Hanu Yoga

🔗 hanuyogamiami.com
📍 736 6th Street, Miami Beach, FL 33139
📞 305-397-8566
💌 hello@hanumiami.com
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Ashtanga

with Natasha Teran ✶ 1/5/2024

The studio was white glove serene. The long, creamy curtains gave such a beautiful light. You would not know you were in the epicenter of South Beach. It felt like practicing in an ancient Roman building. Everyone looked like a sculpture practicing a full-body prayer in a white immaculate aura.

I loved that we got to walk alongside the building to the back studio. It reminded me of the story of The Secret Garden. Walking down a tiny, homely pathway to the sanctuary of a. studio in the back was a heavenly journey.

Natasha was a goddess instructor. This was my first Ashtanga Led class outside of my YTT. I was a big-time newbie, but Natasha made me feel confident I would be able to keep up with her cues. She assured me that there were extremely seasoned practitioners in the front row. They executed the sequence with such acute attention to detail that their physical bodies looked like Roman statues. They were living, breathing proof of what being present for the details and using your body as a prayer mechanism results in. Women in their ultimate Goddess form. They provided incredible pose demonstration and pace for me throughout the class, as Natasha promised.

I generally practice with my eyes closed; however, it was impossible not to watch their form and grace as they flowed through a sequence their bodies had etched into their muscle memory as deep as the Grand Canyon. It was gorgeous, and it was the first time I’d ever people-watched during yoga. Their beauty challenged me to maintain the course when the going got rough.

Natasha was an expert in the Ashtanga series who provided the most meticulous alignment cues. I am so in love with long holds, and she did not skimp out on her counts. They were long and luxurious, so we were able to execute her cues in proper form. I loved her attention to even the fingertips throughout the practice in regard to the mudras. I thoroughly enjoyed her speaking about the bandhas throughout practice with very illustrative descriptions of them, so we were all visually triggered to physically activate them deeply. Every single piece of the body was called for and attended to in Natasha’s agenda.

Natasha gave extremely effective hands-on adjustments. With one quick, direct movement, my entire body would become aligned with her touch. She never faltered to believe in me and push me just beyond the limits I had fearfully set for myself. She is a warrior leader who guides you to become a warrior yourself.

I loved her use of Sanskrit, English, and un poquitito de Español throughout the class. She was able to manage personal cues for the entire room throughout the duration of the practice. Even though I am trained to teach yoga, it’s this particular trait that I have not mastered which keeps me from teaching. I need to be able to have a bird's eye view of the group and keep the perfect pace while also privately adjusting to the needs of an overwhelming number of individuals. She was a Terminator in that regard. The count was as deeply ingrained in her mind as it was in the bodies of the front-row yogis.

Natasha was incredibly present, and it assisted me in deepening my presence during the practice. She is a master at instructing yoga. It was a blessing to have taken her class. And lastly, she had a great sense of humor, and it allowed me to work hard but have fun. Those are the classes I always come out of feeling so naturally high. I am grateful to Natasha and Hanu Yoga for the fabulous practice.