ESZTER

By profession, I am a linguist, literary scholar, and aesthetician, and I am currently deepening my knowledge through a Master's program in Clinical and Health Psychology. Although my professional paths are diverse, the common thread running through them is the adventurer in me—always looking for new dimensions. Every major shift in my life has been driven by this pulsing, inner curiosity, and that same spark is what led me to yoga.

Between 2013 and 2016, I practiced Hatha yoga three times a week, and then in 2016, I traveled to India. It was there that the decision took shape to understand more deeply the processes unfolding within and around me: during moments spent at the cremation ghats of Varanasi over Diwali, a visceral feeling made me realize that the true language of experience lies in the unity of body and mind, and revealing it comes through regular practice. Returning home, I enrolled in the beginner Ashtanga course at Bandha Works.

During my very first chaturanga, I quietly hoped this movement wouldn't become a regular feature in my life. And during headstand (śīrṣāsana), which we tried together as a group, I was almost certain we were heading for a collective domino effect. My first thought was quickly overwritten by reality, but my second hunch did come true to some extent. When István brought up the possibility of starting Mysore-style practice at the end of the course—three times a week, from 6 AM, preferably on an empty stomach—I put off the decision for a whole year: all three requirements felt like serious challenges.

The turning point came in 2017 when, "by chance," I saw that Saraswati Jois was offering an Ashtanga workshop at MagNet House. I took it as a sign and went. That 6-day intensive experience ultimately brought me back to Bandha Works, and my Mysore practice has been unbroken ever since. In the years that followed, I practiced alternately at Bandha (whenever I was in Budapest) and on my own (during Covid and while traveling). During this period, I had the privilege of practicing with several wonderful teachers, including Santina Giardina-Chard, Hamish Hendry, Harmony Slater, Réka Molnár, Ross Stambaugh, Vedanta, and SharathJi.

In the words of GuruJi Pattabhi Jois: "Practice and all is coming"—a thought I now resonate with completely.

My psychology studies and stepping onto the mat each day complement each other beautifully. Ashtanga yoga is dedication, commitment, inner strength, and discipline. It is a kind of surreal present moment and a mirror in which I see myself existing and non-existing at the same time—the reflection of the true self beneath the surface, opening the way to real seeing. It redefines the "space of a quarter-centimeter": a place simultaneously dissolving and being created, breaking down into particles quarter-centimeter by quarter-centimeter to open new inner channels and guide me toward the unknown along a constantly vibrating, ascending spiral.

This is the adventure I want to pursue for the rest of my life.