Yoga sequence accessible to all practitioners

Sunday 9th of October, 4-5:30PM

“The Rocket” is a sequence developed from the Ashtanga method by Larry Schultz in San Francisco during the 1980s. Larry was an American yoga teacher and student of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, K. Pattabhi Jois. The Ashtanga master named Shultz as “the bad man of Ashtanga Yoga”, as he was tempted to modify the traditional ashtanga sequence in order to perform some asanas that were not guided to him yet. Schultz learned the best from the K. Pattabhi Jois and for a while he taught his new sequence to the rock band “The grateful dead”, who gave the name “Rocket yoga”. Therefore, he created his own sequence by modifying and making the yoga sequence more inclusive and less restrictive, "more accessible to westerners". Larry says “The Rocket is designed to wake up the nervous system and feed it the precious prana it craves while promoting a spirit of change and freedom in the practice” in this way, Rocket yoga “it gets you there faster '' He was known for “breaking the rules”, that’s why in Rocket there are no “rules”, but there are some “principles” to follow. 

Basically, the most important in the 3 series from Rocket Yoga is Tristana: Drishti, Bandhas and Ujjayi. Tristana sets the rhythm of the practice and gets the student warm during the practice, it starts physical but it becomes spiritual. Rocket Yoga is a dynamic flow of yoga. The structure is like Ashtanga Vinyasa, consisting of a warm-up (Surya Namaskar A + B), after which one continues in the standing poses, seated poses, and ending with the traditional closing series. Students are encouraged to make their own interpretation of the traditional asana and can remove or modify binding postures. This makes the sequence accessible to all practitioners, even those who may have structural disabilities who would otherwise not be able to practice traditional Ashtanga Yoga methods. Rocket Yoga is a perfect balance of tempo and sequence. It incorporates advanced asanas including inversions, arm balances and backbends, but keeping the 3 series appropriate for all levels of students, as there are plenty of ways to modify the classical poses.