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January 26, 2014 by Ananda Kennard

Article with Ananda

ananda fire log

 

Words by Ali Fleming
Photography by Vassi Dyulgerova

Yoga is one of those practices we return to every couple of months or so in a bid to lengthen our limbs, increase our flexibility and of course, calm our busy minds. Upon meeting Ananda Trettin – a devout yogi – we felt that familiar urge resurface, but with added enthusiasm. Our Adho Mukha Svanasana (or for the uninitiated, our downward-facing dog pose ) took shape instinctively. We’d agree that Ananda’s own understanding of why she undertakes the practice, also guides others toward her studios, “It has helped me emotionally find stability, physically find strength and spiritually rediscover and establish faith”.

For Ananda, yoga isn’t a once a week endeavour. It is a lifestyle and one she has embraced wholeheartedly, “I have my dogs and a hubby, and they all do yoga too, so it gives us the opportunity to play together with a shared interest.  Mostly our puppies just do down/up dog, but still it’s a fairly consistent practice…”. It has also seen Ananda open the doors of her successful Preshana Hatha yoga studios, one in Sydney’s east and the other in the inner-west. Ananda explains her business and lifestyle go hand in hand, with yoga a prominent aspect of her everyday, “I was fortunate enough to recently go to the Galapagos on a yoga retreat with my husband, which was a wonderful experience on many levels. So my life outside of Preshana is still intimately connected to yoga practice”.

While Ananda’s poise and grace may have you believe this former-model is dripping in confidence, she explains it is only in recent years she has ‘come into her own’, so to speak. Her time spent modeling, through her teens and twenties, was a period she describes as being, “traumatic, confusing and confronting”. While her creative surroundings were an inspiration in and of themselves, “I loved being a part of such a creative powerful industry. Having the gift of working with leading design houses and photographers gave me wonderful insights into the world of artistic and philosophical creation”, she acknowledges pain connected to the modeling industry was “simply because I was growing up” and that, “For better or worse my way of learning seems to be the school of hard knocks”.

In discovering what she did and didn’t like about a very consuming industry, Ananda sought comfort in the practice of yoga, “I had hit rock bottom – probably even dropped below rock bottom to a place where I had followed this belief and way of living that was based on the idea that I was not good enough… I knew that if I continued to move in that direction that life would cease to be. One day, I had an epiphany and I realized that the way that I would be able to shift my life and turn things around would be through the practice of yoga – by pouring myself deeply into its teachings”.

Ananda’s first studio opened in Glebe – a shop front with her home at the back. Beginning as something of a co-op structure – “The studio started as a donation-based studio… It started with some new teachers who all wanted a space to teach and share”, Preshana has continued evolving into a successful small business venture. When the need for more room presented itself, Ananda found the light-filled space of her Oxford Street, Darlinghurst premises, “After five years of being open and having experienced moderate success, I felt a tremendous yearning to expand the space with a location that would be accessible to people in the eastern suburbs in Sydney. Stepping into the larger space, I had no idea what was going to be asked of me, or the degree I would need to grow in every way in order to develop that space. Darlinghurst has now been open for almost two years and within those two years I have absolutely been pushed to my full capacity”.

Every aspect of the Darlinghurst studio resounds Ananda’s personal values of strength and respect: the openness of the space, Ananda’s staff and fellow teachers, as well as the woman behind it all. Within the world of Preshana, one feels completely at home and in good hands, “People can come to Preshana with confidence that they will receive knowledgeable instruction and that they will receive more personalized attention to alignment in the poses… Growing a strong and vibrant community is important to me, and I would love to see our student body expand as our culture becomes stronger and more stable on these roots”.

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Comments

  1. Steven says

    February 27, 2014 at 1:57 pm

    Great words shared by Ali and thanks to Jim for considering this article for posting here!! About Yoge form plenty of good notes has been shared and I think through learning these notes people will inspire to do Yoga to revive their body muscles and get rid of various types of pain very naturally. Thanks.

  2. Owen says

    March 2, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    This article is worth reading. Very significant information shared here regarding Yoga postures. The importance of Yoga within human body is enormous and I am regularly doing Yoga for body strength improvement. Thanks.

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Testimonials

I have attended many of Ananda’s classes over the last few years, and I love to be her student whenever I can. Being a teacher myself I am discerning when it comes to attending a yoga class and Ananda is my favourite teacher in Sydney. She is one of those rare person who you know is meant to be a yo…
Dominique Marill
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My first class with Ananda completely changed my view on yoga and sparked a sense of curiosity that I had not had before. She has an acute awareness and understanding of the body and movement, which she so clearing articulates. She explores movement and alignment seamlessly and effortlessly. He…
Heidi Ancich
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Ananda is a special teacher and unlike any other that I have had the privilege to study under. Her passion for yoga is evident in everything that she does and she walks a path of truth and understanding. Her classes are taught with a clear and thorough understanding of the body so that her students …
Cassy teacher
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Ananda has awaken my practice. Her presence in the yoga room draws attention to a person’s body, mind and soul. She teaches with passion in her heart. Her classes are never easy but her tough love for students pays off. Her constructive and detailed instructions brought me out of my comfort zone and…
June Chard
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I have had the pleasure of working with Ananda since early 2014. Preshana was the first studio to bring international teachers to Australia, and through Ananda and Preshana I have participated in teacher trainings and workshops put on by the studio, including in a 200hr training with Naoh Mazé and …
Rachel Falconer
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Ananda is intuitive and her classes uncannily sensitive to the current mood. She has challenged me to work toward my individual capabilities. Perhaps more importantly, Ananda has presented yoga in a way philosophically that can be taken out of the yoga class and into everyday life. Yoga has been a…
Christine Price
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After practicing all different types of yoga for over 15 years you know when you’ve come across a special teacher. Ananda is one of those rare teachers with the ability to teach with ease, humour and technical precision all at the same time. She can sense what each student needs at so it feels like …
Jared
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Ananda is among the best of teachers. And the best of teachers constantly learn, grow, shift and expand. I have witnessed and experienced this in her classes. Her passion for the craft is infectious. While guiding and prompting and encouraging with rigour, the element of play is ever present…
Tracy Mann
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I began practicing yoga as a beginner with Ananda five years ago. At the time I experienced frequent, severe migraines, back and neck pain and wrist pain which all resolved themselves within several months of attending Ananda’s classes. I have taken Ananda’s classes as a beginner, during pregnancy a…
Student
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I am writing this as a personal reference for Ananda Trettin. Ananda has been my yoga teacher for over 5 years, during which time she has guided me through a truly unique physical and spiritual yoga journey. I had been practicing for many years, various styles of yoga, before joining Ananda’s cl…
Karen McLeod
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