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Perspective Stillness from Within Gricia Gan alignment between the intellectual mind (thoughts), the emotional being (feelings) and the physical body (speech and action). WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS PHOTO, I immediately decided it was my favourite of Yogananth’s most recent shoot in Bali. He seemed surprised but I elaborated it’s because it captures the essence of yoga - stillness within. Yoga transformed my life; probably a comment you commonly hear from friends who practice regularly. As an athlete at school, I engaged in vigorous cardiovascular, strength and resistance training that naturally lead me to the gym. Up until last year, I was still doing marathon, long hikes and mountain climbing in exotic locations. During all of these activities my body felt different to me, it felt highly-strung like an elastic that had been stretched to its snapping point. All my muscles were tight and the majority of my joints were not properly aligned. As a result, I was living with an array of chronic pains that sent me to masseurs, doctors, physiotherapists, and eventually, Yogananth. Hatha yoga has revolutionised my physical workout, eating habits, mental health and emotional being. As I write this today, I have never felt closer to the meaning of “being true to myself ”, something I used to struggle with. Being true to oneself, by my definition, involves a complete In our day-to-day human relationships, this means having an opinion towards someone, feeling the same about them and acting the same towards him or her. Hence if you like someone, you will feel happy around them and your actions will reflect how much you care for him or her. This sounds simple; however, if you review your personal relationships with the people in your life – your workmates, your boss, your friends, family and relatives - you will discover misalignments that may need adjustments or simple awareness. For me, this alignment has been moving into place over time and the answers keep surfacing from within me as I practice regularly. Often after a satisfying practice, answers to doubts and questions in my mind reveal themselves. This profound clarity is a result of the internal alignment of my mind, heart and body. Over time, I feel this practice has given me a space where I can retreat to for silence and stillness when my mind is troubled with fear and doubt or when my own body physically challenges me. This photo is the most powerful of the collection simply because Yogananth sat at the ledge of a 100ft cliff in Uluwatu, with crashing waves thrice his height behind him while posing in a variation of eka pada rajakapotasana. Even the photographer retreated inland a little, joking he was not paid enough to take this kind of risk! after a satisfying practice, answers to doubts and questions reveal themselves Despite all this excitement and movement, within him and written on his face, I see and feel that his stillness is from within. Gricia enjoys her daily yoga practice and is a graduate of Yogananth Andiappan’s 300-hour yoga teacher training. She is a volunteer at the Yogananth Andiappan community: involved in organising events; taking photos and teaching. 37