Ashtanga's Parampara system

Dear Yogis

This weekend I’m attending Led Primary Series practice with Sharath Jois. He is the member of the Jois family who inherited the Ashtanga Shala of Mysore (Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI)) and therefore its history and its list of authorised teachers. Some call him Sharathji and revere him as the lineage holder of Asthanga Yoga. His official website uses the word Paramaguru. This is because he follows Parampara – he is the follower of a lineage. (It is the Indian yoga institutions that honoured him with the Paramaguru status.)

The Parampara system is where knowledge is passed down from teacher to student... eternally. Sharath can look up through his immediate ancestors and see his mother, his uncle and grandfather as his immediate influencers. He took yoga seriously from 19-years-old when he started assisting his grandfather, Sri K Pattabhi Jois. Sharath’s mother is Saraswathi Rangaswamy, daughter of Pattabhi Jois. She learnt from her father from 10-years-old who, in turn, studied with his teacher, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (‘inventor of modern yoga’), from the age of 12 for almost three decades. Krishnamacharya’s teacher was a yoga master who lived in the Himalayas. Pretty cool, eh. It’s all about keeping a line of knowledge continuous, constant, uninterrupted.  

Here’s an interview with Sharath by Kino Macgregor about his book which came out this year.

Retreat

It feels like ages since we had a night-time moon in London and I long for my Kapsali moon over the bay, kept company my the star of Venus. It feels like heaven shines on Kapsali. I think it does!  Why don’t you come on our magical Kapsali Yoga retreat, September 21st? It’s now being advertised on Book Yoga Retreats to a worldwide audience. I’m excited to see who will join us. One of our excursions on the island will be to Sara’s herbal apothecary. Take a look at some of her inspiring remedies. She has creams for knee problems! I bought the Tendonitis Cream for my tricky knee which has an ingredient ‘Devil’s Claw’. She has anti-aging cream... I probably need more of that. It’s a beautiful shop and she gives us a talk on herbal remedies and answers our many and various questions.

Home Studio

I was badly delayed yesterday and had to cancel the evening Ashtanga-based class. I’ll replace it with a class tonight at 7.00. Let me know if you’d like to come. There are plenty of spaces in the classes next week. The latest availability is attached to this email.

Training

Charlie Merton will be at Triyoga Ealing on July 19th with her gongs of joy! I’ve booked the workshops taught by Beryl Bender Birch, September 13th – 15th at Triyoga Soho.

Yoga in the News

The Evening Standard has Where to find the best outdoor yoga classes in London this summer – always good to see at this time of year. The article features Peckham, The O2, St Pauls, Belgravia, and Canary Wharf.

BBC News has: St Edmundsbury Cathedral yoga experience 'boosts wellbeing'. "A man who was inspired to start fitness classes while homeless has set up a yoga session at a cathedral.” What an inspiration!

Hong Kong Tatler has: These Are The World's Most Expensive Yoga Mats. They start at US$15,000! Third on the list is Liforme and Burberry at £300. How uninspiring!

Wild Gyrating Not Necessary

Dear Yogis

Last night in my home studio, while yogis were in Savasana, it struck me how really rather advanced many of the postures we had just practiced were. I didn’t even know some of these postures existed before Teacher Training like Rotated Triangle Pose or Half Bound Lotus Standing Forward Bend or binding hands in Marichyasana C.

The nice thing about my teacher was that ego didn’t flourish in her classes. I was never made to feel inadequate or self-conscious about my countless limitations. I know that I wobbled and I must have looked ungainly but I just remember enjoying yoga classes. Her adjustments didn’t crazily push anyone into extreme shapes or cause injury. (My teacher was Valentina Candiani who is teaching the yoga retreat with me this September).

Difficult or complex postures just come along in their own good time. Lotus pose, for example, came via a simple technique and easy encouragement from Chicago yoga teacher Jim Bennitt in 2015. (I’ll show you in class if you like.) I was 48 and had no idea that Lotus would ever grace my practice. I’d never given it much of a thought.

One teacher decided to tell my legs/hips what’s what! My non-existent Lotus Pose needed his interesting technique: he squatted in front of me while I was minding my own business in cross-legged posture and hooked my hapless foot into the crease of his hip. He then proceeded to gyrate... I think! I don’t really know because I closed my eyes, terrified for my flailing leg. After circling wildly with my captured foot he tried to deftly slip it up into half lotus. Well... after that inevitable defeat I don’t think he attempted the other leg! Not easy if your gyrating isn’t appreciated, eh!

Postures will come along in their own good time. Wild gyrating not necessary!

Retreat

If you’re worried about the level of yoga on the retreat, really, you don’t need to be. All levels are welcome. If you are very experienced you’ll feel perfectly matched by the amount of yoga and the level. If you are relatively new to yoga, you can join the morning practice and do as much as you can. Your strength and endurance will increase day by day. The workshops will be both physical and philosophical. Everybody can do the Yin classes! Come with us on our magical Kapsali Yoga retreat, September 21st.

Home Studio

It’s good fun! Come and join us! You can see class availability on my website (which I update often). The latest availability is attached to this email.

Training

I notice that Charlie Merton is back at Triyoga Ealing on July 19th for an evening’s Silent Yin & Gong Workshop for £25. It’s such a nice practice! I’ve booked the workshops taught by Beryl Bender Birch, September 13th – 15th at Triyoga Soho. She’s the originator of ‘Power Yoga’!

Yoga in the News

The Independent has: The undocumented history of female yoga teachers in Britain. Articles like this don’t come along very often. It’s about two teachers: “Sunita and Kailash were more than simply yoga teachers – their lives exemplify how yoga provided new opportunities for personal empowerment and social influence, offering a new route to liberation for women.”

Shun Sun Salutations

Dear Yogis

Last weekend I did workshops with Carmen Aguilar. She’s wonderful to learn from. She likes her students to be ambitious. (She said: ‘if you go to the toilet 7 times, well, OK, but you’re not fooling anyone’.) Apart from that, I thought this was interesting: Carmen doesn’t believe in Sun Salutations. She doesn’t teach them because she doesn’t believe in repetitive movement patterns.

Isn’t this heresy? Saluting the sun is about your sun; greeting and honouring your sun rise, your divinity and your potential. You connect the mind to the breath, you move the spine, you stretch and strengthen, you increase the heart rate, you increase blood flow to the muscles and release endorphins, you find a rhythm to the rest of your practice, and, get this, kindle your inner fire and radiate your light, your best self! Could it be better?

Actually, yes! We try, in yoga class, to break habits and patterns yet we barely recognise our repetitive patterns and bad habits. We can bring very strong opinions about what we should look like and feel like. We bring our moods and character traits..., that could go either way! There are also the shoulder-shredding Chaturangas where shoulder-dipping and crunching might replace arm strength, and it looks painful.

Here’s what you can do in your Sun Salutations. First of all, reach up and touch your sun. Stretching upwards is such a natural thing to do to awaken the body. Second, fold forward with an exhalation and see how this release feels. Can you release? Can gravity help? Are you holding your breath? Are you allowing the body to release... is your body allowing you? Forward folding, introspective postures can decrease anxiety. Third posture is to look up, flatten the back, inflate the lungs and check your sun is still shining. Next, step back and lower in a kind of prostration (with arm strength, not shoulder dips). Then lift the heart up to Upward Facing Dog and feel your sun shining warmth on your face and radiating positivity. Then exhale and release to Downward Facing dog to feel the breath in the body.

Carmen’s favourite quote is by Joseph Campbell: “The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature”. We’re all trying to do that in our own way.

Retreat

I have been asked if there is a direct flight to Kythera from London for our magical Kapsali Yoga retreat in September. Well... yes there is if you want a bit of extra holiday before the retreat. Aegean Airlines will take you on an overnight flight on Tuesday 17th September, arriving Wednesday 18th and leaving on the 28th. Otherwise, you need two carriers, one to get you to and from Athens and one for the return flight to the island (see attachment). I’ve taken the boat from Piraeus Port before and I don’t think it’s worth it. I’ve never driven through the Peloponnese but it’s on my list of things to do. However you choose to come, just come!

Home Studio

Classes are pretty booked up next week! Crickey! You can see class availability on this website (which I update often).

Yoga in the News

The Metro has: Ex-rugby star says 'breathwork' changed his life – and it's easy to try. “Breathing properly can positively benefit your mind and body in a number of ways, from increasing or lowering your energy, managing emotional, physical and mental stress as well as increasing performance at work or at a sport”

The Guardian is providing yoga counselling with this “Fit in my 40s: how can I do Insta-friendly yoga poses?” The writer wants to do Crow Pose.

Last week, BBC News had Yoga Day: Thousands of Indians celebrate the day. Hilarious picture of PM Modi who is, I assume, surrounded by security detail!

Celebrate International Yoga Day

Dear Yogis

It’s International Yoga Day today. It began in a speech PM Modi made to the UN in 2014 when he called for an International Yoga Day and said of yoga: ‘It should bring a change in our lifestyle and create awareness in us and it can help in fighting against climate change’.  The UN approved it and the first IYD was in 2015.

Here’s my suggestion of a way to celebrate the day. Not everyone has time to get to class and not everyone who reads this email practices yoga. Take a couple of minutes to contemplate the breath and make your inhalations and exhalations a little longer and deeper. That’s it!

Here’s what my teacher, David Swenson, says of the breath and here’s why a five-minute-focus is appropriate for IYD. He says: “We breathe in the same language. It connects us. It connects us to the past, present and future. We're all breathing the same air. The air isn't British or European or any other nationality. The simple act of breathing is a spiritual act. Many languages have the same word for spirit and breath. If we grab hold of the breath it has an immediate tangible effect on the mind and calms us down. It even interacts with plants. We exhale and they take it on and give us oxygen.”

Watch your breath connect you to yourself, to others, to other countries, nationalities, belief systems, and to the planet. Cool, eh!

Retreat

Valentina and I have devised a timetable for our magical Kapsali Yoga retreat in September. I will teach the sunrise Ashtanga class looking out onto the morning glory of Kapsali Bay. Buffet breakfast next. Holiday time next and lounging around down on the bay.

The afternoon workshops with Valentina will start with a ‘warm up’ and work on technique and alignment. She will also focus of memorising the Ashtanga sequence. Of course, there is plenty of information and detail for Mysore and non-Mysore practitioners.

Then the daily themes Valentina will explore are: 1. The background of yoga / Breathing, Meditation and visualisation. 2. Principles of Vinyasa / Practice with inner alignment, breath and bandhas. 3. Acro Yoga and Arm Balancing / Fun yoga!. 4. Transitions.

We will also have Candle-lit yin sessions under our starry Greek sky. Come with us!

Home Studio

Classes are totally booked up next week! Crickey! You can see class availability on my website (which I update often). It gets pretty booked up so you might have to book in the following week.

Training

Yoga West is offering two free International Yoga Day classes at the top of Acton Park near to the kids playground. You have to look out for the Yoga West flag. Bring your own mat: 13:15 Vinyasa Flow with Csilla and 16:45 Pilates with Yasmine. And there’s more free yoga in London today if you google.

In our community

We have yogis who are ’dedicated coffeeholics’ with a 2kg roaster in their micro coffee lab in a converted studio. If you would like freshly roasted coffee write to Gosia and Bartosz: hello@106coffee.com or sign up for their newsletter.

A brilliant yogi who practices in my lucky studio is offering Jing Thai massage, an energy-based treatment. A testimony: ‘You know Mariusz, the biggest benefit of your massage is that you put my body together. Before your massage, my body felt all over the place. Now, it’s all in one place, perfectly realigned and balanced.’ Contact him at mpm108@yahoo.com

Yoga in the News

Quartz has: In photos: How Indians are marking International Yoga Day 2019 (They are 5 ½ hours ahead of us).

Time Out has the slightly silly It's official – London is the yoga capital of the world. ‘The craze shows no sign of entering savasana: data from the report shows more than 6,000 yoga events were held across the UK last year – that’s nearly triple compared to 2016, which saw just over 2,000.’

This is interesting. Greatest has: Should You Avoid Yoga Inversions During Your Period? The article asks: ‘is there any legitimate medical risk involved in doing certain poses during your period? Or is it as outdated an idea as female hysteria?’ and adds ‘It’s important to recognize that this prioritization isn’t rooted in biological function, but in philosophy’.

A Posture Is A Friend

Dear Yogis

This is something that comes up in conversation from time to time: in Ashtanga Mysore practice, it’s common for the teacher to ‘give’ you postures, ‘allow’ you to progress to the next posture and then slowly and surely through the 50 asanas of the Primary Series and onwards. You might think you can do more but a teacher says ‘that’s enough’! A teacher takes care to judge your readiness for more postures at exactly the right time. If a student is frustrated, it might be because this original method hasn’t been explained or that other Mysore teachers don’t follow this method and so confusion reigns.

Manju Jois says he won’t ever stop someone from practicing postures they can’t fully achieve. David Swenson was taught the original way but now says there are modified postures you can do till the full posture allows you in. Kristina Karitinou Ireland said Derek Ireland didn’t stop anyone because, for example, they can’t bind in ‘body-knotting’ Marichyasana D. Derek said this is the way Krishnamacharya, inventor of modern yoga, taught. 

Back in May of this year, Kristina spoke about ‘Why we stop’ in a seminar in Kythera. She asked: ‘What are the criteria of stopping and what are the criteria for moving on to the next posture?’ Answer; it's familiarity, making friends with the posture.

She said: there will always be a stop in Navasana, Boat Pose, because it is a ‘strength state’ and you need to build it up. You also stop here to learn the sequence thus far. The next stop is Kormasana, Tortoise Pose, because it is an ‘emotional state’. Here is where you start to get familiar with the emotions. The third stop is at the end of the sequence, before moving to the Second Series, because you need to build up the flow. Then, in the Second Series, you stop at Kapotasana, an extreme backbend. More emotions! Another stop is Leg Behind Head. (I would add ‘obviously!’). These stopping points are ‘gates’. Somewhere there is a gate for us to have to go through.

“A posture is a friend which is teaching us things and helping unblock the system. We need to establish familiarity with a posture and make friends with it. Embrace it and have gratitude. Then you are ready to move on to the next posture”.

Retreat

I’m attaching some pictures I found online of the May 2019 yoga retreats at Porto Delfino with Kristina and also Marceau Baptiste to try to entice you to join our September Kapsali Yoga Retreat. I’m also attaching suggested flights. The Early Bird price is finished but get in touch this weekend if you want to come and I’ll extend it for you.

Home Studio

Interesting situation on Tuesday... One of our number had been ordered by her physio not to stretch! She did ‘Restorative’ Yoga while others stretched and bent and twisted. Restorative yoga has postures that last, perhaps, 10 minutes. In an hour’s class you might to four postures plus Shavasana. If you fancy a go, let me know. You can see class availability on t his website (which I update often). It gets pretty booked up so you might have to book in the following week.

Training

I’m teaching Valentina’s class at Fulham Pools on Sunday at 11.00-12.15. Don’t forget Tracy Elner and Dr Jacques Anthony Soyer’s ‘Breath & Stillness: ancient knowledge meets modern medicine’, at Triyoga Soho tomorrow.

International Yoga Day

Healthy Wealthy is celebrating International Yoga Day on Saturday 22nd June. They have a day of workshops and classes. The 6.00 includes an Indian vegan breakfast. The second session is an Ayurveda Workshop at 10.00. At 11.00 is a Sun Salutations Marathon followed by a fresh vegan lunch. The day finishes at 14.00.

Yoga in the News

Can Love for Yoga Be Learned? I really hate yoga...but it's too healthy not to do. This is hilarious: ‘I’m glad I stuck with trying different types of yoga classes over the years. Now that I’ve found ones that were enjoyable, I liken it to how going on bad dates didn’t make me give up on men; I just had to keep trying until I found the one that clicked for me.’

This looks really good! Midhurst and Petworth Observer has 'Largest yoga gathering planned in the South Downs for International yoga Day. (1 hour 20 from London!). Their event is on Friday June 21, which is also the summer solstice. Free events include morning of classes, a talk and demonstrations, and refreshments served by Cowdray Farm Shop and Café.

Suggested Travel To Kythera

Flights to Athens (ATH) and then a short flight from Athens with Sky Express or Olympic Air to Kithira (KIT).

Cost is very reasonable for the Athens to Kithira Leg.

https://www.skyexpress.gr – Flights all days except Wednesdays, or www.olympicair.com

POSSIBLE ITINERARY

Outbound ATH – KIT Date: 21 September 2019

From London Heathrow 06:55, Arrives Athens 12:40

ATH to KIT Sky Express Dep:15:00 Arr: 15:50

Inbound KIT – ATH Date: 28 September 2019

KIT to: ATH Sky Express Dep: 16:10 Arr: 17:00 (Olympic dep 14.50 and is cheaper)

From: Athens 19:55 to London Heathrow 21:45

Functional Training And Yoga

Dear Yogis

Here are some notes from my latest weekend with Sarah Ramsden (Yoga for Athletes) that I thought were really simple and effective and apply to all of us. We were discussing ‘functionality’ and ‘functional training’. It’s about regaining movement needed to function in everyday life and is from the work of physical therapists who work in injury rehabilitation.

It has wider, more general application. Sarah says: to move functionally we need strength, good alignment, flexibility, and normal range of movement (which is normal joint range). Normal joint range, ROM, is measureable. Many footballers move way beyond their normal joint range. They need enough flexibility to cope with and recover from the massive power needed to kick the ball in an unstable joint range.  Sarah said in another workshop: “The miracle of ballet is that it is able to distort the body so much”... and recover. Guess what, we also distort the body if we sit in an office for 8 hours a day or do any repetitive movement that becomes a habit in the body.

Sarah pops into this monologue “the stronger you are the better you age”. Strength matters. Stability matters. A good range of motion matters. Take any one of these away your ability to move functionally falls apart. They play together all the time. The question is, for all of us, can you maintain or return to optional movement and optimal stability or do you slide into permanently dysfunctional habits? Habits become posture and become a guiding principle for soft tissue. Then it becomes a way of being. Dysfunctional patterns dissipate energy.

Yoga can reverse it or stop it getting worse. Do yoga!

Retreat

The Kapsali Yoga Retreat 2019 timetable will follow the pattern set in previous years of an early Ashtanga practice under the rising morning sun which finishes in time for the buffet breakfast on Porto Delfino’s beautiful restaurant balcony overlooking the most glorious view.  Then holiday and R&R time before resuming our practice at 4.00 with a workshop led, this year, by my teacher Valentina Candiani. Our timetable will also include our candle-lit Yin practice under a star-filled night sky, too magical to resist, at the beginning and end of our week.  The Early Bird price is finished but get in touch this week if you want to come and I’ll extend it for you.

Home Studio

The addition of Thursday’s 6.00pm Ashtanga class is going well so I have added it till the end of the month. Plenty of newcomers in search of a small, tailored class are discovering my lucky studio so please book in advance to secure a place. You can see class availability on my website (which I update often).

Training

Tracy Elner and Dr Jacques Anthony Soyer do the most fabulous workshop, ‘Breath & Stillness: ancient knowledge meets modern medicine’, at Triyoga Soho on Sat 15th June. I can’t recommend it highly enough. On Friday 21st June at 2:00- 5:00 I’m going to Carmen Aguilar at Indaba for inversions, arm balances and transitions. Come with me!

Treatments

A brilliant yogi who practices in my lucky studio would like me to tell you that he is offering Jing Thai massage treatments. This massage technique is energy-based and uses combinations of powerful stretches, similar to assisted yoga, and various palming/thumbing techniques following ’Sen’ energy lines. Contact him for more information at mpm108@yahoo.com

Yoga in the News

The Telegraph has:  Spinning and yoga classes should be introduced by employers during lunchtime, NICE says. This is their latest attempt “to reduce the amount of sick leave people take due to stress, depression or anxiety. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that more than 131 million working days were lost to sickness in 2017, including 13 million working days lost to mental ill-health”. (In my experience, the best companies provide yoga in the workplace!)

Deep Listening - Thich Nhat Hanh

Dear Yogis

I have a lovely life as a yoga teacher but it isn’t problem free or conflict free. Just when I need it most, this talk between Thich Nhat Hanh and Oprah Winfrey about ‘deep listening’ pops up. It’s a sweet listen and gives a clue about a way forward. (Wind forward to 10.40 if you don’t have time for the full talk). He says: ‘Deep listening is the kind of listening that can help relieve the suffering of the other person’. You can help them to empty their heart and suffer less. If that person says things full of wrong perceptions, full of bitterness you can still listen and give them a chance to suffer less, and then you can correct their perception another time. One hour like that can bring transformation and healing. (He doesn’t mention the enormous strength of character you need to do this!)

He says we should be able to say this: “I know that you suffer a lot. I have not understood enough of your difficulties and suffering. It’s not our intention to make you suffer more. It is opposite. So please tell us about your suffering, your difficulties. I’m eager to learn, to understand”. It has to start like that; loving speech. And if you are honest, if you are true, they will open their heart. During the process of deep listening we can learn so much about our own perception and their perceptions.

“Anger is the energy which people use in order to act but when you are angry, you are not lucid and you might do wrong things. That is why compassion is a better energy. And the energy of compassion is very strong”.

It’s a beautiful, helpful listen.

Retreat

My early bird price finishes this weekend so get in touch if you want to come on our fantastic Kapsali Yoga Retreat 2019. Take a look at the Porto Delfino Trip Advisor reviews here – the home of our retreat. Lucy Crawford, who held a retreat in Porto Delfino recently, says Kythera is 'a little known refuge from life in the fast lane' and has booked Porto Delfino again for a retreat in May 2020. I’ve been visiting Kapsali since 2004 and I know how she feels – you just leave a little bit of your heart there and need to return.

Home Studio

You can see class availability on my website (which I update often).

Training

This weekend I’m going to another inversions workshop. It’s at Yoga West, tomorrow at 1.15-3.15 with Christian Coelho. He was a teacher there a while ago, left for Brazil to open a studio there, and is now back, to the delight of his fans. Later this month I’ve booked another inversions, arm balances and transitions workshop with Carmen Aguilar at Indaba Yoga Studio, Friday 21st June at 2:00- 5:00.  Tracy Elner and Dr Jacques Anthony Soyer will be back at Triyoga Soho on Sat 15th June with their workshop: ‘Breath & Stillness: ancient knowledge meets modern medicine’. I went to a previous incarnation of this workshop in January and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Here’s their blog on the subject. Come with me!

Yoga in the news

Countryliving.com asks ‘What is dog yoga? We went to a dog yoga class to see what it's all about’. ‘The yoga aspect comes from the fact that a mat is used; the dogs are encouraged to learn movements and stretches that can relax them; and the owner can enjoy a session of mindfulness with their pet.’

Meanwhile, over in Iran, ‘Iran police arrest 30 at private yoga class’ says the BBC News. ‘Those taking part were wearing "inappropriate outfits" and had "behaved inappropriately"... ‘The Islamic establishment in Iran does not allow any mixed-gender sports activities’ and ‘Professional-level yoga teaching is also banned in the country’. But yoga has become increasingly popular in Iran, says the Independent.

Stretch Your Muscles And Your Personality

Dear Yogis

Did you know that muscles have a ‘stretch response’? They are suspicious of stretching which is the body's way of guarding against injury. Specialised cells send panicking neural signals screaming to the spine. The spine sends back an immediate message to protect and contract. No need to consult the brain!

We have to override this automatic response with a shift to the parasympathetic nervous system to relax the body. This is why we focus on the breath so constantly in yoga class. Calming music, a warmth room, soft lighting, incense and candles... muscles are a sucker for all that stuff!

There are other mindboggling factors at play. Connective tissue responds to how you are feeling; happy, sad, aggressive, positive, negative, and so on. Also, your muscles might not like the yoga teacher if they are aloof or critical. Muscles like a teacher who is complimentary, warm and encouraging! Just like a child!

That’s not all, the connective tissue also responds to all your experiences to date! It’s not just how you feel on the day but everything that makes the person you are... aggressive or kind, complaining or accepting, morose or sunny. If you are aggressive, fast and without love, you are more likely to micro-tear and add injury. Interesting, eh! Our moods and gestures become habits, habits become structure.

Retreat

The end of the early bird offer for the retreat (1st June); more and more people are showing an interest in coming. Last year a few people were concerned about their dietary needs. This year, Porto Delfino, the home of our retreat, has a new chef, Georgos, who will cater vegetarian, vegan, gluten free. Of course, there are the tavernas which all have vegetarian and some vegan. You’ll be well looked after! Have a look at the photo gallery of all the retreats.

Home Studio

Classes really filled up last week... then emptied out! Please make sure you give 24 hours notice to move a class and please let me know as soon as you can if you can’t come – email or text. You can see class availability on my website (which I update often). The latest availability is actually not too  much because it’s bank holiday Monday. I’v added at 6.00pm class on Thursday.

Training

New Yoga Studio Opening! All day tomorrow is the Grand Opening of Healthy Wealthy, 3 Brecknock Road, N7 OBL. There’s an evening Guided Meditation followed by Kirtan and a meal from the Healthy Wealthy Vegan Restaurant. You have to book.

Tomorrow afternoon, 2.30-4.30, I’m going to Sangye (used to be the Jivamukti Centre) for an inversions workshop with Doug Whittaker. We will ‘explore preparatory sequences as well as modifications on how to safely, and mindfully, approach inversions’.

I’m teaching at Virgin Active Chelsea tomorrow, 25th, at 10.30-11.30 and at Virgin Active Fulham Pools on Sunday, 26th, at 11.00-12.15. Also, I’m covering Alain’s 90 minute Ashtanga Primary Series class at Eden this Wednesdays at 2.00 for the last time.

I’ve been asked what would be a good yoga present to give a friend. Anything involving Charlie Merton and her delicious Gong Bath would be a lovely present. She holds Gong Baths at The Gerkin! What about a yoga weekend like Soul Circus or Wanderlust 108? Others here, including Gwyneth Paltrow’s £1,000 one-day event! Here’s what I did last weekend, present for myself! Yuuga Kemistri two-hour vegan cooking lesson! It’s in a community centre so this is not birthday present territory but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Another great present... Our Magical Kythera Yoga Retreat!

Yoga in the news

The Metro has: How learning laughter yoga changed my life. ‘Simulated laughter can be just as good for your wellbeing as the real thing...The mind will take cues from the body and it triggers the brain to think it’s happier, creating more deep breathing and the release of happy chemicals (endorphins) in the brain’

Good Times Yoga Reference Points

Dear Yogis

Last weekend I was in Kapsali, Kythera, the place of my heart, on a weekend retreat with Kristina Karitinou Ireland. I took part in her Kythera weekend retreat last year too. PLEASE come with me next year! It’s a lovely weekend of Led and Mysore classes finishing up with a talk which is followed by Zazen Meditation.

Kristina talked about the ‘reference points’ we create while we practice yoga. During our practice, the body is supposed to feel happiness. Every moment is supposed to feel beneficial, even when we come to a difficult posture. As we practice, we create, mark and build those feel-good reference points. They give us strength. Kristina said that: “When it feels good I take that feeling into my home, into my day... I take it with me. It’s like receiving a beautiful kiss..., it's a reference point”.

Reference points are not just from yoga practice: we also get good feelings with friends, with nature, with nutrition, with the arts. It is our nature to want to feel good and to repeat whatever activity gives us happiness, energy and strength. “Hopefully these reference points are going to help us to get us through difficult situations, like Odysseus going through the Sirens, getting us through in the best possible way”.

I quite like this view of yoga’s benefits!

Retreat

Come with me in September! Practice yoga in The Land of The Gods. Collect memories and lay down reference points that will sustain you through challenging times. Porto Delfino, the home of our retreat, is becoming an exciting place for Ashtanga yoga. Already this year the hotel has hosted retreats by Baptiste Marceau, (student of David Williams, Danny Paradise, and Sri K Pattabhi Jois) Kristina Karitinou-Ireland, (qualified as an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher by her late husband Derek Ireland and authorized by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois) and, this very weekend, Lucy Crawford, (started practicing yoga in 1992 with Derek Ireland and Radha Warrell in London)... Then it’s us in September! We’re part of this extraordinary list. If the planets align and the timing is right, Kristina will be our guest teacher this year.

Home Studio

This is what I’ve been playing in class recently which gets a lot of reaction: Indian Flute Meditation Music. Also this, which might make you vibrate...: Tibetan Singing Bowls. There aren’t too many spaces left next week – you might have to book for the following week! You can see class availability on my website (which I update often). The latest availability is attached to this email.

Training

Tonight (19:45 - 21:45) I’m going to Charlie Merton’s Yin Yoga and Gong Workshop at Triyoga Ealing with yoga chums! Charlie promises to shift our Spring into Summer; to transport us from the season relating to the liver to the season relating to the heart. This sounds promising! There will be a one-hour soundscape using 4 gongs and Tibetan Singing Bowls Come with me!

The Cocoon Academy wrote to me to ask me to tell you about their free 60 minute guided meditation sessions.  I am very happy to pass this on. Their next offering is on Saturday May 25th at 10:00 - 11:00am at On Route in South Ealing. Everyone is welcome. Free!

Yoga in the news

This is a lovely BBC TV News piece: Pilates inventor honoured with giant class at Manx WW1 internment camp. Joseph Pilates was detained at the Knockaloe camp on the Isle of Man. During his three and a half years internment he refined his system of exercise. ‘During his time in the camp it is believed the young Pilates worked in the camp's hospitals and was highly respected. He spent his time developing a comprehensive system of physical exercise which he called "Contrology".’

The Hindu tells us that Mysuru gearing up for another world record in yoga. It’s to celebrate International Yoga Day on June 21st with the largest yoga demonstration or lesson at a single venue.

Undo Habitual Actions

Dear Yogis

I’m studying Yoga for athletes again this weekend with Sarah Ramsden and on our reading list is Sarah Keys’ book ‘Body in Action’. It’s good to get back to the muscle and bone of yoga before I disappear too far into the myth of Shiva and Shakti; the melding of pure consciousness and infinite creativity which inspires a Luna quality in our yoga practice of the openness and compassion that Shiva represents... (stops for breath!) Ty Landrum’s storytelling from last week was powerful!

Back on dry land, Sarah Key’s says: “The superiority of yoga is that it undoes our complex and often-used patterns of movement. None of the postures reinforces habitual actions and all of them reclaim forgotten territory.

“Yoga does take time and effort. Sometimes it is agony just to hold a stretch for a matter of seconds. But this is what it is all about. The harder you find the stretch, the more you need it. In time, all your soft tissues will loosen—even blood vessels and nerves—as the body is reintroduced to its extremes. Elasticity is restored and so is streamlined, smooth-gliding function. The stretches pull the tissues and create a much more vigorous blood supply. Blood rushes to mop up after the unexpected demands on flexibility and the circulation through the tissues changes from torpor to a flush. The skeleton is cleansed and rejuvenated.

“That leads me to the final plus of the gentle art of yoga: the staggeringly rich variety in the choice of stretches. You can start off with the most modest, disarmingly gentle stuff, where you really find it hard to believe anything is happening at all, and eventually progress to the nigh impossible”.

Phew!

RETREAT

My retreat poster looks pretty good, I think, on workplace notice boards. I’d be grateful if you could pin it up if you have such a board. Here it is on my Downloads page.

Here’s a very sweet island review: Little Secret worth sharing in Greek Island of Kythera.

“You can still see donkeys and old ladies in black with headscarves. Religious festivals are held in caves and they make their own wine, ouzo and olive oil”. “This archaeological treasure island is the site of the largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered, described as “the Titanic of the ancient world”. “A tiny sister island off Kythera, known as Antikythera, is where the Antikythera mechanism – an ancient computing device described as the world’s first computer – was discovered”.

Details of the retreat are on my website. I’ll be there next weekend for the Ashtanga Yoga workshop with Kristina Karitinou Ireland. It’s not too late to buy flights and come with me. The Seminar will be held at our Kytheran home, Porto Delfino! (I’m going on Easyjet and Olympic.)

Home Studio

I cancelled yesterday’s evening Ashtanga class because of the fear of an oncoming cold which I thing I’ve battered back into the ground with copious amounts of Sri Lankan Samahan! (Please don’t come to class with a cold!) I’ve added a 6.00 Ashtanga class next Thursday to make up for it as next week’s classes are fairly full. I;m not here on Monday 13th so, if it’s popular, I’ll do the same the following week. You can see class availability on my website (which I update often). The latest availability is attached to this email.

Yoga in the News

NDTV has: From Diabetes To Thyroid, This Yoga Asana Has Numerous Health Benefits. Here are some they say will make you fall in love with the Shoulder Stand, Sarvangasana. ( "Sarvanga" means "all body parts") : improves digestion; prevents constipation; cures sexual disorders; helps have restful sleep at night and get rid of dark circles.  

This is an interesting article from Egyptian Streets:  ‘What Is So Significant About Mohamed Salah's Yoga Poses?’ “I am a yoga man!” said Salah. The paper compares yoga poses and movements of Muslim Prayer. Both systems have postures to take focus inwards, activate the heart, and find a ‘spiritual connection with the universe’.