Interview of Ashtanga Practitioners in Tokyo
In a previous post we talked about Lisa Hill from Chicago who is currently teaching in Tokyo. Here is an interview of some of her students and co-teachers from the Tokyo Yoga studio in Shibuya.
What do you think about yoga students in Tokyo?
It’s becoming more competitive. Everyone is too strict, too serious. Most people are doing only two things: yoga and work. They should enjoy doing some other stuff. Girls, especially, need to make time to find a boyfriend. Most serious practitioners are not even dating.
What do you get out of Ashtanga?
Makes my creativity sharp, and gives me power to work. If I don’t practice Ashtanga, I am not inspired to do anything but sleep. It is a source of energy. Sometimes physically, it makes me tired, but whenever I practice, my mind and heart get more energy. Ashtanga can make me exhausted. It’s hard to get heat. Practicing brings results, bringing self confidence.
Yoga for us: a source of energy
How is Lisa’s teaching different from yours?
I can understand her philosophy about Ashtanga, which is the same for me. I like it, because she teaches calmly. She feels very settled in my classes. Her style is traditional, not allowing people to skip what they don’t like and adjusting so frequently is hard. She has lots of experience teaching Mysore class and we can learn a lot. We are open to teachers coming in as long as it’s traditional.
How do you (Lisa) teach Mysore-style to someone who does not speak the same language? It must challenging dealing with injuries, “problem students” who push too much, new postures, etc.
That could be a whole article in and of itself. I don’t speak in American classes much, so language is not much of a problem. Japanese students are very tolerant. They never say “it hurts” as if they trying to keep feeling in. They can be not very honest in that sense. Sometimes maybe they should tell the teacher, “your adjustment is too hard”. Japanese students are too modest, so they hesitate to say “it’s not good”. Knowing this, I’ve been adjusting very gently, working with their own breath, not pushing them. I can tell if there is pain by looking at the student and how they are practicing. Sometimes I need a translator, but some teachers have decent English, so they can help with that. So far it has not been much of an issue. Pushing too hard, there are a couple, but they refused to listen long before I came into the scene.
Flyer for Lisa’s Workshop “adjasutomento no shingi” The Art of Adjustment
Are there any written materials or websites about Ashtanga practice and technique?
Yoga Mala, John Scott, Ashtanga Yoga for Women, yoga sutras websites in Japanese - there aren’t any websites for Ashtanga in Japanese. Except for Mindy’s blog, which gives them knowledge from some of the scene in Chicago.
What is the “workshop scene” like in Tokyo (or Japan)?
Very good. We have many good teachers who visit. Rolf Naujokat, David Swenson, John Scott, David Roche, Danny Paradise, Nancy Gilgoff, Govinda Kai, Mark Darby, Sharath, Petri Raisanen, Anthony Carlisi, Shankra Darby, Natalia Paison, Louisa Sears.
What are the differences you noticed between Ashtanga in Japan and the teachers who come from other parts of the world?
No difference. They just teach traditional Ashtanga system. We can learn lots of things from experienced teachers. We enjoy studying with the teachers. It’s very good to be taught by someone experienced. Sharing their experience is very good, but we are always looking for “our” Ashtanga.
Fun community: examples from a t-shirt competition
Erin said,
December 27, 2006 @ 5:13 am
Is anyone going to comment on “Girls, especially, need to make time to find a boyfriend. ” I guess it’s a cultural thing, but that kind of patronizing statement makes me laugh, with sadness for women in Japan.
tracy said,
December 27, 2006 @ 10:27 am
I think that “Girls, especially, need to make time to find a boyfriend.” is interesting and funny.
I always try to give the benefit of the doubt to people, especially those who are giving interviews in a language that is not their own and who most likely do not give many interviews.
Erin, how do you think it might feel to have your thoughts called “patronizing” in such a situation?
I think that maybe you could have left a more constructive comment. One statement in one article makes you feel sad for all women in Japan?
(By the way, what is your culture? We need to classify you properly!
Data indicates that most of our readers are United Statesean, by the way.)
I’d like to again thank Lisa, Yuka, Miyuki and Katzu for taking the time to contribute to AshtangaNews!
Erin said,
December 27, 2006 @ 1:27 pm
Waiting for many days to see if someone would make a comment about it was my first step towards . . . not saying anything. Basically, regardless of the cuture, the statement is sexist. And regardless of where the sexism takes place, I still believe we should speak up. Yes, I am from the U.S. and spend plenty of time dealing with various forms of bigotry. Just thought it was worth not letting go. I’m married and that sure does get in the way of my ashtanga! (the early to bed, early to rise doesn’t always go over well)
Erin said,
December 27, 2006 @ 1:28 pm
Also, commenting on “the news” in no way means I don’t want the news. This is a blog after all–shouldn’t we comment?
lisa said,
December 30, 2006 @ 7:50 pm
yes, i think it’s very important to consider cultural differences. i don’t think the interviewed meant to be patronizing. lots of women in tokyo are fine without boyfriends. i think what she meant is there’s no time between work and yoga for dating, that’s all.
AshtangaNews » Practicing Mysore-Style Ashtanga in Tokyo - Ashtanga Yoga Matters (as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois) said,
August 22, 2007 @ 10:55 pm
[...] I was fortunate to travel to Tokyo recently, and as I always do when visiting far away lands, I went to try out the Mysore-Style studios there. Let me add that I love Japan, having lived there for two years before I had discovered Ashtanga Yoga. After reading on AshtangaNews.com about how popular this style of yoga had become there (here, here and here), I was eager to see for myself. [...]
AshtangaNews » Ashtanga Geography Quiz: Parts I and II - Ashtanga Yoga Matters (as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois) said,
November 18, 2007 @ 11:00 pm
[...] We’ve been happy to have Lisa as a writer for AshtangaNews in Interview of Ashtanga Practitioners in Tokyo as well as to highlight her insightful work before in The Ashtanga Role Models of the Future: Live from Tokyo and many of the photos here. [...]
Ben said,
December 14, 2007 @ 9:53 am
Ｅｒｉｎさんの考え方は固いと思う。自分の理想にこだわり過ぎて、女と男の社会的な立場が平等ではないからこそ女の人は男の人より色々考えた方がいいかも。Get someone to translate it for you if your interested. Japan is a fairly sexist country but I can think of much worse things to be than being mildly sexist. Unless you think that sexism and being a misogynist are the same thing. After all chivalry is based on a kind of sexism. The stigma that goes with being labelled sexist is so strong partly because we don’t make a distinction between misogynist and sexist. One should always stand up to a misogynist, but maybe we could be alittle kinder to those with old fashioned or culturally different perspectives about the differences between men and women.