Adagio Flow: Tree Goddess

😌 mellow, relaxing, yummy // 50 mins. // Nicky // spotify 🎵

This is a lovely gentle stretchy class that opens up lots of space in the side body. Perhaps more importantly it contains a wee 5 minute art history lesson to start. Learn about the ancient cult of Yakshis - tree goddesses and embody their graceful curves within the flow.

The image we discussed can be found here and is currently held in the British Museum.

Perhaps this is an even more beautiful example of a yakshi. She is from Bhārut in Central India. She is an absolute masterpiece of the Sunga period (2nd - 1st century BCE). Her hair is in a long braid, casually slung forward of her shoulder and cascading down the back of her hip. She is clothed in jewels and bracelets and she is wearing a beautiful turban that close up shows incredible details of the types of cloth used during these times. When she touches the branch overhead, it burst into flower and fruit, symbolic evidence of her supernatural powers and potent fertility.

Detailed information about this sacred temple complex can be viewed here.