The Classic Beauty of India plus Ashtanga: Beata’s Photos
Here’s another feast for the eyes, photos from (and of) my friend, Beata Skrzypacz, taken during her recent trip to India this year. The photographer was Tom Rosenthal.
Beata is from Poland and now works as a yoga teacher and designer in Palo Alto, California. She practices regularly at Yoga is Youthfulness, our local Ashtanga yoga studio.
Here’s what Tom has to say about the photos:
The photos that Beata and I did together resonate with the depth that comes from a deep meditative yoga practice. At the time the photos were taken, in the winter of 2006, we were both practicing daily in Mysore with Sharath Rangaswamy and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Practicing at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute is inspiring.
India is a spiritual place. It is easy to find examples of devotion and gratitude among people who have little material wealth. This encourages me to go beyond personal liberation to a mindset of wanting to help others. We were involved in a program to teach yoga as a therapy in rehabilitation of abused children. I would like my photos to inspire others to find yoga compelling and to give it a try for themselves. Yoga has the power to transform a person. It can create a great healing energy which often results in better health, calmness, and a sense of peace. It has the ability to make life better. Yoga makes the world better, one practice at a time.
My photos of Beata had the context of being taken in transformational spaces, whether in the palace
where Krishnamacharya had his shala, a 5,000 year old Shiva temple, or a street location bustling with the energy of daily life. Beata embodies in her being and in her yoga practice, the true beauty and grace that has enabled yoga to survive for over 5,000 years.
Padmasana
Kapotasana
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
Tom in Padmasana
Hanumanasana
Garudasana
Someone very much loves winter 
I Wish to...
J. Alfredo said,
September 7, 2006 @ 5:20 pm
Hy, I am Alfredo, Im from Brazil and in my contry we use to practice a lot yoga. So, I would like to say hello for everybody practice Ashtanga Yoga. Congratulations for beatiful prhotos .
We Like Yoga - a weblog focusing on the latest in yoga news, fashion and lifestyle » Yoga style and Paul McCartney said,
September 9, 2006 @ 11:12 am
[...] Ashtanganews has some beautiful yoga and india photos. [...]