Barefoot revolutions and evolutions.
Over the years and especially with the practice of Yoga I’ve become more aware of anything that causes discomfort, this is a basic premise in Yoga, the movement from dukkha, discomfort to sukha, comfort. I had noticed over recent years that even though I was usually wearing quality walking shoes, just how confining to my feet they felt. Since I was young […]
Meditation and the natural state.
We decided to spend part of the May Bank Holiday exploring some ideas and themes for the weekend retreat that we’re going to be delivering in a few months times. As it’s going to be in a beautiful location where the mountains flow down to meet the sea, we figured that general area would be […]
The Hridayam and intuition.
As we’d left planning our Easter break to the last minute this year, we had almost given up the idea of going anywhere, then decided on a location a day before leaving due to a friend’s suggestions, found our accommodation by chance when we got there and discovered this beautiful beach while driving about. It […]
Mark Whitwell visits the green islands in the grey sea.
As he’s not a frequent visitor to these isles, we jumped at the opportunity to study with Mark again, and it was fantastic to see him again and soak up his teachings and the yoga. As a direct student of Krishnamacharya, he frequently emphasises the importance that Krishnamacharya placed upon adapting the Yoga practice to […]
Flexibility of body, flexibility of mind.
Most people will recognise that yoga practice, confers not just physical freedoms, but mental and emotional freedom too. The essence of this is being able to choose the response or reactions of the mind and emotions, as opposed to these happening spontaneously. If we have learned to respond to a particular stimulus in one way, […]
Trusting life's processes.
In the Krishnamacharaya tradition of hatha yoga practice, the fundamental foundation of practice is the breath, everything else is built around this. The breath initiates asana (physical movement and posture,) , it leads to pratyahara(sense withdrawal), to Dharana (concentration),to Dhyana (meditation), to yoga. Quite often people remark that until they undertake a yoga practice they […]
Finding your freedom.
One of the qualities of the yogi and yogini is their ability to lift themselves and others up. Just a few weeks ago in class, someone mentioned it was “blue Monday” which is apparently the statistically most depressing day of the year, where people find themselves stuck between the excesses of Christmas and the next […]
Each moment is new.
At the start of January our focus, shifts to the promise of the New Year, which leads to new years resolutions, plans for betterment, lifestyle changes. Our new year marks the perceived start point in the cycle of the seasons, this cycle being just one of many that exist in all of life, each day is a […]
Christmas Presence.
Yoga advises following the flow of nature, whether that is the breath, the seasons or how our own particular life unfolds. This is born of recognizing the immense intelligence that exists within life, it’s harmony, how it moves in unison and the subsequent effortlessness of us allowing life to move through us and around us in […]
Krishnamacharya and the transmission of Yoga
In the yogic tradition much signifigance is given to the connection between teacher and student, or guru and chela in Sanskrit.It is recognised that this is not just a passing on of information, or techniques but that it is also a transmission of a more subtle type, where the experience, state of yoga is transmitted […]