Yogi New Year Resolution 2020

Dear Yogis

Have you got your New Year’s Resolution ready? Yogis are brilliant at resolutions. In every yoga practice we try to be a better version of ourselves. This is truly our time of year.

Yogis have the Sanskrit word ‘Sankalpa’ to describe a resolve from the heart. It’s “an intention that forces your mental energies... towards a specific end”.  It is an aspiration pursued by setting a sincere intention. It’s really not about losing a couple of pounds or going to the gym. It doesn’t care if you give up chocolate. It’s about the authenticity of your life and what change you can make to get closer to your higher self. (Definition of the opposite might help: imagine lack of setting a goal or intention, living with an assortment of aims, confusion, aimlessness... and other terms that sound alarmingly like the higgledy piggledy of daily life.)

A Sankalpa is about creating the life you are meant to have. To find your Sankalpa, imagine the life that you aspire to live and then set your intention. Act as that person and pursue long-term interests rather than short-term, confused desires.

Yoga Retreat

OK. Hands up who resolves to come on our Magical Greek Yoga retreat next September – the third week in September! If you’re stuck for a resolution for New Year’s Eve, a Kapsali Retreat could be just the thing! Let me know. As before, we can get the early flight, 06.40, out from Heathrow on Sunday 13th September 2020 and catch the late flight, 19.55, back from Athens on Saturday 19th. See here. To get to the island, we hook up with the Olympic Airlines fights: 16.10 from Athens and 17.20 return on the Saturday. You could also ch

Home Studio

This coming Monday, the 30th, I’ve added another class at 4.00pm. The 6.00 and 7.30 classes are full. See attached for the week’s class availability. For those of you who have been coming for a while, please click here to write a small review.

I’m also covering a class at Eden at 11.30 on’ Thursday 2nd January 2020. I might wear this, a Christmas present.

Yoga in the News

Telegraph.co.uk has: Midlife Fitness Files: yoga expert Bridget Woods Kramer on fake vegans and the power of ayurveda. She says about her energy secret: “Fresh vegetable juice or standing on my head for 5-10 minutes. You can do it against a wall or get a special headstand stool online or just lie down with a bolster or cushions across your lower back and your legs up the wall.  Going upside down daily is invigorating and relaxing at once and, some say, anti-ageing”

With NY Resolution timing, Psychology Today gives us: The Practice and Habit of Happiness. ‘In short, breaking undesired habits and starting desired habits is hard and usually somewhat unpleasant. So, what if we replaced “discipline” with more “delight” and character development as a motivator?’ Read about how to change the neural pathways in your brain.

Perfecting Generosity

Dear Yogis

‘Twas the week before Christmas and the money raised at our charity class in Decathlon, £120.00, has already been transferred. We were told that the most urgent need is stocks of juices and croissants for the landings – for greeting refugees on the shore. My charity bucket in the studio has £40 more which will go towards postage of the mats. They will be distributed at Vial (the camp) as people use them to sleep on. Perhaps some will make it to the language and learning centre of yoga!

Decathlon staff and security were so sweet to us. They kept the entrance doors on the first floor closed so we wouldn’t be disturbed. They provided water and protein bars. They cordoned off a large space for us (11 yogis) and provided some mats from their example shelf. I’m still collecting spare mats and spare money and I’ll organise another class soon to kick us off on a good 2020 note.

We felt the spirit of the season; it was totally blessed! This really is a blessed time of year, all about the practice of generosity rather than concentrating on our own concerns and ambitions, plans and lists. In Buddhist practice the act of ‘giving’ is called ‘Dana’ and it is in the DNA of practitioners. You don’t go to a monastery or temple without taking your Dana, your offering. It’s as normal as taking shoes off, it’s ubiquitous and unremarkable but you can’t reach buddhahood without perfecting generosity.

So! Happy Christmas! Happy giving!

Home Studio

Classes have finished and I settle down for my long winter nap! My lucky Home Studio becomes a bedroom for guests and is back in service in its rightful role on Monday 30th. One of the classes on the 30th is already full so I’ve added another class at 4.00pm. Then there’s the Ashtanga classes of Thursday 2nd, nothing in between.  And then we’re off into the Roaring Twenties! See attached for class availability. For those of you who have been coming for a while, please click here to write a small review.

Christmas Presents

My final suggestion for a Christmas present is bags from a company called Mimicri. Their website says: ‘We upcycle broken refugee rubber boats into high quality bags. The idea for mimycri was born on the Greek island Chios where the co-founders – Vera and Nora – volunteered several times since 2015 welcoming people arriving at the shores. This experience motivated Vera and Nora to stay engaged and do something.’

Training

Tonight is the Charlie Merton workshop, Winter Solstice Yin Yoga + Gong Experience. If you’re looking for a Christmas present for a yogi, this is not a bad idea..

Yoga in the News

National Geographic has: Why our fast-paced society loves yoga. Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, a yoga instructor, Harvard neuroscientist, and expert on the science of yoga, says ‘ Stress plays a major role in many illnesses that kill us. It also drives unhealthy eating, poor sleep, alcohol and drug misuse, and other bad habits. “Modern medicine really sucks at preventing chronic disease’. Khalsa has investigated yoga for insomnia, PTSD, anxiety, and chronic stress, where he’s seen the most compelling evidence of yoga’s benefits.

Forbes has: Julia Roberts' “Eat, Pray, Love” Yoga Teacher Reveals Filming Secrets. ‘With Julia, I would incorporate many inversions and arm balances: Handstands, wall dog, Pincha Mayurasana (forearm stand), and Bakasana (crow). Powerful poses for a powerful woman. FYI: Actors have gruelling hours, so for several weeks of the film they were shooting through the night. She is a dedicated yogi, and we would practice at midnight!’

The Gift Of Giving

Dear Yogis

It’s gift-giving time. Have you got all your presents ready? Gift-giving has always been around; we practice something at Christmas that has happened since prehistoric times. Originally the gods got the goods. Gifts greased the wheels of barter. Rival tribes needed peace offerings. Father Christmas with his gifts is an old pagan idea about spirits who traversed the sky. Ancient Egyptians raised gift-giving to operatic levels – they even filled pyramids with gifts. Ancient Greeks are thought to have started the tradition of birthday gifts to ward off evil spirits and bring good wishes. We have so many occasions that we mark with some kind of offering... Valentines, Harvest Festival, Diwali, simply visiting someone’s home.

Giving is happily in our DNA. We are wired to give! Gifts cement tradition, spread joy, and strengthen social ties. This is a useful reflection if you have someone in your family that is... erm... not your favourite! This is your moment, your welcomed opportunity, to practice generosity! Give with all your heart!

Giving is good for the giver! There’s plenty of research to show that kindness and the act of giving releases endorphins, decreases stress levels, decreases depression and increases in a sense of happiness and purpose. The more you give, the more you become the kind of person who gives, the more you build up your kindness and compassion ‘muscle’ and the more good you do for yourself.

Charity Class

This Sunday. 15th, I’ll be teaching a charity class in Decathlon Ealing. Details are in Last week’s Frfiday Email, here. I would like donated, good quality, yoga mats to send to a charity that works with refugees in Chios, Greece. The Facebook event page is here. My website has a dedicated page here. Sign up here. Or just come along with your mat ready for 11.00. I’ll have charity buckets on the day to collect donations.

Home Studio

My lucky home studio has a variety of classes and people with a variety of reasons for coming. They bring friends, family or just come for the ‘Me Time’. This week I taught an Introduction to Yoga private class for a birthday surprise gift! What a joyful thing! Balloons, Bunting and Breathing. If you’re interested in a birthday session, pop me a line. In the meantime, there’s plenty of room next week. For those of you who have been coming for a while, please write a small review.

Christmas Presents

A couple more ideas here... For coffee lovers, two Home Studio yogis have a coffee business, 106 Coffee and they have a £21.00 Christmas gift pack offer. (Pattabhi Jois, said No Coffee No Prana!). Their pack includes100g samples of the following coffees: Portal da Serra from Brazil, Gitwe #832 from Rwanda, La Independencia #1 from El Salvador, and AA Maganjo from Kenya. And if you think a No Coffee No Prana T-shirt would help on the mat, here it is.

Yoga in the News

Bikram is back! The Telegraph has Yoga's dirty secret: how Bikram conned the world. An attendee at a Bikram camp said ‘’Bikram was almost a caricature of himself. He was constantly talking about what had happened to him, that he’d been wronged and that he was innocent. He was still giving his long lectures, saying that he should’ve been revered more than Jesus Christ because he’s helped more people. He sounded delusional.”

Science Daily has: Experts review evidence yoga is good for the brain. ‘The amygdala, a brain structure that contributes to emotional regulation, tends to be larger in yoga practitioners than in their peers who do not practice yoga.’

Charity Yoga Class: Accumulating And Transferring Merit

Dear Yogis

I want you to come to my charity yoga class next Sunday, 15th, at Decathlon Ealing so here’s how I’ll try persuade you – with the Buddhist theory of ‘transferring merit’. It’s central to Buddhist practice to be in the service of others by giving food (dana) keeping precepts (like the yoga precepts of Yamas and Niyamas), and through the practice of meditation, which is what yoga practice is. All this good work and moral endeavour is believed to accumulate merit. Buddhists love the idea of undertaking meritorious deeds and then accumulating and transferring merit. You do that by wishing for someone else to benefit from your good work.

Nice, eh! It’s a nice way to live; to always have giving and meditation as a regular occurrence in your diary. With that in mind, can I have your old, unwanted yoga mat?! It’s to send to an organisation called CESRT – the Chios Eastern Shore Response Team - a charity that receives refugees who land on the island of Chios after a precarious boat crossing from Turkey. After yogi friend Kay volunteered there and held a yoga class there, we decided to collect unwanted, donated yoga mats to send to them. We also need to raise the money for postage, hence the class.

The date of this class is highly significant. It's the birthday of legendary yoga teacher, Derek Ireland: Brighton-born, world traveller, charismatic teacher, yoga trailblazer who transplanted the practice of Ashtanga Yoga from India to Europe. December 15th would have been his 70th birthday and it is being celebrated in many parts of the world with fundraising yoga classes in his honour.

Decathlon in Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre will be hosting us. Decathlon has a great space upstairs; anyone can come, beginners, middle, advanced and people who want some yoga fun. Bring children and make a small donation for them on the day – I have charity buckets! Otherwise, you can sign up here on my website. Click the 'Book Now' button. Here’s the Facebook Event page. Please can you share it?

Training

Gorgeous Charlie Merton has a workshop coming up in Ealing on Friday 20th, Winter Solstice Yin Yoga + Gong Experience. If you’re looking for a Christmas present for a yogi, this is not a bad idea, even though it’s pre-Christmas. There’s an early bird price until December 13th. It’s my present to myself! Come with me!

Home Studio

We were flying on Wednesday evening with a workshop on Crow posture! If you have a posture request, I can be your DJ. There’s plenty of room next week. See attached for class availability. For those of you who have been coming for a while, please write a small review.

Christmas Presents

So, what suggestions so far? There’s the Foxhills Golf Course, Chertsey, one-day-and-one-night yoga retreat mentioned last week on Sunday 19 January, Warm Up For Winter with a 10% discount code – YOGARETREATTS. There’s Stephen Cope’s wonderful book The Great Work Of Your Life and Decathlon yoga mats. I’ll think of new ones for next week.Yoga in the News

The Telegraph has: How Hotpod became Europe's biggest yoga brand, and why top athletes love it. 'From the outside, the pod looks like an adult’s bouncy castle'... it is in fact 'Europe’s largest yoga brand; the second-largest in the world'. ‘The England rugby team have been Hotpodding for years – they took a pod to the World Cup in Japan, and captain Owen Farrell even has his own’. Hotpod yoga is good for midlifers and ‘those who practised hot yoga had a greater reduction in body fat percentage’

Business Insider has: I did yoga every day for a month, and I've never gotten so many compliments on my skin and posture. ‘Since I’d received so many comments on my complexion, I did some digging and found out that “yoga glow” is a real thing. Yoga can increase the blood flow to your face and contribute to less inflammation, meaning that it can help your skin appear more glowy and less bloated or puffy than usual.’