You're so great!
/Dear Yogis,
It’s been another lovely week of teaching you and filled with so much pride for those of you who ran the marathon, qualified for Kona Ironman, took to yoga or running or another sport for the first time or struggle through physical challenge to stay on the yoga mat. I teach wonderful people from boxers to golfers to martial artists to everyone else and I can’t believe how lucky I am to see all these victories, share them with you and support you in some small way.
Home Studio
Next week starts with bank holiday Monday and I’ll be holding the evening class in my Home Studio as usual. If there is more demand I’ll hold an earlier class as well – a 6.00pm class. Let me know if you would like to come at that time. Otherwise, classes as usual. Book online! I’m trying to make Wednesday and Thursday more Ashtanga-based but it really depends on who comes and what the mood of the class is. Please bring your requests along with you if there is a posture you’re trying to figure out.
Podcast
This is a nice listen (if your start at 9.15 and skip the niceties!) of an interview with Eric Shaw, a true polymath. He gives an overview of the history and lineage of yoga. He talks about the origins of Bikram yoga and Kundalini. He says: “More people come into the door of Hatha Yoga through Bikram, worldwide, than any other practice.” Other gems: whether Nixon did yoga; if Pope John and Pope Paul VI practiced with Iyengar in the 1950s and 1960s; whether yoga is a religion; and evolution of yoga into Corporate Yoga (a fact that I love and find most interesting!).
Some of it might wash over you. There are a lot of names and dates but, all in all, it’s a nice listen. He sites two books which are wonderful – Yoga Body by Mark Singleton and Hell Bent by Benjamin Lorr. If you need holiday reading these are page-turner .
Yoga in the workplace is not just about touching toes and impossible postures. In fact, it’s not at all about that. The physical practice is a wonderful thing for a body not designed to sit at a computer all day. More than that, Yoga in the workplace introduces us, surreptitiously, to meditation and mindfulness. I’m told again and again that the mindfulness helps people send a more nuanced email, deal with a difficult colleague or situation in a calmer way, and feel more contented at work. Give me a call and let’s give it a go!
