Goodbye to Kapsali 2018

Dear Yogis

We’re back from Greek sun to chilly London, from chilled cafe nights under the stars, listening to music and the sound of the waves, to the promise of darker and darker mornings and evenings. During the Kapsali Ashtanga Retreat, fellow teacher Lisa Maarit Lischak, asked what it was that brought people to yoga. She’s asked this before and it always brings up moving answers. Not one said it was to improve on postures, to get the leg behind the head, to do splits or achieve any other massively clever posture. A common theme is the search for some kind of peace.

Why do we want peace? Well, I wish I had come across yoga before adolescence hit me with its sledge hammer. Work is world that throws peace and stability out of the window. Another place of conflict is how we view ourselves and our self-criticism. This week I’ve heard from people who have adverse feelings towards their bodies or looks and, by coincidence, Kino MacGregor has written very movingly about this in her blog called ‘Keep Practicing Until You Love Your Body. She says: ‘The promise of yoga is inner peace… While the by-products of the practice will undoubtedly make an impact on your physical body, the real gift of the practice is love.’ So true!

Lisa also asked her workshop students to spend time thinking of three things they could change when they get home. A yoga retreat is an opportunity to draw back, reflect, take time, 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. 

Greek Retreats 2019

I‘ve visited the Kapsali Bay since 2004 and yet every time I discover more that I love about Kapsali. This time it was noticing the alpha star of the evening, Aphrodite. This is the Greek name for the star we call Venus. She’s the first and the brightest on the scene, daring to compete with the moon who arrives later. Nice to be where Aphrodite was ‘born’ and where her star is so eager to shine. One yogi said: “Kythera is a truly divine, special place”. If you fancy coming next year in the May half term for an ‘all levels’ yoga retreat, let me know. Two people have said ‘yes’ so far. (Flight timetables aren’t published yet!)

The next retreat I’m teaching is the October Complete Wellbeing Retreat; Happiness workshops, Yoga and Mindfulness sessions run by Deborah Smith of Grow Your Own Happiness. It’s £495 for a regular room and £565 for a premium room. It starts on Friday 12th at 4-5.30pm and finishes on Monday 15th after Lunch. I’ll be teaching Ashtanga, Yin and Pranayama.

Home Studio

This week my lucky home studio has seen returners from the Kapsali retreat, new yogis looking for a place to practice, a rock climber looking for an injury prevention practice, and an Ealing Half Marathon runner looking for a stretch. Whatever your reason, come and practice with us. You can see what’s available on my website. If you tried out other teachers in the last two weeks, please send your recommendations so that I can tell others next time I’m away.  

Training

Good luck if you’re running the Sold Out Ealing Half Marathon this weekend. I did a little training in Kapsali and I’m struck by how my legs feel fine in Kapsali and weary in London. Pollution = less oxygen to the muscles. However, it’s not a good reason to give up running. Good luck!

Yoga in the news

The BBC has the story of India's 'king of motorbikes' shares yoga tips for success. Rajiv Bajaj says that everything he has learnt about management of Bajaj Auto motorcycles comes from the practice of yoga.

The Hindu tells us about the 8th Asian Yoga Sports Championship and its 350 contestants. It’s a four-day championship with six categories of competition and entries from 13 Asian countries such as India, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, and the UAE.

Wishing you success this weekend.

Kytherian Eyes On The Yoga Prize

Dear Yogis

Time in Kythera with yogi friends has been a fabulous and fleeting joy. It’s nearly over. I’m writing this to the sound of night crickets, the gentle hum of a generator and the swishing song of the sea and with reflections of these two retreats. Our most popular workshop so far has been Leg-Behind-Head with our mission impossible teacher Lisa Maarit Lischak. She promised in the beginning that “all you need is a head and a leg... perhaps two”. She does that every time! She makes the impossible seem doable!

In our first week here our Kythera guest teacher, Sensei Kiros, told us that we must always practice inside, not outside. He said the location of our classes, the roof-top balcony, was ‘very bad’! The idyllic view of the bays, the beautiful sea, the cloudless sky and Aphrodite’s rock were too distracting! He is, of course, right. Every time you look out over the gorgeous bay, the soul moves and the balance is lost. The whole point of the ‘drishti’ discipline in our yoga practice is to keep our sight as close to us as possible and not let the sight and the mind stray. All the way through the yoga practice your gaze should be on one of the nine drishti, gazing points: the nose, the third eye, the navel, the hand, the foot, the far right, the far left, the thumbs, up to the sky.

By being outside we’re breaking other rules too, as set out by Pattabhi Jois in his book Yoga Mala:  “Yoga should neither be practiced in open air..., in a basement nor on a roof. Instead, the place of its practice should be spotlessly clean and level, have windows, and be suitable for smearing with cow dung”. Also “the body will be sapped and its power exhausted if, in an effort to dry the sweat of practice, it is exposed to the outside air.” (This he takes from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika of the 15th century which tells us to rub the body with perspiration to make the body light and strong!) There! You’ve been told!

PS. Dried cow dung has antiseptic qualities.

Retreats

The next retreat I’m teaching is the October Happiness and Wellbeing retreat in Totnes run by Deborah Smith of GrowYour Own Happiness. But I’m writing this in my favourite place on earth and thinking of next year. Teachers are always disappointed with my chosen month of September so, if you fancy coming to Kythera in the summer half term in May, let me know.

Home Studio

I’m back with a tan next week. You can see what’s available on the ‘classes’ page of this website.

Training

If the OM yoga Show isn’t your thing, Triyoga Soho has the perfect antidote: Dr Jacques Anthony Soyer and Tracy Elner: Breath, Stillness, Movement + Modern Medicine.  It’s on the 20th of October at 10:00 - 13:00..They combine Hindu Yoga and Taoist Neijia, teach Pranayama, moving Qi Gong, and explain how we can use different systems of breathing to balance and heal various systems within the body.

Yoga in the news

This is quite funny from the Telegraph: ‘What no one tells you about life as a yoga teacher’. It doesn’t reflect my experience but it’s a good read. Another effort to demystify comes from the Belfast Telegraph; ‘Thinking about starting yoga? Here’s what you should know’. Of the four examples the best one is: ‘“Yoga improves the body’s circulation and this includes blood flow to the brain. It promotes growth in the prefrontal cortex, the region associated with response, memory and attention span. Even after a short 30 minute class, you’ll notice a heightened sharpness.

Please get the sun out for our return.

Pranayama with the breeze of the Kapsali Bay

Dear Yogis

Greetings from magical Kapsali bay on the island of Aphrodite. We’re practicing yoga under Kythera skies, with the warming sun of the morning to encourage our Asthanga and the sea breeze of the afternoon to cheer on our Pranayama. Of all the wonderful questions I got this week, here’s the one I always enjoy. It came after our first Pranayama practice: “Why do we do Ujjayi breathing... or any breathing exercises”. Hundreds of responses polka about in my brain but the question was about the panic of holding the breath. Breath is called ‘Prana’ in yoga. This translates as ‘life force’. Without it, we die, and breath retention is a petite threat to our lives. Good reason to panic!

Yoga gives us the rare opportunity to increase the capacity of the lungs and give the respiratory muscles a good workout. Did you know that in normal life we only use around a 1/3rd of the capacity of our lungs – top-of-the-lungs-breathing? The average human lung capacity is about 6 litres of air but the majority of the breathing we do is shallow breathing. That’s ok, we can’t Ujjayi all day, but it’s like sitting on the sofa for the lungs! They need exercise. Shallow breathing may also be caused by poor posture, stiff muscles or inactivity and those things, in turn, lead to shallow breathing and general sluggishness. Deep breathing exercises also clean out the stagnant air in the parts of the lungs we don’t use.

The explanation I like best, though, is in the Hindu belief that we are born with a set amount of breaths. We can increase our longevity by using those breaths wisely. It makes sense! If we are always in stressful situations with panicky breathing, stress stays in the body, infects the brain and welcomes in illness. Stress kills! I found a lovely article about this where the writer points out: “The restless monkey breathes at the rate of 32 times per minute, in contrast to man’s average, 18 times. The elephant, tortoise, snake and other animals noted for their longevity have a respiratory rate which is less than man’s. The tortoise, for instance, who may attain the age of 300 years, breathes only 4 times per minute... The ever excitable dog breathes 40–50 times per minute and dies at 25.”

The ancient yogis observed these things and came to the conclusion that we need to be more tortoise-like! Can there be a better example of not panicking! If fear comes up for you in Pranayama practice, don’t follow the teacher’s instructions too closely. Give yourself room. Like everything in yoga practice, it will get better.

Retreats

The next retreat I’m teaching is the Happiness and Wellbeing retreat in Devon run by Deborah Smith of Grow Your Own Happiness. Come along! After that, if you fancy coming to Kythera in the summer half term in May, let me know. I’m itching to come back!

Yoga in Ealing

Take a look at last week’s blog for some of teachers and classes in Ealing. Or perhaps you could try something else… a treatment for example. Nancy Crawford is an Ealing-based reflexologist who will come to your home to give a treatment. (I’ve written about reflexology here.) And there is a special discounted rate for Good Times Yoga Friday Email readers if booked this month: £30 instead of £40 which includes a free 20min consultation for the first treatment. Email nancy.reflexology@gmail.com for more info or to book an appointment. 

Training

Have you looked at the Om Yoga Show, 19th- 21st October 2018? I’m addicted to going every year and spending as much time there as possible. David Sye will be there. A class with him is the most positive, life-affirming thing you can do. See this description from last year.

Yoga in the news

It’s always good to see sportspeople make use of yoga to improve their performance. Watford’s football coach is leaving nothing to chance, the Telegraph tells us, and fining players if they don’t turn up for yoga: “If you don’t do yoga you get fined – which some of the lads aren’t happy about – but these are things to help us,” said one player. The Guardian this week writes that yoga in prisons cuts reoffending. The Mail Online will probably have some hapless celebrity heading to yoga or in a yoga position.

Give Up The Fruits Of Your Labour

Dear Yogis

Something has been on my mind since my weekend with Tim Feldmann’s. He talked about ‘giving up the fruits of your labour’. This idea comes from the Bhagavad Gita and it’s useful in posture practice as well as in spiritual endeavour. Sri Dharma Mittra (visiting Indaba next February) often says if you’re struggling with a posture it’s because you’re not practicing ‘bhakti’ - love and devotion. He says ‘offer up’ your practice and then the difficult posture will come. Hmm, nice, but you need a few more pointers than that. Here they are…

Tim Feldmann talked about yogis yearning to get straight to the result instead of concentrating on the toil. I see this all the time when I teach Bakasana, Crow Pose. The eagerness to jump the feet off the floor means that no balance is established to hold the pose. Similarly in headstand: forget strong arms, shoulders, core and legs; kick up, kick about a bit, then collapse in a heap. What went wrong?

Tim says: “you changed your mind from the effort to the effect! Don’t put your mind on the result; always put your mind at the root of the activity. Success happens or doesn’t happen, don’t be concerned. If you put your mind on the result, the posture won’t work”.  When projecting on the result, the mind isn’t still enough, not meditative enough, not selfless enough. Don’t project on the outcome! Just do the work with all your might and make your discoveries there.

Kythera Retreats

The first group is leaving this Sunday (9th). I had an unbelievably last-minute cancellation. If you want to be totally impulsive and come, get in touch! There are no classes in my Home Studio for the next two weeks. The next classes here are on the week beginning Monday 24th September.

Yoga in Ealing

Try out one or two of these. If you are completely new to Triyoga you get your first month for £54 or an introductory two classes for £20. For your Ashtanga needs go to Zeena Kalisperides at Yoga West – you just can’t go wrong with her and the Yoga West space is just lovely. If you don’t like big studio classes try Cath Barnes-Holt, an Iyengar teacher in West Ealing and Northfields. Or 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. Finally, a perfect winddown to your weekend is with Ruth Voon for Yin on a Sunday evening at Triyoga Ealing.

Training

I would definitely do this if I wasn’t in Greece: Wanderlust108 is a ‘Mindful Triathlon’ of running, yoga, and meditation. It’s on September 15 at Battersea Park. It’s a 5k run, 75 minutes of Yoga and 25 minutes of guided meditation and then from 1.00-5.00 there are classes and other activities. Goldie will be there! When I get back from Greece I’ve signed up for the Ealing Half Marathon… no training! I could do with your company for that!

Yoga in the news

Elite Daily has a rather sweet article: 5 Life Lessons From Yoga That Will Stick With You Long After You Hop Off The Mat. ‘The physical poses are honestly the least interesting thing about the practice; rather, they are the gateway to acceptance, self-love, and unconditional compassion.’ The first of the 5 things is how your thoughts shape your reality! It’s a sweet article!