L'esprit EliYoga
From Denmark to Paris, Eli evolves in a dynamic
of inner reflection, sport and well-being
If Elizabeth Malling, Eli, were a poetic form, it would be an oxymoron. Thin and powerful. Calm and dynamic. Muscular and fine. Airy lightness and earthly roots. She is the very embodiment of the yoga effect. In muscles and serenity, the illustration of her teaching. “ The first yoga,” she explains, “is the lotus pose, the journey within yourself. In each class, I try to create a space of trust, of collective benevolence so that each student can in turn create a space of freedom within himself/herself where he/she can discover and connect to himself/herself without fear and at the same time to others. We then all together experience the perfect osmosis which provides an extraordinary, palpable sensation of peace and collective energy. "
The instructor, tanned and radiating sincerity, in perfect French tinged with an accent recalling her roots beyond the Arctic Circle, this Danish-inuït invites you to discover her passion. Joining the body to the word, she demonstrates a sort of choreography of postures where all is breathing, concentration, extensions and twists. Are you afraid of lacking flexibility? of musculature? “ Regardless, you will win both by working them simultaneously and always at your own pace,” she reassures. The sequence of postures naturally stretches and tones the muscles. Envy is the only requirement of yoga. "
Are you worried about not “following” other students? “ Even in a group class, we do our own yoga. I do nothing forcefully, everyone must take their body as it is, with its ailments, its energy. Yoga is a good school for the challenge because it gives self-confidence by helping to open this closed door that our mind always puts in our way… ”Broken by twenty years of teaching, to those who inevitably get stuck in front of the new posture like the horse in front of the obstacle, she repeats tirelessly "don't say anymore" I don't know how to do "but" I don't know how to do YET! " "
For her, it all started at the age of eighteen in Copenhagen. The happy coincidence of a course offered by the company where she works. A revelation that will determine the meaning of his life. “ I was eighteen years old and I was in a very“ physical ”dynamic: swimming, running… I discovered a way of moving slowly, of consciously breathing, of stretching the muscles which brought another dimension to my sporting practice but also to myself. Yoga is the body and above all, the mind: an encounter with oneself. It makes you grow by revealing to you that there is something inside you, something bigger than you: a way of being in the world, right between heaven and earth. "
Each posture of the two yogas she teaches (hatha and vinyasa) is inspired by Indian mythology, Elizabeth Malling likes to tell her students about the adventures of the gods. To give them the esoteric keys to yoga but also to awaken their imagination. “ The images aroused by the tales give them emotions that will allow them to dare to discover the most hidden sensations of their body. "
This journey into the most intimate sensations has a viaticum: breathing or rather breathing! Whether abdominal, thoracic, clavicular, alternate, complete, square ... it is always the connection with oneself through one's own breath, learning of one's vital energy, its release, its circulation throughout the body. ... and the key to emotional balance, better concentration, mental calm, muscle relaxation, increased blood flow and energization of the brain, lower heart rate " Alas, it's cultural, we all reduce breathing in the inhale-exhale physiological act forgetting in passing the importance of the nose ”regrets Elizabeth Manning. So, because breathing is the very essence of yoga, that it alone allows posture and its evolution, so that the brain becomes aware in the slightest suspension of air of its complete process (nostril, larynx, spine, lungs, lower stomach ...) she begins each class with the respiratory awareness in meditation "a mandatory transition to interrupt the coming and going of thoughts and emotions that obstruct sensations."
Yoga or the panacea against all our ills? Not far away. In response, Elizabeth Malling who loves the lesson of humility of yoga " nothing is ever acquired, even a confirmed yogi remains an eternal student since the mind and the body constantly evolving, we never do a posture two in the same way » recalls this anecdote from the Budha. “ To someone who asks him what yoga has given him, Boudha replies' nothing. Instead, ask me what it made me lose: anxiety, anguish, anger, insecurity, fear of death and old age. "
