around, accomplish our tasks on earth. If we therefore do not use our feet properly, then we don’t use them the way God desires us to.

In my classes, I liken novices to children that are still learning to walk. As a teacher, it is my calling to assist them in the learning process. At this stage, most novices have much struggle to make use of their body intelligence. And this is the time when they really need props.

Yet, as more and more hours are spent to practice and learn, they begin developing their body intelligence. They are getting more adept at directing their physical body, mind and Self to achieve ‘chitta vritti nirodha’, where mind is still and stops oscillating. At the same time, their dependence on props should also decrease.

You will be guided along your Yoga journey with efficiency. So you will learn accurately how to make use of props properly in given situations and to know when you should rely on your body intelligence instead. Because once again, our body is our best prop ever invented.

Start a new experience in learning Yoga with me. Contact me at akhlispurnomo@gmail.com for further information.

My Yoga Journal: The Peril of Under(and Over)estimating

Sri, one of my best yoga buddies, shared with me some stories from her experience a couple of days ago after I told her I want to take a teacher training next year. She’s a middle-aged woman with fuller body frame, opposed to mine. Sri is chatty and outspoken without even dropping her manner.

To cut her stories short, I could conclude she basically complained about the reluctance of some local yoga teachers (especially those who just recently graduate from yoga teacher trainings) to treat differently those with slim bodies and fuller ones. She said pitifully,”These new yoga teachers tend to ignore me because they judge my appearance (read: body weight). We were just neglected every time we want to try more advanced asanas which flexible lean people only can typically do”. Some of Sri’s friends succumbed to the bitter experience of their ignorant yoga teachers. They quit. But Sri found some teachers who have more profound understanding of yoga practice, luckily. She therefore went on, until now.

With that in mind, I now start to study how to demonstrate surya namaskara or sun salutation, which means memorizing when to inhale and exhale, each move, each Sanskrit phrase, and their English translations. You don’t know how badly I hate this (memorizing, not the yoga practice). I forgot to remind myself that I have to let my introverted side temporarily succumb to to the extroverted one to become a yoga teacher. I still cannot figure it out. How on earth will I cope with this shyness? I’m nervous as hell as everyone can see. Showing people what I can do with my body is absolutely easy. At least I know my own competence and what I with this body can do. But once again, teaching is one thing and striking a pose is another, obviously. I have to work and struggle harder to explore myself and my surroundings and then convey my experience to others. It’s a new different level than just a simple poser. It seems to me I have to understand myself and the surroundings, explain my experience and interpret that all into wordings that others can easily comprehend by which they can practice.

I teach English and though yoga and English are both sciences, there are things in yoga anyone cannot explain with words listed in the latest and most complete dictionaries on earth combined together. These things are so subtle, so sublime that anyone who wants to know, learn should do yoga, too. Practice is the only way to reach that level of understanding. We have to do it, feel it, first-handedly. Yoga is not a vicarious thrill. Rather, it’s a journey each of us has to take. Narrating yoga-related experience without giving others opportunities to try would be useless.

So that’s why now you can relate to my circumstances. While teaching English, we’re at the very least allowed to look up a dictionary or take a glimpse on text books. As a yoga teacher, you cannot do that. It’d be an wakward sight for students to see their yoga teachers’ eyes glued to notebooks, notes, or whatever assistants they are using during class. I once experienced this when all the teachers were absent, people thought I could teach just because I can do intense poses they cannot do. It turned out to be a mistake we all together regret. I might be the best asana model, but I did suck when it came down to teach. They overestimated me. All I do as a student is to just imitate, and then without warning I had to organize the flow of the practice of the whole class. I was trembling and while being here and there, my mind was thinking hard,”What’s next? What to do after this? What did my teacher usually do after this asana?” I then decided to grab a yoga magazine with a sequence explained in it. Embarrassing…

Now that I’m about to be a yoga teacher. I’d suggest myself to be less critical about myself, perhaps I shouldn’t judge myself too early. I’m still quite new at this (it’s been 2 years since my first encounter with Yudhi my teacher) so making mistakes is forgivable. It’s part of the process even, some argue. Besides, I wouldn’t let myself overwhelmed by this. I have to win eventually. Win over my own inconfidence, to be precise.

Tentang “Asana Envy”

Saya pernah dan masih mengajar. Bukan yoga tetapi bahasa Inggris. Sebagai dosen atau guru, saya memang sering menggunakan sudut pandang saya dalam menilai kinerja orang lain (dalam hal ini murid/ mahasiswa). Rasanya sangat menyiksa dan kadang tidak nyaman untuk melihat seorang mahasiswa atau siswa yang saya ajar kurang cepat atau kurang responsif terhadap apa yang diajarkan. Kenapa sampai selama itu harus paham sih? Ini kan mudah, kenapa tidak cepat bisa?Ya ampun, itu kan tidak seperti itu, seperti ini lho!! Semua itu sering terlintas dalam pikiran saat mengajar. Jujur saja, saya yakin semua orang pernah mengalaminya. Tapi itulah pengalaman yang harus dilalui agar kita bisa berlanjut ke tahapan pemahaman yang berikutnya, yang lebih mendalam dan bijaksana.

Lalu apakah kita harus membiarkan begitu saja mereka yang kita ajar untuk melalukan apapun sekehendak hati mereka? Tentu saja tidak bisa. Sebagai guru kita tetap berkewajiban memberikan nasihat, dan sering nasihat itu diabaikan. Dan itu memang menjengkelkan.

Tapi seiring pengalaman, saya menyadari bahwa sangat mustahil bisa berlaku adil pada mereka jika kita menilai dengan standar atau kacamata kita, karena tidak semua orang memiliki kondisi yang sama dengan kita. Saya menilai kinerja murid saya yang baru belajar 1 tahun dengan standar saya yang sudah bertahun-tahun menekuni hal yang sama. Tentnya ada ketimpangan dan saya harus menerima ini. Sehingga saya tidak gila nantinya.

Untungnya dalam yoga, pemaksaan seperti ini tidak ada (atau tidak sebanyak yang lain). Pemaksaan dalam hal ini mungkin berbentuk penilaian yang harus diikuti oleh murid jika ingin lulus atau mendapatkan pengakuan, dan sebagainya.

Tetapi tetap saja hal ini terjadi. Dalam bentuk sekecil apapun.

Saya makin memahami bahwa tujuan orang beryoga, seperti orang belajar di bidang lain, sangat bervariasi. Dan untuk itulah mustahil pula untuk menyamakan standar dari satu orang yogi/ni dengan yang lain.

Pertama kali saya beryoga, saya memang hanya tertarik pada aspek olahraganya saja meski pelan-pelan saya juga mempelajari filosofinya. Namun, hingga sekarang saya masih lebih suka dengan latihan yang berbasis asana yang dinamis dan menantang daripada yang meditatif dan cenderung statis.

Hingga suatu saat saya merasa dinasihati untuk tidak terlalu banyak berfokus pada asana saja dan tidak terlalu memamerkan asana yang sudah saya kuasai. Di satu sisi, saya tentu sangat berterima kasih atas perhatian yang diberikan orang terhadap saya dan apa yang saya lakukan. Namun, di sisi lain, mereka juga belum mengetahui bahwa tujuan saya belajar lain dari mereka sekarang. Dan satu hal lagi, mungkin inilah fase yang harus bisa saya lalui untuk bisa mencapai tingkatan yang lebih tinggi, yakni posisi yang mereka sudah capai sekarang.  Jadi saya hanya berpikir, saya tidak akan selamanya berfokus pada asana dan mungkin saya akan mengubah tujuan belajar dan berlatih yoga. Akan selalu ada perkembangan, dan ini hanyalah bagian dari perjalanan yang masih panjang.

Saya juga suka mengingatkan diri sendiri bahwa aspek raga dan jiwa dalam latihan yoga saya perlu diseimbangkan. Dan saya ingin lebih mengendalikan diri agar tidak terjebak pada “asana envy”, rasa iri karena melihat orang lain atau foto-foto yang menantang. Tak mengapa jika saya bisa melakukannya tanpa menyebabkan cedera pada badan tetapi jika membuat badan tambah sakit atau cedera, mungkin saya harus berpikir dan menjadi lebih bijak dengan apa yang sudah saya lakukan dalam latihan saya selama ini.

Saya kemudian teringat dengan apa yang dilontarkan oleh guru yoga saya: “Jangan lihat teman saat berlatih. Ini badan, badan dia sendiri, jangan ditiru, jangan iri!”