 | | Christianne Nirvano teaches Yoga Vinyasa Flow in
several locations in Helsinki and Kauniainen. | |
The power of yoga lies in its great knowledge of the body and mind. It can change the way you see the world around you. Brazilian Christianne Nirvano first came to Finland about three years ago, after having met her Finnish husband during a yoga retreat in Italy. She fell in love with the country, its culture and the organised way of living and decided to stay. She has introduced Yoga Vinyasa Flow to her Finnish students and the feedback has been positive. Nirvano started practicing yoga 12 years ago. She had a background in physical education but much to her surprise, yoga taught her new things about her body and most of all the unity of body and mind. “I noticed that there was something else in yoga. Yoga is a huge body of knowledge, it changes the way you see the world around you,” Nirvano explains. She started traveling around the world and studied yoga with several gurus. Nowadays she teaches Yoga Vinyasa Flow, which is a free fusion of several Hatha Yoga styles, most of all Iyengar Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga. Yoga Vinyasa Flow hasn’t got a strict set of rules carved into stone. According to Nirvano, every teacher can stress the aspect that he or she sees as the most important. Nirvano herself emphasises the alignment of muscles and bones in the asanas (positions) to free the flow of energy. Body and mind A Yoga Vinyasa Flow class starts with breathing exercises and continues with postures that help gain awareness of the different parts of one’s body and how they work. The aim of the class is a holistic energy flow in which the body and mind come together. “In old times yoga used to be more integrated, the same teacher would teach many things. Slowly the different aspects of yoga became more separated. Yoga Vinyasa Flow represents a process in the evolution of yoga and its return to itself,” Nirvano explains. A return because it unites the aspects that somehow have grown apart; an evolution because it permits the creation of new ways to teach the essence of yoga considering the new age, culture and needs of the actual society. It has been said about Yoga Vinyasa Flow that it has all the dynamic aspects of Ashtanga yoga without the negative side effects, such as casual backache, and that it is also friendlier to the joints as the asanas are performed very accurately and any wrong postures are thus avoided. Nirvano, however, doesn’t want to praise her own yoga style at the expense of others. ”One yoga style is not better than the other, rather there is a suitable style for everyone,” she says and continues: ”We are all biologically individual, so we shouldn’t compare our reactions with others. A lot depends also on the teacher and the interaction between the teacher and the student.” Nirvano recommends yoga to each and everyone. However, she wants to underline the meaning of sustainability and continuity when practicing yoga. “One must give oneself a chance to try yoga for a longer period. It takes some work and self-discipline, but eventually yoga is a way to deeper consciousness, balance and most importantly, happiness.” Kati Hurme - HT |
