By Sharon Steffensen
Ukranian yoga master Andrey Lappa flew into Chicago on
a Friday afternoon in February looking for a place to teach
classes. He was expected to lead a workshop at Jivamukti in
New York on Monday, and wanted to visit Chicago first. Daren
Friesen offered him space at Moksha. On Friday night the class
was sparsely attended, but by Saturday afternoon, the word was
out. Studio 1 at Moksha was filled to capacity with students
eager to experience what this charismatic teacher with the
intense gaze and heavy Russian accent, wearing billowing,
genie-style pants had to offer.
In Andrey's class, you need two
mats making a "+" shape. Sometimes you're working vertically,
at other times horizontally; and, given the long sequences,
you need to move easily from one direction to another. Andrey
doesn't categorize his style-"it's simply yoga, unconditional
Unification with the Unbounded." In asana practice, he draws
from ashtanga vinyasa flows, the precision of the Iyengar
tradition, the individual sequencing technology of Viniyoga,
and other styles. He works one side of the body for several
minutes in a strong vinyasa style, and then repeats the
sequence on the other side.
Many of the poses were
impossible for all but the most flexible of us, especially
some of the arm balances with one leg wrapped behind the head
while flexing and straightening the arms-pushup style. If a
pose proved too advanced, students were encouraged to work the
pose in its easier form-attempting to put the leg behind the
head. Mostly we stared in awe-at first.
Some poses were
brand new to all of us-shoulder openers Andrey had learned
from the KGB. After practicing them a few days, we realized
they were training, not torture, techniques. One pose begins
on the belly with the right arm extended outward at shoulder
level. Keeping the arm in place, roll onto your right side
with your back moving towards the right arm on the floor. The
left hand reaches upward, then back toward the right hand.
Hold hands, if possible. Repeat on the other
side.
Another shoulder opener seems easy until you
realize you've got it wrong. Sitting on the floor, clasp your
hands behind your back. Roll the palms inward (not outward)
until they are flat on the floor. Slide your hips forward to
increase the stretch.
Andrey emphasized that practice
must be tailored to the individual and be in balance with
their lifestyle, that fixed sequences do not give us an
understanding of why we do them. He is also a strong believer
in weight training as a complement to yoga. In hatha yoga,
"ha," relates to strength and the external energy quality;
"tha" relates to stretching and relaxation. Too much "tha"
drains into the Spirit and starts to manifest as the "tha of
the Spirit," resulting in laziness, says Andrey. On the other
hand, muscles, developed by "ha" exercises, build strength,
which allow the accumulation of gravitational energy at the
physical level; and "tha" exercises (stretching) convert it to
a more refined psychic energy structure. Pranayama directs the
energy to the brain, expanding one's perception and resulting
in the ability to "see outside the limits."
The purpose
of practice is not form, but energy, says Andrey. "Yoga is
developing our consciousness, otherwise it is exotic
gymnastics. Yoga gives you Power of Spirit. You can use it in
your work, in your life, everywhere. You will be a good
example. You will have endurance to live a good quality life,
to be free and happy, to be developed.... If your
consciousness does not change, you are not doing
yoga."
Dance of Shiva
One of the most fascinating aspect of
Andrey's work is the "Dance of Shiva," a system for
development of consciousness, for breaking up conditioned
thinking, leading to what Andrey calls "controlled space" or
"controlled chaos." In his book, Yoga; Tradition of
Unification, Andrey describes it as "Continuous spiral
movements consisting of two complete counter-directional sine
curves." The purpose of the Dance of Shiva is to develop the
body's "controlling structures," increase the speed of the
controlling processes, and form "new algorithms of
transcendental links in the consciousness...which increase the
power and generation of the bio-processor."
The routine is
performed from a standing position with the feet apart, and
involves four horizontal arm movements, four vertical arm
movements, plus spiraling leg movements. Intense mental
concentration is required since each arm is moving into one of
the eight movements and one of the legs is moving in a spiral
direction. The sequencing of the movements is endless.
The
ancient Dance of Shiva was practiced holding cups containing
oil and lit wicks. These movements were widely used in early
Buddhist practices, and from them, applied martial art
techniques were developed.
Soviet background
As a
child Andrey trained as a swimmer on the Ukranian combined
team. His education is in engineering. He has lived and
studied for extensive periods of time in India, Nepal, Tibet
and China, learning esoteric techniques both from world
renowned teachers and hidden masters. He has visited His
Holiness the Dalai Lama at his Dharamsala residence several
times and received his blessing. Andrey has studied with
B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, Desikachar, Yogacharia Rudra
at the Sivananda ashram in the Himalayan foothills, and with
several martial arts masters. He has extensive training in
various types of meditation.
Andrey has taught yoga
continuously since 1987, withdrawing for periods for
pilgrimages to the East and collaboration in seminars and
conferences on yoga in other cities and countries. He is the
owner of a large yoga studio in a sports complex in Kiev with
more than 300 students and has been president of Kiev's Yoga
Federation since 1999. Andrey is considered to be one of the
most qualified and influential masters and professional
teachers of yoga in the ex-Soviet territory.
He has
succeeded in finding and bringing to the USSR ancient and
modern texts on the theory and practice of yoga to be
published and translated into Russian. As a result, there has
been a real "training-technological" revolution in the former
USSR, which has broadened the numbers of practitioners and has
raised the level of consciousness within practitioners,
trainers and teachers. Andrey regularly trains individuals and
conducts intensive seminars in cities of the former USSR, the
U.S., Germany, France, and Greece.
Andrey not only is
highly mentally and physically disciplined, he has exceptional
psychic energy abilities and has experienced profound
transformation of consciousness, which he shares in his book.
He says, "We must do yoga like a process where we get
experience in development for our body, for our energies, for
our chakras, for our morality, for our foods we eat. When we
start to practice, we start from the form, cleaning, tejas,
pranayama, butall these must be directed to the energetic
results later. When we have experienced how to direct energy,
we direct it to the awakening of the kundalini. Then we can
get real knowledge from our experience about understanding
ourselves, about our mission in this life, about our reason
for being born. It transforms your consciousness, a second
birth, in another personality."
Andrey Lappa's book, Yoga, Tradition of Unification, can be
purchased through Moksha Yoga Center, 312.942.9642. See also
Andrey's website: www.yoga.com.ua/lappa. He returns November 2-11 to Moksha Yoga.