Three Types Of Yoga Knowledge

Dear Yogis

Last weekend, Kino MacGregor talked about the spiritual journey of yoga and I lapped it all up. I used to be the type that denied I had any sort of spiritual dimension. I just didn’t like the lack of scientific knowledge and blindness that I thought it implied. I wish I had known the following from teenagehood...

Kino talked about the three different types of knowledge (Yoga Sutra 1.7). The first is the most common: reason or rational knowledge, appealing to the intellect, the rational, the logical, the Sherlock Holmes... Find a clue! But this is limited by the known universe and known facts which change! The facts that the earth was flat and the centre of the universe were replaced with newer facts. However, ancient yogis said that you should pursue the knowledge of rational thinking on the understanding that this is a foundation to another, deeper type of knowledge.

Next is emotional, devotional, faith-based knowledge. We all have this capacity. Children have this, trusting the parent. You take knowledge from a teacher that you trust. This type of knowledge carries a danger of institutional pressure or abuse potential if taught by self-serving or only partially enlightened people.
Thirdly there is the knowledge of direct experience and evidence.  It needs to be experienced as true for you, for knowledge to be complete.  This has a problem too; it can supersede and block out all other types of knowledge.

Ideally the three types of knowledge don’t fight with each other but line up. This is when the potential for spiritual progress to occur can be tapped.  Yoga is the tool to do this. Yoga practice wants you to evolve as a human being, wants to uncover your true nature which has somehow been forgotten or obscured by behavioural patterns of the mind the ego and material and physical measurements of self-worth. Yoga is the only practice from orthodox India to emphasise personal practice which starts are journey from rational knowledge through to devotional knowledge through to experiential knowledge.

Retreat

What a lovely retreat!  if you’d like to come to Kythera with me next year, please let me have your preference for May or September. So far, four people say September. And f you want to squeeze in a retreat this year, please get in touch with Andy Gill to find out about his Himalayan monastic yoga retreat, 5th -12th October. You will become part of a Monastic community for a week. I’ve done that in the UK and it is special. I didn’t have added Andy and yoga, though!

Home Studio

October is the best month of all! It’s a bit like January and it’s New Year Resolutions. Gyms fill up a bit more and more newcomers find their way to my Home Studio. See attached for class availability. There are plenty of spaces left. See attachment.

Training

The Om Yoga Show is coming. It’s on the 18th, 19th & 20th of this month. David Sye will be there. I beg you every year to do his workshop! This year it’s called How To Get High On Your Own Supply! Teachers/’presenters’ that are always great to be with will be there like David Kam, Dan Peppiatt and Adam Hocke, Marcus Veda, Tara Styles... so many! Fancy coming?

Yoga in the News

Popsugar has:  Amazon Is Selling Yoga Skeletons, and Yes, They're Still More Flexible Than You Are. I chose this story about spooky yoga decorations because the picture is good!

If you’re thinking of buying a yoga mat, have a look at this... The Evening Standard has: 10 Best eco yoga mats in the UK. Lifeorme comes out well but you can probably do better for the price. You can check out the yoga mat market at the Yoga Show this month.

Yoga Teaches Self Acceptance

Dear Yogis

I’m writing to you in the dead of the night under the deep black night-time Kytheran sky. You can’t imagine a sky so jam-packed with stars and constellations and the white cloud of a galaxy millions of light years away. It’s breath-taking.

Sprinkles of stardust attended our classes and workshops this week and everyone made progress in their postures and wider experience of yoga: Pranayama (breathing) exercises, visualisation, and daily techniques and drills to better understand the fluidity of yoga.

During the workshops, Valentina’s main message of the week was: ‘don’t make it complicated, enjoy yoga’. She said that there are so many rules that these can often form distractions and obstacles instead of aiding your practice. ‘Yoga is practical’, she says.

This is interesting. She said that in order to move on and progress through the postures, you need self acceptance. You are faced with the physical body and confronted with its restrictions. Actually, postures are not so important, in the great scheme of things, but in that moment, they are the most important thing in the world. We get upset and stressed and self-critical. Eventually yoga will make the mind discover the reality... that you can’t escape from what is. This is your body. This is what is. Yoga is how you find out who you are. Only when you accept your body can you move on and improve. The system is to expose yourself to your higher self but you have to start where you are.

Retreat

I can’t imagine not coming here next year! if you’d like to come to Kythera with me next year, please let me have your preference for May or September. And f you want to squeeze in a retreat this year, please get in touch with Andy Gill to find out about his Himalayan monastic yoga retreat, 5th -12th October. You will become part of a Monastic community for a week. I’ve done that in the UK and it is special. I didn’t have added Andy and yoga, though!

Home Studio

October comes next week and we’re back in the game. See attached for class availability. There are plenty of spaces left. See attachment.

Training

This weekend, starting tonight, is Kino MacGregor. She’s back all weekend at the Oval Space near Cambridge Heath, 14:30 - 17:00.  I’ll go on Sunday 29th of September for ‘the spiritual journey of asana‘ workshop

Yoga in the News

The Telegraph has: Find your inner selfie: how 'InstaYoga' became the ultimate cultural paradox. An odd article about yoga on Instagram. ‘InstaYoga...despite representing almost every antithetical value to the practice of yoga itself (ie ego, self-obsession, and a focus entirely on the physical body), it is bringing people to the yoga practice in swathes, and a large number – admittedly not all – are finding the greater depths it has to offer.’

Beryl's Power Yoga

Dear Yogis

It’s a moonless sky over Kapsali Bay as I write this. The sky and sea are shades of black and an occasional ship passes through the view carrying a couple of stars to light the vessel up. It’s my unbelievable luck to carry a couple of stars myself and be back here to teach yoga. Since last weekend’s workshops with Beryl Bender Birch I’ve been thinking about how yoga changed my life with what she called its ‘brilliant methodology’ and ‘subtle transformation’. We do yoga to become a little more flexible and it doesn’t occur to us what’s going to happen after we’ve been doing yoga for a short while...

Physical yoga pulls us in but it’s really meditation. What is brilliant about the methodology, Beryl says, is that it is such a subtle transformation. One minute you’re doing the postures but really the training is about learning to pay attention. You’re learning to bring your attention into the present moment.

Beryl Bender Birch is known for inventing Power Yoga and teaching the New York Road Runners club for 22 years. Power Yoga doesn’t mean that you approach yoga like the Incredible Hulk and doesn’t mean a rejection of the non-physical aspects of yoga. It was simply an alternative name to ’Ashtanga’ which she thought would attract no one. Power yoga conveyed that this practice ‘was a strong, sweaty, physical workout, unlike most of what had been presented as hatha yoga in the United States up to that time’. She said of Ashtanga: ‘I believed that there were a lot of tight, stiff, stressed, and searching people who could benefit from this specific method of yoga’.

There are interesting changes she has made to that Ashtanga sequence (she cuts out forward folds where people tend to round the upper spine) but it is still, essentially, the Ashtanga sequence. During class Beryl constantly reminds us to breathe with sound, that Ujjayi breathing turns on the heating mechanism making heat in the body and gets the system heated up. She tells us that ‘Pranayama is not only incorrect, it's impossible without mula bandha.’

And then the philosophy.  Here’s an amalgamation of the things Beryl said about yoga: Yoga changes your life when you learn to pay attention and become more mindful.  It’s about not becoming a slave to whether you’re comfortable or not comfortable. Think of all the things you do to avoid discomfort which is essential for our journey and contributes to our evolution. Without challenging moments there is no impetus to grow. The definition of yoga given by Patanjali’s second sutra is ‘the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind’. That isn’t really the definition. What Patanjali is saying is that yoga is what happens when you learn to focus your attention. We go to yoga class with tight hamstrings but eventually what drives us is to answer the question who am I?

Retreat

I’m already here on retreat, doing yoga, running, hanging out in cafes and tavernas! Unless you’re a total last minute-er, you can register your interest for next year. What about May instead of September? Teachers have always complained that they can’t come in September so it’s time to make that change.

If you still want a retreat this year and want to avoid the creeping darkness of the autumn for a little while longer, what about Andy Gill’s retreat in Nepal, 5th -12th October, held in a beautiful Tibetan Buddhist monastery in foothills of the Himalayas! You will become part of a Monastic community for a week, joining monks for morning meditation before Yoga practice. Lovely!

Home Studio

For another week I’m not there to teach so I suggest another The Grove dweller, Savita Khemlani who teaches every Sunday, 11.00-12.15 at Yogi’s Studio, 1 Springbridge Mews, W5 2AB. Your first class is free but email first.

Training

Next weekend I’ll be back from Kythera in time for Kino MacGregor. She’s back all weekend. I’ll go on Sunday 29th of September for ‘the spiritual journey of asana‘ workshop held in the Oval Space near Cambridge Heath, 14:30 - 17:00. Come with me!

Yoga in the News

Right on cue, the telegraph asks: ‘Is Yoga The Key To Becoming A Better Runner?’. Charlie Dark, former globe-trotting DJ and ex-creative writing and poetry teacher, founder of Run Dem Crew running club says:  “Yoga is just like running – it’s learning to be comfortable uncomfortable. “Runners need yoga. They need to learn how to be in the present, and that’s exactly what yoga teaches you – to live in the moment, for now.”

“So just like we dedicate our yoga practice to someone or open a vinyasa flow with a mantra – to love more generously, to be kinder, to stay curious, be present – we should also create a ‘run mantra’ to help push us to the finish line, he advises.”

Evening Standard gives us: Somatic yoga is the mindfulness practice burnt-out Londoners are loving. It is apparently ‘designed to reorganise the central nervous system, ground and realign the body and mind’. ‘The Human Method uses somatics and some aspects of Pilates, restorative yoga and yoga Nidra, which is a guided meditation, to kind of wake you up, make you more conscious and have a a really strong powerful practice that’s very in the moment’. Good idea!

Rebellious Hippies

Dear Yogis

I’m not at all in favour of this November chill on my skin! Yoga comes from a warm country, and so I must head off to one! To Greece, in fact, to hold my Kapsali yoga retreat. I know, Yoga doesn’t come from there, but Ashtanga Yoga was introduced to Europe via Greece in the late 80s by the uncontested most colourful personality of the Ashtanga world, the late Derek Ireland. I mention him often in class when I teach his extra Ashtanga postures.

Derek was many things including a Brighton and Hove football apprentice and a band promoter for the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and the Stranglers. He eventually took to yoga like it was rock n roll, practicing with weights and even a weighted jacket until it nearly killed him when he went upside-down.  According to his obituary, ‘on his daily run he generally wore nothing but trainers, the thong and a personal stereo’. He practiced yoga on the beach in similar kit! He exists in the hearts of the hundreds he taught as an example of how to be daring and free with our lives.

Derek and other senior teachers have in common that they couldn’t take to societal norms. They stayed as rebellious hippies and remain examples, helping us to become a bit more free-thinking and free living. It’s so easy to become imprisoned by norms and expectations. I nearly turned down being part of a Dove advert because I thought I shouldn’t take time off my office job. But, my sister pointed out, who on the deathbed wishes they had spent more time in the office!

Retreat

There are places left. Invest in yourself and your wellbeing. Nothing is certain in the future so if you're thinking about it for next year - don't wait Come now! Even the Guardian wonders: Is Kythera the Perfect Greek Island? (Get in touch to discuss flights. See Sky Scanner options. You can also check BA from Heathrow to Athens and then Aegean or Sky Express individually.)

Home Studio

For the next couple of weeks you have to find an alternative to my Home Studio. May I suggest another The Grove dweller, Savita Khemlani who teaches every Sunday, 11.00-12.15 at Yogi’s Studio, 1 Springbridge Mews, W5 2AB. Your first class is free but email first.

Ealing yoga teachers, write to me and let me know if you hold independent classes in the area and I’ll pass it on. I’ll be teaching again on Monday 30th.

Training

This weekend, starting tonight, I’m doing workshops at Triyoga Soho with Beryl Bender Birch who, as Triyoga says, pioneered the introduction of yoga into the world of sports and has taught yoga and meditation to tens of thousands of athletes since 1974. She published a book called ‘Power Yoga’, and was Wellness Director of the New York Road Runners for 22 years. Come with me!

(Heads up; July 25 – 29 2020 has Timothy McCall at Triyoga!)

Yoga in the News

The Telegraph gives us: Fitness on trial: Is Aerial yoga worth leaving the sofa for? ‘It’s yoga, but not as you know it: with aerial yoga, poses are done while suspended in a sling dangling from the ceiling.’

Parade has 25 Celebrity Yoga Quotes to Get You Motivated and Out the Door and Into Class. Why not! Madonna, Sting, Adam Levine, Lebron James, Elen DeGeneres, Jenifer Aniston, Megan Markle, RuPaul, Christina Aguilera, 50Cent... Of course, yoga-celebrity-in-chief Russell Brand is there.

Last Call For Kythera

Dear Yogis

The bookends of the day are darker for longer. Bright mornings and light evenings are fading now and there’s chill in the air. Saying ‘goodbye’ to summer is an annual heartbreak. As we dive into autumn’s dusk, a yoga teacher sent me a little list of reflections à la Baz Luhrmann:

Everything has a lifecycle and will end eventually, whether you want it to or not. Get comfortable with the parting-of-ways that you hadn't planned on and find peace with change. You're not fooling yourself. Somewhere deep down you know who you are, you know the answers, and you know what's good for you. It's never too late to recreate yourself. Stop comparing. Stop Judging. Avoid negativity like a fast food. It will make you ill eventually. Have gratitude. Practice the above.

Retreat

Come with us!  Take a week where you don't have to rush to work, rush home, rush to the shops, rush back, rush to the class, rush back, rush dinner... or worse... miss yoga because the boss keeps you at work! All you have to do on a yoga retreat is yoga and relax.

A yoga retreat will gift you all sorts of unexpected benefits. A retreat can shine new light on your approach... something can click! We so easily get stuck in routine at home, in taking the same spot in the studio, in expecting the postures to feel the same as the day before, and expecting the same difficulties. A retreat relieves you of unnecessary self-perceptions. (Nothing changed about my flexibility when I finally included upside-down Lotus Pose in my Shoulder Stand sequence. My mind changed, that’s all, on retreat!)

Kythera is not the quickest place to get to but it’s special. Once you come you’ll realise what the fuss is about. People return again and again to the magic of the island. It’s my favourite place in the world... it might become yours. Come with us!!! Take a last grasp of warmth on the skin and flip-flop footwear. Details here. (See flight options from Sky Scanner attached. You can also check BA from Heathrow to Athens and then Aegean or Sky Express individually.)

Home Studio

There’s plenty of space next week in my lucky Home Studio. I love how many newcomers to yoga find their way here. Book now! I’m not here for half of September. Have a look at the latest availability attached to this email and  on my website. In the following week, beginning Monday 16th, I’m only holding classes on the Monday, then back on Monday 30th.

Training

I’ve booked Beryl Bender Birch workshops next weekend, all of them, (13th, 14th and 15th) at Triyoga Soho. On the 29th of September Kino MacGregor’s ‘the spiritual journey of asana‘ workshop held in the Oval Space near Cambridge Heath, conveniently near Hackney City Farm. Come with me!

Yoga in the News

The Washington Post has: 12 etiquette tips for yoga class — and the reasons behind them.  I had to laugh when I read this. The writer says: ‘I’ve been both culprit and victim when it comes to causing distraction in yoga class; I’ve walked into an already-underway session during the opening meditation...’ (She’s talking about my Friday class at Eden Fitness!!!) ‘Yoga class guidelines are undergirded by the concept of ahimsa... not to harm or injure... nonviolence in all aspects of our life, in our thoughts and our behaviours and our actions toward ourselves and others’.

The Times has: The DJs who are swapping wild nights for wellness and yoga. It’s a good read. I’ve noted these teacher quotes: “The grace of your entire past comes rushing to meet your body” and “enter the rainbow and explore the cosmic and creative realms”. Spottily and Sound Cloud have the Above & Beyond Burning Man yoga class track.

Rescue From Slaughter

Dear Yogis

Here’s Yoga! My mum was in reverie recently about how her mother used to rescue cows from going to slaughter. They would be passing by on the road (in Waalawela, Matale, Ceylon) on the way to the slaughter house and she would buy them. She ended up with ‘quite a few’. There was plenty of land on the Andewatte estate that she had been given as a dowry in 1920; 13/14 acres of a paddy fields and rubber and coconut trees.

My grandmother would tie the cows with long, long ropes to a tree and they would eat and sleep. She would go back at mid day and move them to another place and take them water. In the evening she would bring them back nearer home. Mum laughed as she remembered that if a calf was born it would soon run around the bungalow. Such a memory of pure love!

This reminiscing came along because I adopted a chicken for a friend’s birthday present. Sunnyside Farm has 350 rescue chickens that would otherwise have been taken to the abattoir. Farmers no longer want them because they don’t lay enough eggs. Once rescued, they live naturally: they are not forcibly lit or heated; they range freely in an orchard, they’re fed with corn, grit and oyster shells (for stronger eggshells), they drink rainwater and they lay eggs without pressure.

Sunnyside Rural Trust is having a fundraiser in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday 7th September. See the flyer attached.

Retreat

It’s almost September and the 21 days to our magical yoga retreat. Come with us. You’ll come home renewed and refreshed and with a whole lot of yoga tools in your pocket to get through stresses and strains, to enjoy increased knowledge of your yoga practice and benefit from more strength and fitness. Create special memories and fill your boots with that unique Kapsali spirit to sustain you till your next escape! Come with us!!! Details here. Also on Premium Wellness here.

Home Studio

There are loads of places left next week. Last week we had loads of newcomers; new to the Home Studio or new to yoga entirely. It’s just lovely! And have a look at the latest availability attached to this email and  on my website.

Yoga in the News

This is a lovely article: Prima.co.uk gives us the 6 best yoga poses for kids. The article says; “A simple yet readily accessible way of incorporating fitness and mindfulness into daily life, yoga is one of the best ways to encourage children to take up a healthy habit and develop their sense of focus.”

Islington Tribune gives us Róisín Gadelrab's music news: Heavy metal yoga with “black candles and yoga mats provided”.

Ealing Broadway Decathlon Grand Opening

Dear Yogis

Gaiety and merriment hit Ealing Broadway last weekend with the Grand Opening of Decathlon. Much anticipated free classes were oversubscribed and I turned up at 6.00pm on Friday to teach yoga, a display class to inspire shoppers.

 No one turned up. That’s ok... first days and openings are unpredictable. After 10 minutes it was suggested that I do a yoga demonstration in the store so a mat was put down in front of the men’s running shoes and sports socks and I started the ‘demo’. I started with a few Chaturangas; perhaps that would spark an interest in guys who like their press-ups. No interest What about standing split press ups? Nothing! No interest. Nada. Not a raised eyebrow.

 OK! I started busting out the moves: Side planks, Crow Pose, Astavakrasana, Wild Thing, and, after about 15 minutes or arm-aching postures, Headstand for a rest. People didn’t exactly step over me for the socks... but a little bit. It was absolutely hilarious to watch the upside-down store shopping around me.

 The next day a small but perfect class materialised. What an absolute  pleasure to teach! What a positive place Decathlon is as an addition to Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre. We practiced on their £39.99 eco-friendly natural rubber and jute mat. It's a lovely mat, very grippy. They have one with lines and design, perhaps inspired by Liforme, for the same price. It has inspirational words down the middle to aid your meditation! I have my eye on their meditation cushion, lovely and high.

 Retreat

The mat that you need for the retreat needs to be more than a travel mat or a mat cover. We practice on the balcony in the mornings and any little breeze will blow a light mat away. Those Decathlon mats are 2.6kg and 2.3kg. It’s not bad. The green mats I have in my studio, Calyana, are 3kg. The black Laal mats that I have in the studio to sell are 3.3kg.

I’m mindful, as I write this,that mats are a modern phenomena and back in the day the 70s yogis didn’t have a billion dollar global yoga mat market. Morning practice was on a cotton rug made at a local prison! Well, some things stay, some things change! We’ll keep the traditional early practice; Ashtanga is a dawn practice to set you up for the day. The earlier we practice, the more we catch the last of the stars of the night sky and watch the magic of Kapsali dawn waking up the seaside village as early fishermen come home with their catch and their hovering halo of hungry sea birds. Come with us!!! Details here.

 Home Studio

I’m teaching the usual two classes on Bank Holiday Monday. It’s a post-Carnival. Calm-down stretch!   And have a look at the latest availability attached to this email and  on my website.

 Yoga in the News

The Telegraph  has: 'Your life is bigger than your pant size'. Yoga teacher Jessamyn Stanley​ on why body obsession needs to stop. She says that in the beginning:  “I really wasn’t pushing myself outside of any boundaries in my day-to-day life. The reason the postures challenge us so much is because they’re trying to push us beyond our comfort zone.”

I love this article: The Irish News has: Key facts about Zen Buddhism – the practice that's all about 'nothingness'. It’s an article about Zazen meditation. (It’s the meditation practiced with Kristina Karitinou Ireland on the Kythera weekend retreat). ‘Before it became a trendy buzzword in the West, (Zen) dates back to the Tang Dynasty in 7th century China, where it then spread to Japan. In fact, the Japanese term Zen is a derivative of the Chinese word Ch'an, which means concentration or meditation. Unlike other strands of Buddhism, Zen isn't based on religious teachings and it doesn't involve prayer or studying texts. Instead, it's an internal investigation which helps to give insight into your mind and how it works. In other words, you can be a sceptical person and still benefit from it.”

On the other hand... The Times has:  Too fidgety to meditate? Try TRE — the new tension-release technique. ‘TRE, short for tension and trauma releasing exercises, is a series of movements that encourage your muscles to shake, with the idea that this will help to release the tightness in your body that is caused by stress. TRE was originally developed to help people affected by war in the Middle East and north Africa. It has been used to aid earthquake survivors in China and returning soldiers in the US.’

Strictly Come Yogering

Dear Yogis

As I may have mentioned before, Ashtanga and its teachers can be strict... Strictly Come Yogering. Some teachers get very militant about teaching Ashtanga the-way-it-is-taught-in -Mysore. However, there have been many changes over the years. David Swenson tells of how, during Pattabhi Jois’ second visit to America, he found students had added a posture and liked it... so it became part of the Primary Series.

In Greece, teachers Kiros Tzanne and Kristina Karitinou Ireland add extra postures to the standing sequence: after the four standing wide leg forward folds (Prasaritta Padottanasana) there’s a hip-flexor stretch (Anjaneyasana) and a splits-like pose (Ardha Hanumanasna). After that it’s back to a wide leg forward fold but this time, much, much wider. (Samakonasana .For some people this is box splits! For most of us, no!).

I asked Kristina about these additional postures. She said that the postures were given to Derek Ireland by Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, as he had a very stiff lower back. Today these extras are not found in Mysore but, Kristina said, ‘we practice them in Greece’. Tim Miller also adds these postures for advanced students. Carol Miller tells me: ‘Tim says he adds them because he enjoys doing them’.

Hallelujah! Enjoy what you do!

Retreat

Come on our magical yoga retreat, starting September 21st! I‘ve been visiting Kapsali Bay since 2004, first when I played violin with an amateur orchestra, and then on my own yoga retreats. Every year I discover more that I love about Kapsali. Kiros Tzannes told our first retreat yogis that Kapsali Bay is shaped like an ‘Om’ and has healing properties. It feels true when you look up to see the Ioannis chapel carved into the cliff, and the Chora Castle lit up at night, and the little church of Agios Geogios is on the tiny peninsular separating the two bays. The smaller, quieter bay is called Piso Gialos and is a harbour for local fishermen who return with their catch in the rising sun as we practice our Sun Salutations overlooking the bay.  It’s the perfect place for relaxing and recharging, reclaiming the person that you could be. Come with us!

Home Studio

Classes have gone from being packed to having availability. And have a look at the latest availability in my Home Studio classes on my website.

Training

It’s the big Decathlon opening weekend in Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre. I’ll be teaching tonight and tomorrow in the Sports HUB of the new Ealing Broadway Decathlon. The whole weekend is full of free classes. I’ll be teaching at: Friday 18:00 - 18:45 and Saturday 12:00 - 12:45. You can sign up here. You have to add ‘yoga’ as a filter and take the ‘radius’ down to zero.

Yoga in the News

The Huffington Post has:  Why Are You Still Doing Bikram Yoga? The sub heading is ‘While disgraced yoga guru Bikram Choudhury hides out in Mexico amid allegations of rape and harassment, women all over the world are still giving him their money.’ Mr Bikram decamped to Mexico after several lawsuits, an arrest warrant and rape allegations. His current teacher training is apparently between $12,500 and $16,600. ‘The cost of this recertification is between $750 and $1,200, and it must be repeated every three years.’ ‘Certified instructors are required to teach “The Dialogue,” a word-for-word replica of Choudhury teaching a class.’ (If you’re interested, there’s a 2016 HBO Documentary on him)

Who Let The Gods Out?

Dear Yogis

There are a couple of sweet things from the book Ageless by Sharath Jois that I’ve been meaning to pass on to you. I like the little inspiring stories of yoga, the things that the gods get up to, the symbolism and stories.

Hanuman, the monkey god, is a great source of inspiration. He’s the one the splits pose is named after. Sharath writes how Hanuman mistook the sun for a giant mango. Easily done! He leapt from earth to seize the sun and ate it. However, the universe went dark and the gods were alerted. Only a thunderbolt from Lord Indra opened Hanuman’s mouth and the sun popped out. The gods took Hanuman’s powers away but left him with powers of strength, shape-shifting, speed, a gift of celibacy (!), a prodigious memory and the qualities of a true lover of God.

Another story of Hanuman from Sharath’s book: Hanuman had to go and get the herb Sanjivani from a Himalayan mountain to cure dying warrior Lakshmana. He leaped, as was his want, split legs and high energy over to the Himalayas. When he got there he couldn’t identify the herb so he brought the whole mountain back. He also stuck the morning sun under his arm and came back to cure the ailing Lakshmana. True devotion!

Senior Ashtanga teacher Tim Miller has adopted Hanuman as his personal god for devotional practice and strongly suggests we do to! He says ‘Hanuman represents bhakti (Divine Love), which has the power to annihilate the ego’.

Retreat

I’ve been asked if partners can come along on our magical yoga retreat even if they haven’t done any yoga! (It made me think of the time that I went on a diving holiday without knowing much about diving). They’ll learn plenty during the week, no problem at all! And if diving is something you’re interested in, the Kythera Dive Center is a hop, skip and a jump away. And if you’re more of a land person, there’s canyoning and hiking. Come with us on this, our fourth retreat in beautiful Kythera, starting September 21st.

Home Studio

We (I) had a wonderful time in yesterday’s Ashtanga class discovering different ways to do the ever-challenging Chaturanga. Should you have a 90 degree angle in the elbow? (David Swenson said that when he started yoga in the hippy times of the 70s, hippies would never worry about such a detail as the degree of bend in the elbow!) Should you dip the shoulders to take strain off the arms? (No!). What about Day Christensen’s method of keeping the head up and letting the belly touch the floor first? It makes for a useful class to explore all the different ways our own body might understand a posture better. If there’s something you’re working on, let me know. And have a look at the latest availability in my Home Studio classes  on this website.

Training

Tomorrow, Saturday 10th, Sainaa is back at Indaba, 1.30 – 4.30, with his Handstands workshop. I’ve done this a few times and it’s just brilliant. I haven’t booked that (yet) but I’ve booked Beryl Bender Birch in September (come with me!) and on the 29th of September Kino MacGregor’s The Spiritual Journey of Ashtanga (come with me!). I’ll go to that after the Ealing Half Marathon! (Support your local Marathon!)

Yoga in the News

Well! I couldn’t resist this! The Metro has: If Nigel Farage is doing yoga, he's doing it wrong. “Perhaps he’ll discover some of the techniques that open the heart chakra”, says the writer. “This is important because if the heart chakra is too weak, a lack of trust and sense of disconnection from other human beings is almost inevitable”.

The Guardian has: Boom in wellness at festivals as young people swap hedonism for yoga. “It comes as young people turn their backs on alcohol. Research, published in the journal BMC Public Health, found more than 25% of young people classed themselves as “non-drinkers.”

Ageless by Sharath Jois

Dear Yogis

I’ve been reading Ageless by Sharath Jois, the man who is the ‘source’ of Ashtanga yoga! In his book he talks about food, daily routines, postural yoga and breathing practice. It’s not deep! If you’re looking for a quick read, this is quick.

I thought this was fun; he names some physical problems and the yoga postures ‘that cure them’. For backache he names a whole lot of postures from Ashtanga Primary Series. (It might be easier to just do the Primary Series!) For flatulence and indigestion he says “Pavanmuktasana almost immediately relieves discomfort from flatulence”. Not for nothing it’s called ‘wind relieving posture’.

Lotus pose ‘destroys not just disease in the body but great sins too’. Paschimattanasana (sitting with straight legs and touching your toes) is advised for backache, indigestion, headaches, painful periods and menopause, anxiety, high blood pressure, but not for hamstrings.  It’s the magic posture!

(If you want comprehensive advice about postures go to Dr Timothy McCall or Iyengar’s Light on Yoga)

I’ll take any opportunity to pass on this kind of advice: lack of sleep, he says, is known to cause cardiovascular diseases, compromised immune function, diabetes... ‘and without it we will descend into madness’. Fix the same time for going to bed every night.

Retreat

I’ve been asked about the timetable of our magical yoga retreat. It follows the shape of our previous retreats: Early morning Ashtanga with the rising sun; plenty of time for breakfast, holiday and rest; afternoon workshops with Valentina and evenings on the bay, sipping something cool and watching the sea. It’s idyllic...and, yes, all levels welcome.

One year brilliant teacher Lisa asked her workshop students to spend time thinking of three things they could change when they get home. A yoga retreat is a perfect time to reset, invest time in yourself, reflect, and make positive decisions. It might be as simple as to drink more water, get more sleep, or adopt a better diet. It might be a bigger, life changing decision.  Come with us, starting September 21st. Write back if you have any questions.

Home Studio

Plenty of room next week. Fans are whirring at speed to keep you cool-ish! Have a look at the latest availability attached to this email or on my website.

Training

If you are thinking of introducing a regular yoga class in your workplace, I have a morning slot free. Let me know if this would be of interest. You can read about yoga in the workplace on my website.  

Yoga in the News

The New Yorker has: Yoga Reconsiders the Role of the Guru in the Age of #MeToo. An interesting article! ‘Devotion to the guru is meant to symbolize devotion to the teachings, not to the man. But in the Western context gurus become rock stars, and students compete to curry favor with them. This gives gurus significant influence over their students, which is sometimes misused.’

NBCNews has:  5 ways to avoid back pain during yoga class. What’s the answer? Engage the core!