Potterverse asanas!

Now, don’t forget that nice wrist movement we’ve been practicing! The swish and flick!” This instruction by Professor Flitwick in his Charms Class, in the Harry Potter series, on executing a spell properly, could soon be what your yoga instructor tells you during your morning work-out session!

Of course, we are talking about the latest phenomenon to hit the ever-evolving world of asanas — Harry Potter Yoga, which was introduced to the world last month by Texas-based instructor Isabel Beltran, on the occasion of Halloween.
Conducted at a brewery, it was turned into Hog’s Head inn for the activity! When news of the routine that was derived from the Potterverse broke, naturally the internet took it upon itself to make the idea a sensation — to the point where many teachers globally, including India, decided to introduce HP-inspired exercises into their classes.

As demand for the next session runs at fever-pitch (it’s scheduled to happen on November 20, to coincide with the release of Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them), we reach Isabel herself for an exclusive on the
concept.

A ‘magical’ idea
I am deeply humbled and honored by the response; it feels great to know that I can inspire other teachers around the world.  Especially in India, the birthplace of yoga over 5,000 years ago!

My sister Ximena Larkin and I were talking about how we could make a Halloween-yoga class more fun and bring newcomers into yoga. Then, she brought up Potter because it’s the night Harry’s parents died and we thought it would be great way to celebrate Harry Potter and his parents’ death.  

We were born in Mexico and celebrate the Day of the Dead — from our culture’s perspective, Dia de los muertos celebrates life (of other’s as well as our own).  This in turn made me reflect about savasana (corpse pose) and how it’s said to be one of the most difficult asanas to master, because in a sense it’s a type of conscious dying, of letting go of all the extra layers (kosas) and surrendering to the universe.

Parallels between Harry Potter and yoga
My sister also suggested reading The Story of the Three Brothers from The Deathly Hallows, which tied in seamlessly into the themed-class sequence at the end with corpse pose. There are a lot of of parallels between Harry Potter and yoga! First off, in the sense that the wizards and yogis approach their practices mindfully and with an equal focus of effort and ease (stirasukham asanam). We do this through using our prana (life force energy), body through the asanas and soul.

The three final limbs of yoga, known as Samaya (concentration, meditation, and absorption) can give us earthly, magical powers just like the wizards. Maharishi Patanjali who wrote the Yoga Sutras in 200-400 CE wrote this ancient text, from which modern yoga comes (I think Patanjali and Dumbledore would have gotten along splendidly). Patanjali also documented a lot about magical Ayurveda recipes (reminiscent of Snape’s magic potions class) which helped heal many people’s bodies back then and continues to do so today.  

Perfecting the routine
You are supposed to focus, using the breath in yoga, which is very similar to make a spell work. The Patronus charm is one where you must concentrate on a happy memory, otherwise it doesn’t work. We incorporated that into the class. Classic asanas were renamed to fit the theme. For example, Adho Mukha Svanasana was changed to Downward-Griffindor! Chatarunga Dandasana was changed to broomstick/Nimbus 2000.  

A lot of the standing yoga poses resemble HP wizards standing and practicing their spells. Yogis sometimes repeat mantras out loud or silently during practice (i.e. “I am centered, I am happy, I am free”) when doing a posture and return to the breath. It’s like expectopatronum when Harry and other wizards are trying to activate a spell!

In the aftermath
Following the success, actors Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasely) and Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) from the Harry Potter movies were just two of the celebrities who posted that they’d love to try a session of the same!

“That’s amazing. I would love to have the Harry Potter cast join us. How magical would that be? The invitation is out there, I welcome any cast member to join us. Yoga is on me. And which of the characters would have been good at it? Hmm. Hermione was a bit high strung, if you ask me. She could have definitely used yoga to help her unwind!”

Isabel concludes by saying that she’d love to collaborate, and  that her goal is to, “spread the message of all the wonderful, healing benefits of yoga. It has transformed my life, inside and out, and I want to help others do the same.  It would be a dream to teach and practice yoga in India. I’m open and welcome any opportunities to do so. I’d also be happy to be a resource. I’ve learned so much from my past teachers, so the least I can do is share what I’ve learned on this journey so far.”

Reactions from India

 Sarvesh Shashi, Zorba Renaissance Studio
I think it’s a fascinating idea and I’d love to incorporate it into our routine. This pop-culture high makes yoga ‘cooler’ for those who have been averse to it earlier — in fact, I wish India (considering our association with yoga) had come up with something like this earlier, before the west. Several actors also had tweeted on the same after reading about this  — imagine if that happened in India? It would only create more awareness amongst their fans. The session conducted in the U.S was at a brewery, where participants even had a pint afterwards!

Niharika Kamaleshwar, Orange Ray multi-specialty centre
It’s a fun idea… but practicing it beyond a point is debatable. Yoga is supposed to be the connection of the mind, body and soul — and carrying wands, being dressed up in costume, etc., might cause distraction.