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!

From Staccato To Legato

Dear Yogis

I have been asked this week about techniques for Ashtanga Yoga. What might they be? Perhaps something to help make the practice flow more, make more sense, feel less clunky perhaps. I remember when my practice went from staccato to legato. Strength had something to do with it. Having greater lung capacity and breathing technique played a part. Once the body becomes more flexible, more stability comes, for example, in being able to step one foot all the way forward from Downward Facing Dog. If your foot can only step halfway down the mat, you’ll know all about yoga wobbliness! I wobbled for years!

Ultimately, you find a way to move that takes you into a meditative space where you’re really happy to be on the mat, knowing what you know and doing what you do.

All the senior teachers have their particular take on ‘technique’ but the teacher that changed my practice recently is Ty Landrum. I liked the way he wanted us to use the breath to produce a wave-like action through the spine. It’s a technique that helps move out of rigidity and into fluidity.  I teach his technique for twisting (Marichyasana C – wind forward to 8 minutes) in class.

You can try what various teachers suggest but ultimately you find a technique that makes sense to you and employ that.

Retreat

We will be looking at techniques and alignment, of course, on our magical yoga retreat. Valentina Candiani will teach the afternoon workshop sessions looking at the principles of the practice. There isn’t anyone better to explain to you what the body is doing, why, what yoga is asking of the body, and how to achieve that. She originally comes from a background of classical, jazz and contemporary dance. Contortionism gives her an understanding of the body that is rarely found in teachers. Come with us, starting September 21st. There are a few places left.

Home Studio

There are a few spaces left next week. It’s been mercifully cool this week. Next week I have a request for a hip-opener class during one of the Easy, Stretchy Yoga classes. Please always let me know if you have any requests. Have a look at the latest availability on the booking page of this website.

Training

Decathlon Ealing is opening in the shopping Centre and having a Grand Opening Weekend starting on Thursday 15th of August at 5 PM. Lots of teachers from lots of different disciplines will be teaching throughout the weekend, I’ll be teaching in the store’s Sports Hub on Friday 16th at 18:00 - 18:45 and Saturday 17th at 12:00 - 12:45. Here’s what available now, Ealing will be added.

Yoga in the News

The Telegraph has: The rise of upside down workouts - and why they're good for you. "And those “gravity boots” worn by Richard Gere in that unforgettable workout scene in American Gigolo back in 1980? Yep, those are still around – and top trainers swear by them."

The Evening Times has: ‘Glasgow man teaches yoga in housing estates’. Mick, a painter and decorator, even has a white van advertising 'affordable community yoga classes’ on the livery, with a step ladder on the roof for his day job. He says: “When I first started it there was a butcher, a taxi driver, a social worker - all different types of men. I could talk to them like guys on a building site.”

Tricycle has: ‘The Buddhist Roots of Hatha Yoga’. The author says that the historical lines between yogic and Buddhist traditions them are blurred. The author worries 'I also worried whether in mixing the two traditions I was not being enough of a purist in either'. Not many people will have the same concern but if you’re interested in Buddhism and yoga and their relationship, it's a brilliant read.