One O' Level: Many Chances.

Dear Yogis

I found a gem about BKS Iyengar’s beginnings that might give encouragement to exam households. Today, Iyengar Yoga is a worldwide business born of its founder’s unpromising beginnings. He was born to a mother who suffered in the 1918 worldwide flu epidemic in pregnancy. He apparently believed that weakened him physically and mentally; he failed his school certificates. I hope you pass all exams and get your dreams but, more importantly, I hope you find your calling. No amount of exam success or failure should stop that. My career has nothing to do with the one O’ Level (Woodwork) that I left school with, nor the Politics degree that I eventually got.

Home Studio

This week we had our first Thursday early evening Ashtanga class at 6.00. It was so nice! I’ve added it as a permanent fixture to the evening line-up here so you’ll find it on the booking calendar. Those who come here will have noticed it’s getting Bikram here. Heat can be encouraging for the body and you may find that you’re more bendy. In Bikram classes it isn’t unusual to see men in Speedos and women in bikinis.  I say this with trepidation: wear whatever you’re comfortable in!

Classes next week are filling up. When booking online, please make sure you click the 'Book' button to complete the booking process. If you need to cancel you can use the link on your confirmation email.

UN International Yoga Day

IYD is celebrated this Sunday 18th but the actual day is next Wednesday 21st, the longest day of the year. On Wednesday you can celebrate IYD and the summer solstice with a yin yoga session and bath in Broomfield Park N13 4HE for £7. This is offered by Tranquillity In The City and you can book a place via tranquillityinthecity@gmail.com. At Triyoga you can celebrate all next week (19th – 23rd) by taking a friend for free, one who is new to Triyoga.  They also have a free class next Wednesday at 7.30-8.30!

Yoga in the news

The Times today tells us what we already know: that yoga deactivates stress responses. The article reports on an accademic study that investigates the genetic impacts of meditation.

Lovely Feedback

'I arrived feeling down and glum, and left feeling everything was right with the world'.

“I can stretch easily in a way I didn't think would be possible in such a short period of time and I can see now how my breath guides me easily through the different poses. It’s astonishing to discover the wonderful things my body is able to do.”

“You always make me amaze myself”.

When I'm Back On Top, Back On Top In June

Dear Yogis

June is a busy and celebratory month! Father’s Day and International Yoga Day (IYD) are due to be celebrated on Sunday 18th of this month, next weekend. You could take your Dad, or someone’s dad, to the free IYD at Alexandra Palace. Cheap and cheerful and great fun... if the sun shines. (Here’s a present idea for non-yogic Dads.) The actual date of International Yoga Day is the 21st. Triyoga Camden will have a free class on the exact day at an unconfirmed time.

Another celebration and observation is Ramadan and there are just over two weeks to go of these long summer days of fasting. If you want to continue to practice yoga, take ‘restorative’ classes. In my Home studio you could come to the Monday and Tuesday calm, stretchy classes. If you go to your regular gym class, modify postures and skip vinyasas. As with every class and every yogi, use energy wisely, watch the breath and don’t bust a gut.

Home Studio

I’m so grateful for my own studio, however small. I can’t tell you how nice it is for me when you bring family members. There are spaces in Monday’s 6.00 class next week and in the Pregnancy yoga class on Tuesday at 6.00. Other classes are full so I’m putting on an extra Ashtanga class at 6.00 on Thursday. Please give plenty of fair notice to cancel. It’s getting hard to know how many mats to put down! You can use the link on your confirmation email to cancel. Also, when booking online, please make sure you click the 'Book' button to complete the booking process.

Training

I made a mistake and wrote about Andy Gill’s Bandha workshop in last week’s Friday Email. It’s tomorrow. So, if you fancy ‘Creating Structure In Your Practice’ with a fantastic teacher, come with me to Globe House in London Bridge. I have also signed up for an evening Yin Yoga for Yang Yogis with Marcus Veda tomorrow. Marcus is a Rocket Yoga teacher and he's all kinds of tough and testing. Yin with him is a serious proposition. This Sunday my dearest yogi sister, Lisa Maarit who teaches with me in Kythera, is part of a charity day of yoga in Stockbridge. It’s at Stockbridge Town Hall, just outside Winchester. The schedule is here. On the 24th, Jenny Fearnley at Yoga West is teaching the whole of the Primary Series. She’s a wonderful teacher.

Yoga in the news

I thought this was fun from The Telegraph: Yoga quiz: can you spot which of these poses are real, and which we've made up?

Have a calm and lovely weekend.

Squeezing For Glory

Dear Yogis

Have you discovered your bandhas yet? Are you squeezing for glory? Are you Mula Bandha-ing throughout the class? What is this thing that is supposed to be the secret of powerful postural practice? Some teachers say it is a subtle pelvic lift action; some say it’s a rock solid holding in what is dying to flood out. Sri K Pattabhi Jois apparently pinched the yogi’s anus to illustrate what to engage. I wonder if I would have submissively squeezed, instinctively yelped or shot up into the air in total bewilderment. Cue headline: ‘Yogi Launched Into Space Shock’. (Jivamukti co-founder David Life helps inform us properly in this article.) Uddiyana Bandha has an assortment of definitions too. The other bandha is... hmm... what’s it called again?

Luckily, Andy Gill has a calm and considered Bandha workshop next weekend: ‘Creating Structure In Your Practice’ where we will learn to let our ‘practice take on a more relaxed and effortless quality’. Fancy coming with me? Globe House in London Bridge is a lovely space to discover and practice in.

Home Studio

I can’t tell you the joy I have in teaching such a variety of yogis; newcomers, expectant mothers, whole families, father-with-daughter, runner-with-granddaughter and all combinations of family, friends and work colleagues. Thank you for all the joy you bring with you.

My little studio is imitating a Bikram Studio these days (without the smell)! I’ll order another fan, I have studio towels and there’s always water available. You might find more flexibility with the relaxing effect of heat in the body. Book a class. Private classes and Pregnancy yoga are cooler by definition – smaller or less dynamic classes. Pick a class; you’re very welcome here.

Yoga in the news

Here’s a lovely news story about a yoga teacher, Charlotta Martinus, who runs the Teen Yoga Foundation. After the Manchester terror attack she recruited yoga teachers from across the country to support Manchester’s school teachers and to offer free yoga classes in Manchester during half-term to give care and support for those in need. Here she is explaining on YouTube.

Have a lovely weekend. Calm yourself for the coming week!

Kalimera from Kythera

Dear Yogis

Kalimera from my favourite spot in the world, Kythera in Greece. One day I will run a yoga studio here! It’s a place where I yearn to bring anyone who is special to me and it’s a place where fantastic yoga can be found, thanks to Kiros Tzannes. He has been our guest teacher on our Kapsali retreats of the past two years. If you are looking for a holiday suggestion, come to Kythera and take daily classes with Kiros. Tell him I sent you!  For the class timetable and directions email him at: kithiraaikido@yahoo.gr. He also invites his own teacher, Kristina Karitinou , to hold workshops here every year. Come with me for the next one!

It’s a joy to get to know this island and practice yoga here. I know more people in class here than I could ever know in a London studio: Sara the herbalist from Mylopotomos, Maria Schina the artist. Antonis from Banda Landra, Dimitri from Aerides gift shop in Chora, neighbour Pauline and next-door neighbour Harry in the village of Friligianika. If you come here you’ll see how enchanting this island is.

I’ll be running an Ashtanga retreat here next year at some point after September 15 (low season). Let me know if you might be interested in a less intense retreat and I’ll do a second retreat, depending on interest.

Home Studio

Back to normal next week. There are still a few places including on Bank Holiday Monday. Book a class. Pregnancy yoga on Tuesday at 6.00 is into its third week, If you know anyone who might be interested, please pass this email on. The next obliteration of home studio classes will be during the first week of August when I fly to Finland to study with Manju Jois.

Social Media

The first time I got Eight-Angle Pose (Astavakrasana) I got a fellow yogi to take a picture of me. The first time I got Bhujapidasana: Shoulder-Pressing Pose, I wished I had someone to take a picture of me. I completely understand if you want to take photos in class. It’s ok to take a break from meditation! In a corporate class your work colleagues are unlikely to object to photos but a gym class is different. If you’re also a member of a running club or boxing ring I can come and teach you there – you can even book a photographer. Come to my home studio and I’ll take a photo of you from a particularly fine angle.

Free Yoga

A wonderful yogi sent a review of a free Lululemon classe: “It's a very popular class. There must have been at least 50 folk in attendance and even then not all the mats were taken! They use the shop floor which has lovely high ceilings which l really liked. They had two teachers; one leading the practice and the other assisting. The assistant was very attentive. Her job was to make sure we were doing the poses correctly so she walked round and gently corrected poses. I'd recommend it. I'll definitely be going again”.

Yoga is internal. The rest is circus.

Dear Yogis

May 18th (yesterday) marks the death anniversary of Sri Pattabhi Jois, simply the greatest teacher of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. Every time I practice with one of his students I wish I had been lucky enough to meet him. They talk of a magical time with him. They quote him endlessly and some of those quotes announce themselves on T Shirts and profile pictures such as ‘Body is not stiff, Mind is stiff’. Another one that gives a clue of the depth and breadth and height of the practice: “This yoga is not for exercise. Yoga is showing where to look for the soul – that is all”. For those of us in the spiritual slow lane, there’s no need to beat ourselves up; he wanted us to engage in the physical practice. “99% practice, 1% theory”. (Phew!) In an attempt to touch some of the Guruji magic, I will be studying with his son, Manju Jois, this year.

Home Studio

I’m away next week in Kythera, Greece. There are no classes in my Home Studio. Is it time for you to spread your wings and see what other yoga classes are out there? Yoga West in Acton has a variety of classes including pregnancy classes. There’s plenty online that you can do. I have a few short practices on my website. Here’s one of my teachers online, Kino MacGregor, with a 30-day challenge. Most of her ‘tutorials’ are so short you can zip through a few at a time and the final one is only 30 minutes. For Pregnancy Yoga, a highly, highly experienced pregnancy yoga teacher, Lolly Stirk in Notting Hill Gate is a teacher to go to with all questions or worries. Online, try this with Katy Appleton who is a pregnancy yoga teacher trainer.

Write and let me know what yoga you did. There are plenty of places here the week after next. Book a class.

Yoga In The News

I love Ryan Giggs because of all the young guys who have come to try yoga because of him. He really has been a yoga inspiration. Last weekend the FT wrote about how yoga prolonged his career. He says: “Yoga was first about injury prevention, but later it became about recovery. The day after a match, the adrenalin would still be in my body. But the following day, when I got out of bed, everything would hurt, so I would do yoga then. It made me more aware of my body.”

Not to be outdone, boxer Anthony Joshua reveals he uses yoga to lengthen career . He says: 'The hardest yoga pose I've done is the downward facing dog. I just don't understand why you have to hold it for so long’. 

Have a lovely weekend and a yogic week.

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

Dear Yogis

The week whisked by in electrified haste. Of course, it’s hard to get through seven days without someone telling me they are not flexible enough for yoga. The latest, an athletic cyclist, left me marvelling at how many people want to tell me that they can’t touch their toes. It’s a sweet confession.  Soon he’ll find out that he’ll wow the crowds with the muscularity of his chaturangas! And then we will need calming music...

I often get asked about the music I play in class. Here’s a list of a few, with links:

• Music for Yoga – Morning - Roop Verma
• Mantra For Healing--Ancient Chant For Healing & Peace Sacred Sound Choir
• The Mantra Collection – Kino MacGregor
• Om Mantra - Sri Dharma Mittra
• Yoga Meditation Healing – Om Meditation

Home Studio

We had our first pregnancy yoga class on Tuesday and more have booked for next week. The time is 6.00-7.00pm. If you can’t make it there’s plenty online that you can do. Try this with Katy Appleton who is a pregnancy yoga teacher trainer.

Last night I had a request to include Lotus Pose – Padmasana. Unfortunately, Lotus doesn’t just come when summoned but it is a posture that is achievable. I never thought my body would let me have this one... and then it did! Here are a couple of things you can do: the simple Ashtanga Primary Series leads up to it eventually; a Jason Crandell Essential Sequence; and, the thing that finally, surprisingly, gave me Lotus, Jim Bennitt supine pigeon-to-Lotus. Here’s a clip that gives a hint of what to do. I’ll show you if this is something you want to try.

There are plenty of places next week. Book a class.

Training

This Sunday I have Ashtanga Yoga 2nd Series Workshop with Andy Gill. Join me. Don’t forget that Lululemon has free yoga. They provide yoga mats and just ask that you get there 15 minutes early. Sweaty Betty also has free classes.

Whatever you do this weekend, have fun!

Yoga for abs

Dear Yogis

What a beautiful morning after a week of grey! Before setting off for my favourite gym, I want to suggest something un-yogic! Last Sunday I did a workshop on the Building Blocks to Jump-Through & Jump Back (catastrophically devoid of either, my feedback was detailed!) and then went to meet a weights coach for a private session. If you get the chance, do the latter. You will achieve more, gain more self knowledge, and dread the sight of stairs for a few days! That’s ok; it’s good to work hard and feel the muscles.

My session involved four drills, mostly addressing my weak lower abs, (I can’t do a hanging leg lift, not even to bring my legs up to 90°): dead-lifts (30kg with the bar and one 24kg dumbbell) supine lower-abs curls (weight disk on legs and holding 2.5 kgs), squats (holding 14kgs to chest) and split squats. I just couldn't recommend it more. He's happy for me to recommend his coaching to yogis! We met in Broadgate so If you work near there and you’re interested, I’ll put you in touch.

Home Studio

Pregnancy yoga! It’s time! The Tuesday 6.00-7.00 will now be a pregnancy yoga class starting next week. I have teacher training in pregnancy yoga and I’ve been asked over and over again to provide a specific class. It’s here! One person has already booked. Please pass this email on to anyone you know who might be interested.

It’s been a great week in my lucky Home Studio with the usual sprinkling of regulars and newbies. Headaches made an appearance too so here’s an article that might be of interest if a busy day continues to pound away in your head like a drum kit. Try not to skip a yoga practice.

Yoga in the news

Very exciting to read that a Chihuahua festival in Gerrards Cross in August will attempt to break the official Guinness World Record for the largest dog yoga class, currently held by Hong Kong and their 270 dogs.

Thank you for all your lovely feedback and your endless enthusiasm. Have a lovely weekend.

Freaky Yoga

Dear Yogis

I was asked about Nauli Kriya this week and I’ve been meaning to write to you about it and introduce you to the idea. Nauli can be translated as ‘rectus abdominals’ or ‘navel string’ and Kriya as ‘action’ or ‘cleansing’. It’s a practice that very obviously tones the abdominal muscles and very obviously gives an abdominal massage. It benefits the heart, kidneys, liver, digestive system, it drives out sluggishness, and cures disorders of the doshas! (See last week’s email!).

Now I read that ‘Nauli Is the Freaky Yoga Pose Taking Over Instagram’! It looks a bit like a Sigourney Weaver alien is in there and it’s definitely a shock the first time you see it in class – a little off-putting, in fact. Once you are able to perform uddiyana bandha (abdominal lock – empty stomach) then you can give it a go, unless pregnant! Here’s a favourite teacher of mine, Danny Paradise, giving instruction.

Home Studio

This Monday is another Bank Holiday and I’ll be holding both the 6.00 and the 7.30 classes in my home studio. Take a deep breath and join in, especially if you are new to yoga and want to give it a go. Yoga is for all. Yoga will calm whatever worries you bring along. Yoga doesn’t care about age, gender, size, or any other self- induced obstructions. (Just clean feet!!! Thank you for all of the responses to my call to cleanliness in last week’s email.)

Training

This weekend I’ll be at Moorgate Light Centre on Sunday from 9.30-13.30 for a Jump Through workshop. It’s called ‘Building Blocks to Achieve Jump-Thru & Jump Back Ashtanga Workshop’. The workshop starts with a Led Primary Class. Join me if you’re free.

Yoga in the news

I’ve been sent two inspiring reports this week by many yogis, Thank you for that. The first is the 97-year-old yogi lady Tamil Nadu who is a yogi, a teacher and a teacher trainer. Slightly different is the posting of Yoga with Dog! Sweet!

Have a lovely long weekend. Another one!

Roots of Yoga

Dear Yogis

I was absolutely delighted to see that Dr Mark Singleton, is back with a new book promotion at SOAS on April 24th (this Monday), to promote Roots of Yoga. His previous book ‘Yoga Body’ is an absolute page-turner. The new book launch event is led by Radio 4’s Mukti Jain Campion (who produced a very listenable programme last year for International Yoga Day). Dr Mark Singleton tells me that the free evening will be filmed and posted on the SOAS website. I’ll find it and include it in a future email. (It was in a workshop with him that I got my first headstand-with-ease... my legs floated up like magic! With that magical memory I’m always excited to hear of his writings!)

Home Studio and Gym

I have loads of Easter thanks to give. On Easter Friday we packed 35 yogis into that little gym studio at Eden Fitness (which fits 20 comfortably!) and I know many brought loved ones with them. I’m completely honoured. I was also thrilled to get Quinoa/avocado-based vegan chocolate cake from one yogi and a box of vegan chocolates from another – both disappeared shockingly quickly!

There are still places in the Home Studio classes Monday and Tuesday of next week if you too need to burn of Easter excesses. If you’re planning on teacher training or just want to deepen your knowledge of yoga practice, the 6.00 Tuesday class goes into the Ashtanga system in more depth than you’d normally find in classes.

Horses sweat, Men perspire, Women glow, Yogis shower!

It’s getting hot. My studio is warm. Summer is sliding into view and bringing with it various levels of sweat, perspiration and glow. Please shower before class! Give your shoes the sniff test. My little studio takes six yogis so there’s nowhere to hide and scented candles can’t cope! Incense would smoke us out. If you’re coming straight from work you’re welcome to have a shower here. The shower room is for yogis.

Training

Last Saturday I did a workshop called Ashtanga and Ayurveda with Andy Gill and Justin Robertshaw. I had to find out what my Dosha is before the class. I dutifully did this – you can search online for ‘Ayurveda quizz’ – and went to the workshop as a Kapha with a bit of Vata and pitiful Pita. I had no idea what this meant and didn’t relate much to the websites and the conclusions of their quizzes. However, during the workshop I couldn’t believe how typically and totally Kapha I am and how that knowledge explains my behaviour, energy, even things I say and my reactions to people. I’ll let you know if and when another Andy Gill Ayurveda workshop comes up. It’s fascinating.

Marathon Runners.

Good luck! Triyoga will be celebrating your wonderfulness by offering a free class to anyone who takes in their 2017 London Marathon medal from the 24 – 30 April to any triyoga centre. Through the same link you can find free Yoga For Sports classes on the 26th, 27th and 29th of this month.

Yoga for Trauma

Dear Yogis

Having written last week about anti-gravity yoga, I thought I’d continue with styles of yoga and give you an idea about Forrest Yoga, named after the originator, Ana Forrest. What sparked my sudden interest is that teacher Ambra Vallo told me that the practice attracts people with deep emotional needs who are in need of ‘Fierce Medicine’, perhaps due to abuse, breakdowns, drugs, or other traumas. I unearthed this quote about how she practiced yoga to unearth rage and pain ‘stored in the body’ (yup, that stuff is physical!) and shift it out:

“But there is a point when you’ve cleared some space in your body and life and you have to take another level of responsibility, which is scary but sweet: What do you want to put there now that you’ve gotten rid of the toxic gunk? I teach people to move the gunk out and fill the spaces with magic and the mystery of aliveness. If you don’t put the energy you want inside you in those spaces, they just fill up again with garbage.”

Here’s another quote I love:

“One of the things I talk about a lot is the “struggle syndrome.” We are taught that putting up a struggle is the way to proceed. To me struggle-mode is like pouring out your energy and then trying to achieve some great deed but failing because all of your energy has been spent.”

Trauma is not hard to come by but it’s hard to let go. If any of this interests you, here’s a workshop with her in which she focuses on fear.

Home Studio

There are still plenty of places in all the classes next week. In yesterday’s Ashtanga class we had a look at the holy grail of ‘jumping through’. We used blocks and socks! On Wednesday we did upside-down Crow a la Jason Crandell (he comes to it at 22.40). The six-pack is coming back for the summer as a result!

Lovely Feedback

“I tried the head stand in class last night. I managed to stay to knee level for almost 5 breaths. I was so excited I couldn't sleep”.

Yoga in the news

For Britain’s Got Talent fans, I found that the programme has tried out Doga. Dogs appear from all directions to have a go. You know what they say in TV... ‘Never work with animals or children’.

Training

I trained last weekend with the unbelievably qualified Ambra Vallo (800 hour Dharma Mittra; 200 hour Ashtanga Vinyasa and 100 hour Rocket with It's Yoga; 500 hour Ashtanga Vinyasa with Absolute Yoga Academy; 40 hour Intensive Ashtanga with David Swenson and Tripsichore Yoga Training with Edward Clarke.) She’s back at Indaba for the weekend of the 27th/28th for a weekend of Rocket Yoga. Join me! She’s an absolute joy to learn from.

The next thing I have signed up for is Yin Yoga for Yang Yogis with Marcus Veda on April 22nd. He’s an incredible teacher.

Have a lovely Easter.