Dynamic, Difficult and Disagreeable Postures

Dear Yogis

Next time Tim Feldmann is in the country PLEASE come with me! He’s such an amazing teacher and totally approachable and relatable... and funny and a joy to be with. He is Danish by birth and has spent so much time in India that his intonation and his head movements are very Indian. It’s so nice.

He says that what we are trying to discover in yoga, according to Patanjali, is abhyasa vairagyabhyam tat nirodhah - thought patterns are mastered through practice and non-attachment. Mastering thought patterns is what we are trying to do; our mat is the laboratory. Onto our Bunsen Burner the ingredients are the lengthened the breath and a stilled mind mixed with the combustible factor of dynamic, difficult and disagreeable postures. We test the mind as we try to do as Patanjili says, master its activity.

Here’s the interesting thing; the whole reason for putting the mind into stress tests. On the mat, we can fail. It’s ok if we either achieve the postures or struggle or nose dive. But what kind of person are we going to be when this happens in life? Will success make us egotistical. Will failure make us morose? Do we give up? How will we treat ourselves? How will we treat others?  Life gives us all kinds of combustible ingredients which make it a struggle to stay centred. Tim says: ‘Our body is a vehicle to a deeper understanding of our self’.

Kythera Retreats

Here is the editorial welcome to the Sumer Edition of Kythera’s newspaper: ‘When the ‘merry-go-round of modern living has left you feeling emotionally nauseated, let Kythera take you into her hushed embrace, offering her soothing time warp of old-world charms that follow the beat of the natural world. The rock walls scattered throughout the island carry the stories of long gone generations, while the dramatic cliffs and ravines stand silent witness to the subtle simplicity of life itself unfolding.’ Romantic souls, eh! One person writes in the paper: ‘The only time I truly feel alive is when I’m in Kythera. There’s no easy way to describe the metamorphosis, the almost tangible shedding of stress that occurs once I’m on the island’. YES!!! That’s why I hold the retreats there! If you’d like to come you can find the retreat pages on my website.

Home Studio

Next week is the final week before a two-week break when I am holding the retreats in Kythera. You can see what’s available here for next week (I update this before posting this email.)  You can book here. There are teachers in Ealing you could try out while I’m in Greece. Cath Barnes-Holt is an Iyengar teacher at Triyoga Ealing who also teaches in West Ealing and Northfields. First class free with Ladan Soltani  in Ealing Town Hall and West Ealing. Also free are classes in Lululemon in Westfield, Shepherds Bush every Sunday at 10.00. You can see their events on here. For your Ashtanga needs go to Zeena Kalisperides at Yoga West – you just can’t go wrong with her. Wind down your weekend with Ruth Voon for Yin on a Sunday evening at Triyoga Ealing.

Training

I have signed up for Yoga for Athletes with Sarah Ramsden. One workshop is called Mind Mastery for Enhanced Performance and the day-long one is Short, Stiff + Tight! They are at Triyoga Shoreditch, October 05th and 06th. (As a newly qualified yoga teacher I took an expensive Yoga Sport Science course which left me absolutely none the wiser! I have since learnt how to work with an athlete via the tools that we have in every Ashtanga, Iyengar and Yin class.)

Yoga in the news

The Telegraph tells us that: ‘Yoga could be as effective as a pill at cutting blood pressure, study suggests’. The study is a school project carried out by a 16-year-old on 60 volunteers who had raised blood pressure. “His paper, backed by the Cambridge Cardiac Care Centre in Canada, was presented at the European Society of Cardiology conference in Munich.  “Blimey! My school wasn’t like that! He is quoted as saying: ‘A large proportion of the benefit could be attributed to deep breathing.’

Here’s something else that might help! The Metro tells us that  Listening to yoga music right before bed may be good for your heart. Anxiety levels dropped significantly after participants listened to yoga music, as opposed to pop or no music, showed the study that was

From the Scotsman: 'Tough guys' can learn to be real men through yoga’. It’s about the Art of Living Foundation programmes for teaching yoga to prisoners, biker gangs, street gangs and violent offenders.

All human life is here! Have a lovely September weekend.

Yoga and the Stoics

Dear Yogis

I mention Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras quite a bit – that’s the one that tells us to ‘Still the fluctuations of the mind’ and then tells us how to do it. It’s not as simple as that, sadly! The ideas of the time reflected a spiritual and devotional society and it takes a huge leap and/or academic commitment to get inside the mindset of the time. And yet I was astounded to hear a yoga scholar say that it was time to put Patanjali to bed and take up other texts instead, ones more relevant to the West and to modern yogis. Wow! This scholar, Richard Rosen, mentioned Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (a Stoic born in 121 AD and, uh huh, modern and Western!).

So, I had a look! The opening line is already beautiful, easy to comprehend, relevant and like easing into a comfy chair: "I learned to relish the beauty of manners, and to restrain all anger"… Line after line is nourishing, reflecting on how to do right, how to cope with pressure, how to accept misfortune and how to approach death. Stoic philosophy and Marcus Aurelius are concerned with “the great maxims necessary for the conduct of life”.

Here are more examples of Marcus Aurelius’ practice of, guess what, stilling the fluctuations of the mind: “To guard, not only against evil actions, but even against any evil intention’s entering my thoughts...  not to busy myself about vain things... to be reconciled and well pleased again with those who had offended me… not to be offended with the ignorant… (and) in all things to have power over myself, and in nothing to be hurried away by any passion: to be cheerful and courageous in all sudden accidents, as in sicknesses to have an easy command of my own temper; to maintain a kind, sweet, and yet grave deportment”.

 (And look at Page 25 for the Stoic take on Vital Breath, the life force that exists in everything!) It’s all so yogic!

Kythera Retreats

Just as the weather is turning here, getting cooler and less Mediterranean, we can look forward to some Kapsali sun on the skin, the dawning sky to greet our morning practice, the soothing sound of the sea as we sit in the cafes and contemplate the beautiful bay and the gentleness of the evenings as we socialise in the tavernas. Ahhhh, KapsalI!  You can still sign up and join us on this magical island. Details are on the retreat pages on my website.

Home Studio

I’ve been finding it interesting and rewarding to teach just the seated postures of the Ashtanga system in the Wednesday and Thursday classes. We manage to get through to the horrible Janu Sirsasana C where you torture your toes and the dreaded/adored boat pose with it’s impossible cross-legged lift in between. I’m not sure there’s any way to make these easier but blocks are a little port in the storm. You can see what’s available here. (I update this before posting this email.)  You can book here.

Training

This weekend I’ll be going to the workshops of Tim squeeze-the-anus Feldmann at Triyoga Camden, starting tonight at 6.00. I’d love if you came with me! Here’s and interview with Tim Feldmann on Ashtanga Yoga, Dance, Philosophy

Yoga in the news

I’ll just leave this one here, purely for the headline: Yoga fitness and singing helped Briton survive 10 hours in Adriatic.

Aretha Franklin: The Imperishable Spirit

Dear Yogis

I’ve been crying on and off all day about the passing of Aretha Franklin. I’m left wondering about how I find myself wallowing in the glory of grief when I talk so often about stilling the fluctuations of the mind, observing thoughts with non-attachment and making the mind a more skilful instrument for our daily use! With all that, why have I watched Aretha’s Nessun Dorma 10 times in a row?

Feelings are transitory and impermanent, says the Bhagavad Gita, as is physical body. Yes… we know that, but here’s what we also know when someone has permanent residence our hearts, even decades after they departed: “No one can destroy the imperishable Spirit”.  “The Spirit is neither born nor does it die at any time. It does not come into being, or cease to exist. It is unborn, eternal, permanent, and primeval. The Spirit is not destroyed when the body is destroyed“. “The Spirit is said to be unexplainable, incomprehensible, and unchanging. Knowing the Spirit as such you should not grieve.”

OK. But just for today I want to feel utterly connected and attached and have mushy feelings and a grieving heart… I’ll be day late for my enlightenment!

Kythera Retreats

Here are some articles about beautiful Kythera. This first one was published in The Guardian days before our first retreat in 2015: ‘Is Kythira the perfect Greek island?’ Yup!

This is an article about one of the boats of booty belonging to Lord Elgin, the Mentor, which was transporting 17 crates Parthenon sculptures to England. It didn’t make it! It sank in Avlemonas, a beautiful port village of Kythera.

This sweet little film for children ‘I am the Lion of Kythera’ by the Archaeological Museum of Kythera is one of the 12 finalists for the Museums in Short 2018, the winner to be announced on the 31st of this month.

You can still sign up and join us on this magical island yoga retreat. Details are on the retreat pages on my website.

Home Studio

More newcomers to my little Home Studio and to yoga joined us this week. It’s such a delight to see how old and new students come with friends and family for a taste of yoga’s magic dust. There are, so far, plenty of spaces next week. You can see what’s available here. (I update this before posting this email.)  You can book here.

Training

The Om Yoga Show is on 19th, 20th & 21st October 2018 at Alexandra Palace and the programme is out. I was just about running out of air and in need of a David Sye Yogabeats Revolution fix. He's back with his tequila and chocolate and 'funky grooves' and endless positivity.  By unfortunate coincidence on the same weekend  Danny Paradise is back at Triyoga Soho. He’s such enormous fun. 

This looks interesting. Christopher Hareesh Wallis: a world come alive: fundamentals of tantric yoga on Fri, 28 September to Sun, 30 September in Triyoga Camden. Whenever I have trained with a Tantric Yoga teacher I have loved it.

Yoga in the news

'Breathe Easy' says the Dhaka Tribune in an article about how to alleviate Asthma.  The article gives a description of the inflammation that triggers the asthma chain reaction and describes how yoga calms and controls respiratory muscles. The article gives postures for asthma sufferers – backbends… which open up and stretch the front chest.

I’ll say a little prayer for you weekend.

Yoga on the NHS

Dear Yogis

I taught Restorative Yoga recently (more props than postures!) and so investigated the background and aim of the practice. Judith Lasater, a student of Iyengar in Pune, first popularised the Restorative Yoga. She says: ‘Mr Iyengar conducted special therapeutic classes for those with a variety of ailments. Many had been referred by physicians.’ ‘Each person had a personalized series of passive postures supported by various combinations of pillow, folded or rolled blankets, and odd pieces of furniture’. Judith was also cured of her pain from Endometriosis and Iyengar, as a boy, had typhoid, tuberculosis and malaria and was sent learn yoga to improve his health – which it did!

The story of how Ashtanga came to have a home in the Mysore Palace was because the Maharaja fell ill, was failed by doctors and cured by Krishnamacharya, the teacher of Iyengar and Jois, through yoga therapy. Doctors would commonly send patients to Pattabhi Jois in Mysore.

Fast forward to today. I was lucky enough to talk to a yogi in Eden Fitness, Ealing, who was referred to an NHS yoga therapist for arthritis and it ‘changed her world’. She said her therapy involves loads of chanting and it works! Her therapist is Vidhi Sohdi who has researched yoga for diabetes, rheumatic conditions, back pain, and did the first in UK pilot study of Yoga Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis at Central Middlesex Hospital. It turns out that there are many medical and Ayurvedic practitioners researching individualised yoga intervention and its role and potential in public health. How positive is that!

Retreats

A month to go, now! Time for participants to think about insurance, exchange rates, sunscreen and sandals, and the coolest shades for sitting in the cafes and tavernas and looking out to sea. If you’re interested in coming but unsure about the level of yoga or any other detail of the retreats, get in touch. Retreats details are on BookYogaRetreats.com and on the retreat pages on my website.

Home Studio

I seem to be operating a summer timetable. There aren’t enough people to fill all the classes. There is space next week, very few bookings, so take advantage. For next week’s classes you can see what’s available here. (I update this before posting this email.)  You can book here.

Training

I’ll be going to the workshops of Tim Feldmann at Triyoga Camden, 24-26th August, bank holiday weekend. Fellow Kapsali teacher and Yoga Sister Lisa Maarit Lischak is coming too. Come with us.

If you’re looking for a festival, the Flo Vibe festival in Hampshire which has Yoga Meets Reggae on Sunday!  Another possibility is the Soul Circus on the weekend of the 19/20th in the Cotswolds. Ambra Vallo will be there… which is a draw.

Yoga in the news

Not much around this week. Working.It.Out in The Guardian has a plea for help from a 20-something who asks for career advice; ‘Should I give up my public sector career and teach yoga instead?’. It’s a no-brainer, surely! The replies from the Agony-Aunt readers show otherwise.

Have a cool weekend

The Buddha was a Yogi

Dear Yogis

Last weekend, all over the Buddhist world, was the celebration of the Buddha’s First Sermon. Many people link yoga and Buddhism; it is common to find a seated Buddha statue in yoga studios giving an example of a perfect yogi in flawless meditation pose with textbook lotus feet and mudra hands. Sometimes he is depicted as being protected by a many-headed cobra – the common image ascribed to Patanjali who gave us the Yoga Sutras. Like the Buddha, Patanjali was interested in the cessation of suffering and stilling the fluctuations of the mind.

An article by Ramesh Bjonnes says that before the Buddha became the Buddha he was a yogi, a wanderer and a spiritual seeker and therefore familiar ‘with the various practices of Tantra: mantra meditation, kundalini awakening, asana practice, fasting, the smearing of the body with ashes.’ Yogic ideas and Buddhist philosophy came about in reaction to the Vedic order of the day. Both systems include precepts to follow as part of a spiritual life. Yoga has the Yamas and Niyamas (Things to avoid: violence, lying, stealing, wasting energy, and greed. Things to undertake: cleanliness, contentment, purification, self-study, and surrender to or contemplation of a higher power). Buddhism has the Noble Eightfold Path, introduced in his First Sermon (Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration).

Both systems argue that it is a mistake to identify ‘the self’ with the body, beliefs and other mental formations. Instead, we are trying to conquer our obsession with ‘I, me and mine’. If we locate the ‘self’ in what we do for a living, what we own or how we look, suffering caused by impermanence will inevitably come.

Attachment to yoga postures is the same; my difficult Lotus pose, my struggling handstand, my brilliant crow pose! Watch that attachment! We love some postures (ego) and dread others (also ego!). All of them, however, lead us to observe how the mind works; from a state of bliss to reluctance to a myriad of other responses. And so, it turns out, the main lesson is not the asana but the nature of the mind! Thank you Buddha and Patanjili!

Retreats

It’s just over a month to go! It’s come so quickly! Enquiries are still coming in and I just can’t wait to take you there. The retreats are now also advertised on BookYogaRetreats.com and there are spaces available. Details are still on the retreat pages on my website and plenty of photos on both sites.

Home Studio

Welcome to more and more new yogis who are coming to my Home Studio and discovering or re-discovering yoga practice. In the Wednesday and Thursday classes we’re concentrating on the seated postures of the Primary Series and adding some stretches to help. It’s so nice not to be worn out by the sun salutations and standing postures and then having to squeeze the seated postures in. For next week’s classes you can see what’s available here. (I update this before posting this email.)  You can book here.

Training

I have a few free weekends so I’m open to ideas. There are some yoga festivals around. Next weekend is the Flo Vibe festival in Hampshire which I might go to just for the Yoga Meets Reggae!  Another possibility is the Soul Circus on the weekend of the 19/20th in the Cotswolds. Ambra Vallo will be there… which is a draw.

‘I have signed up for Tim Feldmann at Triyoga Camden, 24-26th August. (Anus engagement again!) He is over from the Miami Life Centre on the Bank Holiday Weekend. Last time I trained with him I felt so lucky to have access to such brilliant teachers in London.

Yoga in the news

Did you see this heartbreaking story? ‘Yoga for three-year-olds to combat London city stress’. It’s because three-year-olds need ‘coping strategies’.

KTSM.com says: Cowboys' offensive line takes up yoga. The Dallas big boys are trying to get their legs behind the head in preparation for the next American football season!

Stay cool this weekend.