Ashley Old

Instructor

Collierville Yoga

J.D. & RYT-200 Kundalini YogaWhy do you love teaching yoga?  I absolutely love watching people progress on their spiritual path.  Yoga is the balancing of mind, body and spirit.  We often focus on the mind and body aspects of yoga rather than the spiritual aspect.  The type of yoga I teach, Kundalini Yoga, is heavily focused on balancing all three of these facets of yoga.  When students start to really consciously delve into their spiritual journey, they start to blossom.  They start to come out of the shell of who and what society and life have turned them into and instead start to walk in their truth.  This is a beautiful transformation to witness. What is your favorite pose? My favorite pose is not a pose at all, but rather, the practice of breath work.  We have available so many different types of pranayama (breath work) to achieve specified results.  It works much a like a prescription for different issues.  For example, there is a pranayama series for anti-anxiety, one for relieving stress, one for activating ourselves, one for relieving anger, one for overcoming our ego, and the list goes on and on.  It’s quick, easy, available to everyone and boy does it work!How did you get into yoga?  I practiced yoga for 10 years several times a week before I really “got into yoga.” That is to say, I didn’t fall head over heels in love until I met Kundalini.  It was not love at first try but it did not take long to realize what the practice was doing for me.  It helped me with physical injuries, but more than that it was the missing piece of the puzzle I had been searching for on my spiritual journey.  It is an unbelievably powerful practice which calls people when the time is right.  My time was right as I was experiencing a host of issues which I later learned Kundalini Yoga specifically targets (hormonal issues, anxiety issues, communication issues, physical issues, nervous system issues, lack of passion for life, and a lack of direction and purpose) and I was actively looking for my TRUE spiritual path.  It was the brightly lit street light gently guiding me on my spiritual path.  SAT NAM!Tell us a funny yoga story.  I absolutely love to laugh.  It has got to be one of my absolute favorite past times.  The first time I went to yoga in my young twenties, I had no idea what to expect.  The process, the sounds, the seriousness of the class struck my funny bone, and once that happens I cannot regain composure (ask anyone who knows me well).  I was literally crying laughing in the class trying to contain myself but ultimately had to leave the class because I was so hysterical.  I tell students in my class to “please laugh hard and often in here!”  The exercises in Kundalini Yoga can be way out of the box and make you feel silly and childlike – it’s just another reason I love this practice.  Live. Love.  And Laugh!