A Spiritual Discipline - Yoga on Koh Phangan

Want to know more about yoga? Is it for you? How did it become so big on Koh Phangan?

With a little help from our yogi friends we will tell you more...

Mihaela has practised yoga since she was a child and was trained in Romania, she explains a little about its history -

‘India was the place where Yoga was born but now they don’t have as many schools aligned with the original yoga teachings. Something important was hidden on the way during so many centuries and now is available for only few initiated people who are lucky to study yoga with a genuine yoga master.

India is wonderful for her cultural and spiritual sides but also in India you will find the local indians living in nearly medieval conditions. But you can still find some good spiritual masters and schools  in India if you are looking for something like this.

About Koh Phangan yoga now...
'Yoga in Koh Phangan became famous with Agama.

Agama came to Koh Phangan in around 2001, it started with just a few pupils and now it is very huge. Before this there may have been a few yogis practising alone here but not on a big organised scale, the Full Moon party was bringing various people but they would not stay too long’.

We asked Mihaela to explain about the different types of yoga that she knows of –

‘Hatha yoga is yoga which is good for the physical body, your health state is in connection with your mental condition.

It improves the wellness of the entire body. You will be more healthy, happy, rejuvenated and more satisfied with your life. It consists of doing yoga postures (asana is the name), holding them for a while, like one, two or three minutes which gets the activation of the specific subtle energetical centre of the body. Through this you are loaded with energy from the Universe which heals and rejuvenates, you will feel much better after, like flying’.

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‘There is also Tantra yoga which is attracting many people but it can get a bit misunderstood. People hear that Tantra is all about sex but Tantra is not about this. Tantra is a way of connecting on a higher level with the one you love and both to be connected with the highest source of the Universe.

Tantra means ‘connection’ or ‘link’, the connection between everybody and the Universe, the connection between microcosmos and Macrocosmos.

In Tantra yoga you have the left hand path and the right hand path, right hand Tantra has no connection with the physical sex but left hand Tantra does. With left hand Tantra you use your sexual energy as a way to elevate yourself but this is possible through love not through sex. Loving one person, understanding them and making the connection on every level, the soul level, mental and spiritual, not only the sexual level’.

‘Laya - this is a meditation using a mantra which can be done without music and requires an initiation by the teacher.

Bhakti is devotional yoga, where you have devoted yourself to loving your God, you dedicate all your life worshipping and loving the God you already have or the spiritual higher self within you.
Because yoga is not religious, it’s a spiritual discipline so this would be worshipping the God you already have as personal religious belief or your Highest Inner Self if you have none ’

Mihaela explains some more benefits of yoga –

‘You can gain a lot of different, good things, yoga is good for the physical body but you don’t have to abuse it of course or stretch too much, do it in a pleasant way, as long as there is no pain in your body while you do this yoga posture.

It gives you health confidence and can help against the ageing process, you can even stop your aging but this needs more practice, you have to do it for a while.

You can improve your health, become a better person and heal yourself in an easy way. It’s good for regenerating the body (you’ll have a lot of energy after an asana session)  and you can improve yourself in any direction, if you want to be become more loving, more intelligent or even more sexy, then this is possible through yoga asanas. You can discover who you really are also, your Highest purpose in this life, the hidden gifts hidden inside you which can improve your own life and other people ‚ life also. Do it with passion and many gifts you’ll receive after.

Yoga is a way of living for me and for many others. I hope you’ll discover it and then you’ll be in love with yoga also'.

We also spoke to Yaron Cohen, founder of the yoga dance, Stigidam -

What are the benefits of practising and teaching yoga on Koh Phangan compared to elsewhere?
There is a big yoga community here and you are always meeting like minded people.

Do you know anything about the history of how yoga got started here?
I heard it was started twenty years ago around Haad Rin.

Why do you think it has become such a centre for yoga?
Many Yoga people dedicate thousands of hours to their practice so they work less, I think people have found Koh Phangan cheaper than Samui but still as amazing if not more!

This is just a little introduction, you can find out more about yoga on Koh Phangan by reading some of our yogi interviews!