Ashtanga Is Not For Everyone

Dear Yogis 

During our magical Kythera retreat this year, my guru Valentina dropped the bombshell that the physical practice of Ashtanga is not for everyone. Well, I have to admit, I never suggested Ashtanga to my mother! My teacher David Swenson, a famous Ashtangi, says that it is our duty to teach anyone and everyone that comes to our classes and, if they have restrictions or disabilities, find a way to modify the Ashtanga practice to include them. His teacher, Pattabhi Jois, would say that yoga is not for lazy people; everyone else can try.

Valentina says very definitely that Ashtanga is not for everybody. It is an advanced practice and some people should be in a gentler class for a much more subtle practice. It made me think that Ashtangis spend years, decades, revisiting the same postures for a truer practice. Ashtanga is not like other studies; we don’t ‘qualify’ in the first weeks, months and years... or ever! But people are impatient, want to be advanced and want to join the connoisseurs’ club. It’s not at all like that but the gym doesn’t warn you that there will be highs and lows, many frustrations, you’ll be a ‘beginner’ for much longer than you might have expected, and then there’s the unexpected journey of the soul!

It doesn’t have to be Ashtanga! There are plenty of other reasons to practice (and teach) yoga...

Training

I’ve signed up for two days’ training with Ourmala to learn how to teach yoga to refugees (written about in the Evening Standard here.). The training is about significantly improving mental and physical health, reducing loneliness and enabling people to feel safer, more confident and take part in life more. Come with me! The training is held in Richmond on January 16th and 17th.  “You don’t need to be a yoga teacher or even a yoga practitioner to attend.”

And all of this is inspired by my yogi friend who taught refugees in Chios, Greece, recently. Put 11.00am on Sunday December 15th in your diary. We’re teaching a charity yoga class to raise money to send yoga mats to the organisation my friend volunteered with, Chios Eastern Shore ResponseTeam. Decathlon, Ealing, has kindly donated our venue for the class. You can sign up here by clicking the Book Now button. Open to all. Bring children! You can make a little donation on the day for little ones! We want to collect your unwanted yoga mats to send to the organisation. Monday raised is for shipping costs and any left-over, to donate to their work.

Home Studio

Plenty of room next week apart from Wednesday’s class which is the popular evening. The Thursday 6.00 class is popular too, for people who want to come straight from work . See attached for class availability. For those of you who have been coming for a while, please write a small review.

Christmas Presents

What about a day yoga retreat? I spent a Sunday recently on a press trip at Foxhills golf course for a one day yoga retreat. The next one is on Sunday 19 January, Warm Up For Winter, for £190 and I have a discount code - YOGARETREATTS - for a 10% discount

• 9am-9.30am – Arrival/welcome

• 9.30am-11am – Morning yoga practice (dynamic)

• 11.30am-12.30pm – Nutrition talk

• 12.30-2pm – Lunch/explore the resort

• 2.30pm-4pm – Afternoon practice (restorative)

• 4pm-8pm – Use of the spa facilities

• Cost of dinner not included in the package

• Overnight stay

• Check out 11 am

The Address is Stonehill Rd, Ottershaw, Lyne, Chertsey KT16 0EL. It’s a really nice experience!

Yoga in the News

The Evening Standard has:  2 energising morning yoga sequences to wake you up for the day.  It’s a nice little example for absolute, total beginners. The sequences couldn’t be shorter.

Here's a good question from the HuffPost: What's The Difference Between A Cheap Yoga Mat And An Expensive One? Read about mats that have cult following, mats that knees love, sticky or slippy, thinner or cushioned, eco-friendly or landfill planet-killers.

Teaching Yoga To Refugees

Dear Yogis 

A dear yogi friend recently volunteered on the Greek Island of Chios to help with the refugees that land on their flimsy craft with their worthless life jackets and drenched clothes. After a couple of weeks my friend was asked to teach a beginners’ yoga class. Here’s what she said:

Oh my goodness I was so concerned beforehand and it went really well! We started by going through the language I was going to use with help of the Language Centre - body parts, stretch, extend, etc. I planned an animal theme to the class, found pictures of the different animals, projected them onto a white board and then I demonstrated the poses. I got 8 guys - no women unfortunately.

Then we went outside and more joined. I got a nice playlist and we did a flow. I got to a point where I thought they might have had enough but they wanted more so I improvised! One much older guy who walks with a crutch even joined in. They could nearly all do crow!

I ended with a long Savasana to a lovely track and talked them through a relaxation. They reckon I should train to be a teacher.

My friend and I have hatched a plan: to put on a fundraising class to send yoga mats to Chios. Ealing’s newly opened Decathlon has already agreed to host the class on Sunday December 15th, time TBA. We would need to collect donated mats and collect money to pay the postage. It would be a donation class, suggested donation £10. More details anon.

This date coincides nicely with an event of Kristina Karitinou Ireland – a Celebration of Derek´s Ireland’s life. He would have been 70 and Kristina has asked us to celebrate his life, his enduring example and inspiration on December 15th. Derek raised the level of teaching yoga and made the practice more accessible and widespread. What could be more of an example of this accessibility than teaching refugees to lift their spirits?

Home Studio

There’s a lot of space next week. Come for a stretch on Mondays and Tuesdays and give evening Ashtanga a go on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We can make it a Yin Ashtanga class (!) if the day has taken your energy! Book early. See attached for class availability. For those of you who have been coming for a while, please write a small review.

Training

I’m teaching Ashtanga at Virgin Chelsea tomorrow morning (Saturday 23rd) at 10.30-11.30, covering for Mark Colleano. Come along if you’re a member of Virgin.

By the way, my guru David Swenson is in the country at the moment and teaching in Triyoga Camden. Take a look at his workshops. He’s an incredibly inspirational teacher.

Yoga in the News

The Guardian has: He got away with it': how the founder of Bikram yoga built an empire on abuse. Netflix released a new documentary about Bikram which ‘ visually synthesizes decades of archival footage with first-person testimony and filmed court depositions into a devastating portrait of an abusive narcissist protected from consequences by his own inflated cult of personality, wealth and professional power within the niche world of hot yoga.’

Chiang Rai Times has: How Can Yoga and Meditation Change Your Brain? Paragraphs on how meditation changes the attention span, reduces anxiety, increases information processing, reduces pain signals, increases brain folds, and boosts the volume of grey matter.

You Will Know Your Path

Dear Yogis 

It’s the season of mists and mellowness and I find myself making a decision this week that I really didn’t want to or expect to make. A summer of dreaming came to an end and I let go. Endings are really beginnings and I found great support in a book I only mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Stephen Cope’s The Great Work Of Your Life. This next passage is about making a decision to leap forward and even though I didn’t in this instance, I know my real leap forward and a more vivid dream is coming:

“Concerning all acts of initiative, and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself then providence moves in too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man would have dreamt would come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s concepts: “Whatever you do, or dream you can do, Begin It, Boldness has genius, power and magic in it’”.

Cope’s book is about finding your calling which will literally call you and pull you. For me, the pull wasn't strong and summer's dream wasn't right.  Cope says: “When difficulties arise, see them as your dharma. Your dharma is the work that is called forth from you at this moment. And like everything in this impermanent world, the work of the moment can change on a dime”.

Home Studio

I have to say, when I moved back home to Ealing and started my little studio, providence moved in too. It’s my favourite thing, my lucky space, it’s where the nicest people in Ealing gather and it has joy in its fabric. Many people have commented that they feel a special vibe in the studio. Of course, it’s what they bring!  Come and see! The added Ashtanga class on Thursday at 6.00pm was full so I’ll keep it on the timetable. See attached for class availability.

Christmas Presents

Stephen Cope’s book is perfect, I think, for a teenager taking a great step forward to A Levels or university and anyone who likes a contemplative read.. If you have contemplated buying a yoga mat for someone, I have two Decathlon mats in my studio for you to try. Their top-of-the-range one is £39.99 and lovely and grippy, 4mm in thickness, quite narrow and liked in my small sample group. Some don’t like the texture, though. The next one, £29.99, is smooth, thinner (3mm), wider, nice and grippy and nicely designed, with inspiring writing down the middle. They have a thicker one like this which is 5mm for £39.99. When I think of other suggestions I’ll let you know.

Yoga in the News

The Sydney Morning Herald has:  As Insta posers get injured, have we finally reached 'peak yoga'? Interesting ending... “After all, people are injuring themselves generally trying to get the perfect Instagram shot and I've heard of plenty of other fitness professionals snapping tendons and generally hurting themselves as they try to out-do one-another for social media.”

The New York Times has: How Did I Get That Yoga Story? You Really Had to Be There. This is about ‘adjustments’ in yoga classes and how teachers intervene, hands on, in a student’s practice, to bring out the best posture. Take a look at the video in the article and... try to pick your jaw off the floor.

Rolfing For A Wonky Body

Dear Yogis 

I have a therapy to recommend to you: Rolfing. I first heard it recommended by David Williams - he who is credited with introducing Ashtanga to America in the 70s. Dr Ida Rolf Invented the therapy, a ten-step system to manipulate soft tissue and correct structural imbalances... and I have so many!

My friend and Eden Fitness Ashtanga teacher Alain Zakeossian is a certified ‘Rolfer’, and so my learning curve came from his expertise. My right shoulder rolls forward, possibly due to many years of violin playing and my left is bigger, possibly due to bowing. My torso turns slightly to the right which is why I look odd in shoulder stand! My arms were held like semi-circles beside my torso, like an puny body builder! My insteps are unequal and right leg turns out from the hip. That’s the short list!

I found this interesting, about breathing: if the torso is hyper extended, like a ballet dancer with a pronounced lifted chest, you’ll never take a full exhalation. The opposite is the case with people who are hunched forward with a squashed chest; they’ll never achieve a full inhalation.

The treatment itself is really such a new experience. A few times on the treatment table I felt so deeply relaxed it was like being awake and asleep at the same time. It’s more of a learning experience than any massage or visit to the physio. It’s empowering. Take a look at Alain’s website: rolfinginlondon.com.  Ida Rolf said: "This is the gospel of Rolfing: When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself."

Home Studio

Next Thursday I’m reintroducing the 6.00 Ashtanga-based classes. I’ll add it to the timetable till the end of November and see what the demand is. There’s a few spaces left in the usual classes next week and all but one of the new Thursday class to fill up. See attached for class availability.

Training

Yoga Evolved in Lambeth has a whole day of yoga in a nightclub tomorrow, from 10.30-19.00 for £30. It’s a Yoga and Fitness Festival. The day includes: QiGong, an Inversion Workshop, Power Yoga, and Gin Yin.

Yoga in the News

Reuters has:  Warrior pose: Sierra Leone's soldiers heal trauma with yoga. “Yoga is not about the past, but about living in the present moment,” Musa said. “You have to leave everything on the mat. Ebola, the war, all those things have passed, and through yoga we are learning to let them go.”

I can’t tell you how many people sent me this from the BBC: Yoga teachers 'risking serious hip problems'. Mr Matthews, a specialist hip and knee physiotherapist and member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, says he sees four to five yoga teachers a month.

The Telegraph has: Yoga has become dangerously competitive – the very thing it shouldn’t be. I like the way this starts: ‘I had been going to yoga classes for over 10 years before I did my first headstand. It took me a further five until I am where I am today; completely at home balancing with my feet directly above my head.’

Our Blueprint For Health and Fulfillment

Dear Yogis

Last weekend I went to the most entertaining all-day lecture with Dr N G Kostopoulos and Vaidya A Barot on the Principles of Ayurveda. Laughter flowed freely. They also give their knowledge freely but ask that we, in payment, “leave 1% of yourself for others. Open your heart by giving to others”. 

Dr Kostopoulos began by telling us that Ayurveda is very specific, nothing is vague. It is 10 times more precise than modern medicine which is too general. Ayurveda gives us easy access to information about ourselves, both physical and mental. Ayurveda views us in terms of our physical energies, Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These are our ‘doshas’, our blueprint for health and fulfillment, telling us about our type, our leaning, our disposition and vulnerabilities. When these energies are out of balance, certain diseases can be explained.

To illustrate Vata, Pitta and Kapha he used animal examples. Look at the monkey, he said to illustrate Vata - which derives from the elements of Space and Air and translates as “wind”. The monkey has a lot of kinetic energy, a lot of Vata, moving erratically, constantly and aimlessly. Vata is prominent in his brain and in his genetics. Survival comes from moving fast to escape predators. They eat banana, a settling, Kapha food. They can’t eat more Vata foods, not chillies! They would be flying! This is how nature works.

Vata people can’t make up their minds about doing this or that, preferring to go here or there. If you have a lot of vata kinetic energy your body will be a little thinner, fast moving, and your ideas will be fast moving as well. Enthusiastic but you can also lose your enthusiasm easily. You go for something but you can also withdraw from something as well.

Pitta derives from the elements of Fire and Water and Dr Kostopolous illustrated this dosha with Tiger energy. This is a Pitta animal, representing aggression, concentration and combustion. They have penetrating eyes, very careful movements and they hunt and kill for food. (The monkey doesn’t have to hunt, bananas don’t run away! This food needs a totally different mind-set to the food-hunting tiger). The tiger is total Pitta. They have so much Pitta, they can consume raw meat. Pita people are precise and have an intense, sharp, fiery nature. They know exactly what they want. They know exactly when the need to eat and when they are hungry they get irritated.

Kapha derives from the Sanskrit word ‘shlish’ meaning ‘that which holds things together’. This type is about strong structure. Look at the elephant which is very strong, smooth, deliberate movements, plenty of reserves of energy, stoic. He can survive; he is difficult to attack. Kapha people are patient, grounded, heavier... they love to eat.  They should do more dynamic yoga. They love Savasana, sleep, not exercising, community and family.

We are all slightly different, different percentages of these three qualities which is why modern medicine loses its grip because it needs the average person to have effect on the biggest percentage of the population. Yoga and Ayurveda are targeted processes to bring an imbalanced state back to balance.  You can google quizzes to check your dosha type. At the very least this can give you clues about what foods to avoid and what type of exercise to do.

Home Studio

November is here but we can still heat up the studio with our energy. There’s plenty of room in class next week. See attached for class availability.

Training

Tonight, I’ll be at Triyoga from Charlie Merton’s gong bath workshop: 20 minutes of working with mantra, 20 minutes of breath and mudra, 40-45 minutes postures and 40 minutes of gong bath. It’s at 19:45 - 21:45. Come with me!

Yoga in the News

Kent Online Iswar Sharma from Sevenoaks wins Euro yoga gold. ‘Ten-year-old Ishwar Sharma from Sevenoaks travelled to Bordeaux to represent the UK in the European Yoga Championship - and came home with a gold medal in the Boys 9-11 category!’  

The Hindustan Times has: Mudra an obscene gesture? UK court dismisses complaint. ‘A British court has dismissed a case against an Indian-origin woman whose daily Yoga practice by a beach near her house in Sussex infuriated a neighbour-couple, who believed her hand ‘Mudra’ to be an obscene gesture aimed at them and complained to the police.’  

Glamour UK has: Your ultimate guide to chakras and how to optimise your daily performance with them. It’s a nice little article. The writer says: ‘Each chakra also concerns itself with more direct emotional and physical symptoms, so along with the colours I want to teach you how to use these powerful energy centres to benefit your daily life’.