Stop A Cold In Its Tracks

Dear Yogis

I caught a short-lasting cold from a yogi last Friday. As we're coming into the sneezing season I thought I would write about whether you should practice yoga or not. My answer would be... da da dah, no! I know people drag themselves to work with a cold and I know our culture is to soldier on. Despite sick pay, people pressure themselves to go to work and get on with it. Yoga is different. No soldiers; no warriors!

Your body needs rest. It's usually impossible to breathe or focus anyway. Breath and focus is the definition of yoga! When exercising in sickness, energy is used by the muscles instead of going to the immune system for fighting off germs. Your cold will last longer. Avoid gym and studio classes. Hot, steamy yoga rooms will happily incubate germs, brewing them nicely in the air for others to breathe!

Here's something I always take and it stops a cold in its tracks; Samahan. It’s a variety herbs and spices and has a peppery taste. My grandmother used to make the home-made version known as Peyava. (Sri Lanka had a traditional medicinal practice before the Indian Aryuveda system was introduced on the island).

Home Studio

At the end of this month I’ll be training all day every day with David Swenson. Some classes are missing, therefore, from the evening timetable. However, there are plenty of spaces next week. Last week I put on an extra Tuesday class because all other classes were so stuffed. I’ll do the same next week if the same happens.

Also, I’ve taken on a couple of weekend classes at Yoga West, all starting at 8.30 and all 75 minutes. They are this Sunday 5th and next Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th. It’s a lovely space.

Training

And for those interested in Pregnancy Yoga, tomorrow is the first day of a class offered by a very dear yogi friend. Pregnancy Yoga will be on Saturday mornings in Leighton Hall. Contact Tzaddi at tzaddilove@gmail.com if you’re interested.

Yoga in the News

For the Royalists among you, the ‘Duchess of Cornwall: Older people should do yoga to keep supple’. Not much in the news apart from yoga with puppies, or goats or cats or beer!

Happy bonfire night!

Tunnel of Love

Dear Yogis

The most inspiring thing that happened at the Yoga Show – of all the inspiring things - was in David Sye’s Shamanistic Trip. There must have been two hundred of us in the cavernous room, maybe more. We finished the class with what I will remember as a Tunnel of Love. He developed this when teaching Palestinians and Israelis in his Yoga Beats Conflict project.

We lined up facing each other making a narrow corridor. Here’s what happened: one after the other, we walked with eyes closed down the centre and people on either side whispered: “You’re amazing”, You rock”, You’re a wonderful person”, “You’re gorgeous”, “You have a beautiful soul”, “You have a beautiful smile”, “You’re an inspiration”, “You are loved”... whispering golden loveliness into the ears of the passer-by. We all went through and we were all cherished and celebrated by complete strangers who, for that moment, really loved each other. One girl cried as she walked and then we were all tearing up! It was completely moving. I have to insist that you come with me next year!

Home Studio   

More loveliness in my little studio this week; more trainees observing and more yogis getting a little further, a little deeper and a little more self-knowledge in classes. At the yoga show I learnt a small amount of Thai Yoga Massage so taught this to the Tuesday class. I love teaching you. There are still places in next Thursday’s 6.00 class. All booked up otherwise. If you’re interested in notifications about cancellations, I’ll create a Whatsapp group to notify you if a space pops up. If you’d like to be on the group let me know.

A few of you are doing teacher training and a few of you are qualified but not teaching. I think we should have Teach-in sessions to build you up. If you are interested in a once-a-month Teach-In where we get together and teach each other, let me know. Perhaps we’ll meet on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Training

Tomorrow (Saturday) the brilliant Jenny Fearnley will be teaching a ‘Jump Through’ workshop at Yoga West. Take socks! A jump-through workshop is always interesting and worth doing. You’ll build up arm strength and core strength and technique.

And for those interested in Pregnancy Yoga, a very dear yogi friend is offering group sessions and 1-2-1s. Classes will be on Saturday mornings in Leighton Hall and will start Saturday Nov 4th. Contact Tzaddi at tzaddilove@gmail.com if you’re interested.

Yoga Mats

I bought four of these mats at the Yoga show, the LOVE MAT by Lāal, because I thought they were a very good deal. They are like liforme (£100) but much cheaper (£55). They are big, made of rubber, have brilliant grip, and are from Peru, like Paddington! I thought it was a bargain so in case anyone is interested I thought I’d stock a few (in black).

Yoga in the News

Healthista uses celebrity news to draw readers in then has quite a good article about yoga, as it turns out. Kate Winslet’s yoga teacher reveals 9 ways it could change your life. (Kate practices four times a week!). This article talks about losing weight, ujjayi breathing, hot yoga and is an uplifting little read.

The Om My Goodness Yoga Show

Dear Yogis

The OM Yoga Show in Alexander Palace starts today. It’s chaotic, crowded, and crazy and I adore it. The spirit stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife... it's the antithesis of yoga philosophy, practice and inner journeying. You can do 'Yoguh'; you can be a 'Yogangster'; you can find 'Buddhamagic', you can go on a ‘Bodhi Adventure’; you can ‘Om & Bass’! It’s nuts! And there’s more vegan chocolate than you can shake a calorie-controlled diet at.

Most classes are free. These are 30 minute taster classes. The paid workshops are in rooms that can take hundreds of people with the celebrity guest teachers. I’ve paid up for my favourites: DJ Goldie, Stewart Gilchrist, and David Sye. I really hope to see you there. (According to TFL Journey Planner it's 1 hour 5 minutes from Ealing Broadway or Acton Central to Alexander Palace.)

Training

Last weekend I was in Leeds practicing Mysore with Joey Miles and studying anatomy with Stewart Girling. If I lived in Leeds, this is where I would practice. Here’s Stewart interviewing Joey who started off at 17 as a juggler. He began yoga because the Cirque du Soleil guys warmed up with yoga and he believed it would make him a better performer. Joey talks about the effect of ‘being seen’ in class and how it increases his effort. Ha! I’m like that! He also says that ‘on a good day, yoga feels like play’. Ha! I think that! He says that yoga is ‘studying what it is to be a human being’. Yes!!! On his website you can download audio Primary Series classes and order his lovely wall-sized chart.

Home Studio
 

I’m teaching tomorrow at Yoga West. Please come. It’s an 8.30-9.45 Ashtanga class. It’s the perfect time and the ideal way to start the weekend.

Welcome to all the newcomers who contributed to the usual loveliness in my little studio. (Joey Miles, Alaric Newcombe and John Scott and others had home studios!) I was enormously honoured that a Yoga Teacher Trainee came to observe a class for her studies. Come and join us! Tuesdays are booked up till mid-November; next week has a few spaces. Book early and come.

Yoga in the News

The Standard gives us: ‘Where to do free and low-cost yoga in London’... The broke girl or guy’s guide on where to achieve inner zen in the capital. If you work anywhere near the LSE there’s a great deal there. For West Londoners, Lumi in Hammersmith makes it on to the list.

It’s a yoga weekender. Enjoy!

Better With Age; Approaching Magnificent

Dear Yogis

Last Saturday I went to a workshop with Jared McCann. What an inspirational teacher! He’s based in Brooklyn. His classes are full of cues in his Hawaiian drawl such as ‘Breath, relax, and be awesome because what else are you going to do with your time?’ We held postures until muscles drained and he beamed: ‘be as happy as an angel in a bubble bath’. We were all eating out of his hand. Here he is teaching Sun Salutations for beginners. (I say it’s for beginners to encourage beginners, but it’s for everyone! It’s slow and with constant instruction. He includes three-legged dog, a nice-n-high/not-too-low Chaturanga, the Sivananda Sun Salutation, a twist and a pyramid.) It’s a good 26 minutes of his positivity to start your day.

Home Studio 

This week has been a lovely birthday week. Thank you for all the presents, treats and wishes. Your energy in class has been tremendous and inspiring. Newcomers have slotted straight in and everybody came with positivity, energy and warmth. Come and join us. There are still spaces left on Thursday of next week. Thank you for all the responses to my news about the Kythera retreat next September. So many of you expressed interest. It’s already exciting. 

Yoga in the News

The New Scientist writes that Different meditation types train distinct parts of your brain. Neuroscientist looked at three types; mindfulness meditation, loving kindness meditation and compassion or perspective-based meditation. “Just like physical exercise, the kind of improvements you get depends on exactly how you train”

This is a lovely listen! Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 has a slot called ‘What Makes Us Human’. Here is Carlo Rovelli the physicist and his answer to this question reminds me of a discussion we had in Valentina’s Yoga Teacher Training. Atoms and stardust make us human! Finally, I include this next one because I know some of you have trouble falling asleep. Yesterday’s Telegraph had a piece called: How to get to sleep: eight surprising tricks and tips. It’s all about yoga, really!

Teacher Training

Valentina has set the dates for her next teacher training course. You have time to think about it and take some classes with her – it’s in March. 

On turning 50

Still cycling through sun and rain, still yogering like a contortionist in plaster cast, still running like a dodgy-kneed demon, still swimming like Eric the Eel. Life is sweet and I think it can get sweeter. Birthday tip: Once you have taken a class at the yoga studios, sign up for their newsletters. They give a birthday present of a free class ever after! Another tip: start celebrating in the previous month and just keep going!

Raise you 50!

Dear Yogis

The clattering autumn leaves and the absorbing Harvest Moon can only mean one thing... soon we’ll hear old winter's song. It’s a good time to plan and look forward to next summer’s sunshine and its possibilities. Already I’ve had a lot of responses about joining me for next year’s Kythera yoga retreat. Lisa has already advertised it on her Instagram page. Once on the island we will have to visit my friend Sara’s herbal apothecary. Take a look at some of her inspiring remedies. In the not too distant future I will write about some of her products in a Friday Email. She has a cream that she uses before her yoga practice to encourage the muscles. She has creams for knee problems! I bought the Tendonitis Cream for my tricky knee which has an ingredient ‘Devil’s Claw’.

Talking of which, Lucas Rockwood has a podcast this week called The People’s Pharmacy and he discusses remedies such as cannabis, turmeric/curcumin and the thing that interested me the most: yellow mustard, hot pepper, or vinegar to reduce muscle cramping. (At 26.30 they discuss home remedies if you don’t want to listen to the whole programme). Diet advice is at the end including ‘reverse vegetarianism’. He’s my favourite podcaster.

(PS. Take it easy if the full moon affects you).

Home Studio

Classes are back... and packed. I have the joyous problem of welcoming many new yogis with my limited numbers of classes and limited places. Book early! There are still places available next Thursday. I’m afraid I’m not teaching on Tuesday – it’s my 50th which accounts for my recent escape to Kythera to kick off the birthday season... which may last a while!

Cover classes

Tomorrow (Saturday 7th) I’ll be covering Mark Colleano’s class at Nuffield Ealing. 8.40am. Soon I will also be covering two Saturday classes at Yoga West, 8.30am, for Jenny Fearnley: Saturday October 21st (before scooting of to The Yoga Show) and November 11th.

Training

Tomorrow I was planning to be in Winchester but that class is cancelled so I booked a workshop at Indaba for some backbending with Jared McCann, Saturday 1.30-4.30 for £35. Come with me. He says ‘beginners welcome’ too.

Yoga in the News

The Evening Standard wrote this week about a charity helping refugees recover from atrocities through yoga, Ourmala. Very inspiring! If you’re thinking of becoming a yoga teacher and scared that the world of yoga studios and Chelsea yogis won’t accept you, read this. The yoga world is wide and there’s room for you

Dragon’s Den this Sunday (8.00pm) will feature the founder of a yoga mat company who will be asking for funding for one of the first social businesses to enter the Den. Profits from the company are for the education and employment of human trafficking survivors in Kolkata.

Come With Me to Kapsali

Dear Yogis

The Botticelli clouds are gone and the rain is here but my eagerness to plan next year’s yoga retreat has been fed and watered by Kapsali’s magic. Here's my plan: to do two retreats next September, one advanced and one less advanced!  This would be in the last two weeks of September 2018. Let me know if you think you might be interested.

Advanced people, you will have to do a Mysore session under the pre-dawn stars! If you’ve been to previous retreats you know our spectacular workshop teacher Lisa Maarit Lischak  who makes impossible postures possible during the week - our Mission Impossible teacher!. Beginners, you can start later and take in a run or swim before the morning practice. Along the bay and up the hairpin mountain to ‘the capital’ is a nice hour’s run. Hikers can have a field day with Kythera’s marked and mapped hiking trails. Up another mountain is the chapel of Agios Ioannis on-the-rock where we can experience a pranayama/meditation practice. Kapsali, and Kythera’s special produce,  has all we need. You won’t believe the magic in the air here!

Home Studio

I’m not there. No classes till October 3rd. Thank you for your emails telling me of the yoga you have done and the teachers you have tried and for the feedback of cover teachers. I love how you enjoy yoga! There are brilliant teachers all around for you to experience. Classes next week are almost full but there are still places on Thursday. More and more new yogis are discovering my home studio through an online search which is thrilling but, as you know, spaces are limited.

Training

Don’t forget the Om Yoga Show is coming up at Alexandra Palace on October 20th, 21st & 22nd. Phenomenal teachers will be there such as David Sye, Stewart Gilchrist, Eugene Vegan Butcher, DJ Goldie with Benjamin Sears. This workshop caught my eye: Sarah Ramsden who is the yoga teacher at Manchester City and Manchester United football cubs will hold a sports yoga workshop. Download a programme to see all the free classes.

Before that on October 7th I’ll be in Winchester’s New Energy Yoga for an arm balancing workshop with my very dear friend the Mission Impossible teacher! Come with me!

Yoga in the News

This is an interesting article in The Voice, Yoga’s African Connection, which claims that yoga originated from the motherland (Africa) and not India. Published a couple of months ago, it rang a bell with me because of something Stewart Gilchrist said in a recent class. His comment was about the origins of Hindu’s animal deities. He said something like: ‘Are you telling me that a religion that worships the elephant, the monkey and the cobra didn’t originate in Africa?!’ This is an interesting aspect to look at. If you’re interested in Afrikan Yoga here is the website.

Sun Salutations to Kytheran Stars

Dear Yogis

I'm listening to the roll and tumble of Kapsali’s windswept waves as I write this. I got up at 6.00 to do my yoga practice on the balcony under a black starry sky. If only it were this easy to get up at home and practice in less, romantic, perfect, idyllic, superlative, stupefying conditions! That’s the challenge! By the time I finished Orion’s belt could still be seen as the sky turned blue as the sun signalled its arrival. Even yesterday, with a stiff, jet-lagged body, nothing could beat Sun Salutations to the stars. (PS. It is said that Sun Salutations are said to be the most comprehensive workout with wide-ranging health benefits and the only exercise you need!)

Mat Update

I have written about yoga mats before (here and also here.) and often get asked for recommendations. TK Max tempted me just before this trip with a £12.99 Casall mat. It’s unbelievably lightweight, incredibly thin but gives more cushion than you’d expect from a mat topper. On the flag tiles of the balcony it’s more than enough cushioning. The grip is ok but I think it will improve with a bit of use.

Home Studio

I’m not there. No classes till October 3rd. Time for you to find out what else is on offer in West London from Lumi in Hammersmith to Yoga West in Acton. I urge you to try out classes with my teacher, Valentina Candiani. I did her class last Sunday in Virgin Fulham Pools and I had forgotten that feeling of victory and sheer relief of making it through a class of hers. No other teacher assembles the postures in such a way that makes the muscles isolate and work hard or makes Savasana so sweet and deserved.

Training

On October 7th I’ll be in Winchester’s New Energy Yoga for an arm balancing  workshop with my very dear friend and fellow Greece retreat yoga teacher  Lisa Maarit Lischak. Those who have been on my Greek Yoga retreats know how much unbelievable progress you make with Lisa’s magic. Come with me.

Yoga in the News

After writing about Hilary Clinton’s promotion of Alternative Nostril Breathing last week i was told about an actual demonstration of the pranayama on Radio 4’s PM programme with Eddie Mair. It’s hilarious. Blow your nose before listening.

The Mail is again touting another footballer, Gareth Barry, who has taken up yoga, overcoming his prejudice and scoring more goals! Sometimes I think the Mail is on a Yoga Mission!

Good luck if you’re running the Ealing Half Marathon.

The Wise And The Wicked

Dear Yogis

The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are 196 Indian sutras in a book that everyone on a yoga teacher training course has to read. We're not ready and, as with the Bhagavad Gita and other profound and immense treatise, very little sinks in. However, a friend of mine has been recently hurt by the betrayal of someone and one of the sutras flooded back into my consciousness: "By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness".

The Yoga Sutras tell us in the first line to ‘still the fluctuations of the mind’ and then goes on to tell us how to do that. Some call it The Yogi’s Roadmap! One crucial way to keep a calm and even mind is to dwell in good company. When you think about how the wrong company agitates your waters and, by contrast, how much beautiful energy you get from celebrating good people, you can see that this sutra is a great tool or reminder of how to use your energy. There is a yogic way to approach every kind of person.

Home Studio

I’m completely delighted that new people are coming here every week. More and more people discover the magic of yoga and the relaxing, re-setting effects after a day of work. I love it. Next week I’m only be teaching on Monday and Tuesday. I’ve added an extra 6.00 class on Tuesday 19th and there is still plenty of space on Monday. No classes in the following week but people are booking for the first week in October.

Training

No workshops this weekend but join me for classes if you’re free. I’ll be at Yoga West for Jenny Fearnley’s Ashtanga class Saturday 8.30-9.45 and then I’m off to Indaba for Saskia Vidler’s Ashtanga class at 11.15-12.45. Come with me. (Then to the V&A at 3.00 for an African Heritage Tour.)

Yoga in the News

I’m still ignoring Goat Yoga but this comes close. The Debrief reviews Hilary Clinton’s recent book on losing the election and finds this nugget: ‘I did some yoga,’ she said. ‘I tried Alternative Nostril Breathing. I highly recommend it. It calms you down.’ (That and Chardonnay!) The article includes CNN footage of her demonstrating.

Hips Don't Lie

Dear Yogis

What did I learn in the splits workshop last week? It was brilliant. Nathalie Mukusheva teaches with such interesting detail to target individual muscles and, importantly, align the foot properly. However, it’s as I suspected; the Royal Ballet will not be knocking on my door anytime soon. Walking with a strange new wiggle in the street afterwards I got a wolf whistle from a terribly young man. Oh baby, no! It’s not a come-on. My hips have gone! This prompted the need for a proper Nuad Thai massage the next day to put my legs and hips back in place. (Don't be put off if you think a workshop is too advanced for you. Go and see what you can learn. Reward yourself with a massage!)

Teaching

I’m teaching tomorrow, Saturday, at Virgin Pools in Fulham in their fundraiser for Grenfell. The class is at 10.45 – 12.00 and it’s free. People who are not members of Virgin Active are able to come but you need to come a little early to fill in their PAR-Q form. There will be a bucket in the studio for donations.

Home Studio

There are places left next week and in the following week I’ll only be teaching on Monday and Tuesday. I’ve added an extra 6.00 class on Tuesday 19th. We can make that an Ashtanga class.  I’ll be away after that. I’m celebrating my birthday in Kythera, my favourite place on earth.

Training

On Sunday I have signed up for a handstand workshop with Sainaa Janchivdorj.  He’s great teacher and he is apparently the UK’s ‘go-to’ guy when it comes to handstands. I’ve a better chance at this than splits! Its Stewart Gilchrist tomorrow for Asana Chakrisation and I’m happy to have the company of a few Friday Yoga Email readers. I’m so pleased!

Yoga in the News

Kenny Farquharson in his Notebook in The Times writes about being a middle-aged man with aches and pains in a yoga class with twentysomethings. It’s funny. I wonder if he’ll go back. The Express & star has a nice article about how West Brom players are taking to yoga. One player, Craig Dawson ‘has been doing it for about five years and he’s never had a strain or a hamstring problem’. John Terry is taking most of the football/yoga headlines, though.

Alone in a Crowd

Dear Yogis

If you’ve been practicing yoga for a while at your gym, it might be time to try Mysore-style yoga. If you can commit to memory the Sun Salutations and Standing postures, you’ll be fine. You turn up, lay down your mat and start. Other yogis may have arrived before you, some after you. You move with your own breath at your own pace.

There's tremendous freedom in knowing the sequence and flowing with the breath in this way and that. This is where you find self-enquiry, meditation and insights. One GTY yoga student said: “Mysore is in some ways the same feeling as leaving your parents house for the first time, so many unknowns but... can result in empowerment which is just beyond words”.

In Finland we had daily Mysore. On the first day I was delighted with my cooperating body. Poses rattled by, like being on a train and passing beautiful villages. The second morning, some of the villages looked a little tatty but the journey was nice.  The third morning was a tatty train, tatty villages and an uncooperative body.  Thursday was better and Friday, not only better but utterly surprising and a glimpse of those inner ruminations that yoga promises. I thought: 'I'm finally getting this yoga lark'!

Home Studio

Let me know if Mysore-style classes are something you’re interested in. I can add it to the GTY timetable here. Yoga West has Wednesday morning ‘Self-Practice you could try in Acton. Gyms don’t generally offer it. There are plenty of spaces left next week in my little home studio. (I’m away from the 20th of September through to October 2nd. Places are already being taken up for the next three weeks.)

Training

Come with me! Tomorrow I’ll be at Indaba for Mastering The Splits with Nathalie Mukusheva This should be hilarious! Next Saturday I’ll be at Indaba again for Stewart Gilchrist’s Asana Chakrisation and I’m so pleased to say that a couple of you have booked to come with me. 

Yoga in the News

The Telegraph writes about Disco Yoga which takes place in Shoreditch. Hammersmith Today breaking news is free yoga every Saturday at 10.00 on Brook Green and Tudor Rose Community Centre. I just love this article from Pop Sugar about improving your sport with a yoga mind. The writer says that "over the years influenced every other physical activity I participated in, especially running".