Damascene Corona Yoga

Dear Yogis

Apparently only 9% of us want life to go back to what it was. The majority of us have had some kind of little or long Road to Damascus. It may be the realisation that comes with the commute detox. It might have been the insight that comes with being with family, kids or elders, and hearing the birds reclaim their morning chorus.  It might be the pause that comes with a medical diagnosis – one that would have been here without Coronavirus but without the rushing around and distraction of normal life. Some of that 9% might already have had their radical life-changing episode. I already had the Road that made me a yoga teacher. I’m starting on another Road now...

The whole point of yoga, usually taking a much more extended time, is to give you a Damascene experience. Yoga wants to give you headspace to look at your life, look at its direction and ultimately align the most appropriate direction with your best self, the maximum you can be, what yogis call ‘your highest self’. The definition of yoga, we know, is to ‘still the fluctuations of the mind’... not to achieve emptiness but to uncover the inspiration and empowerment to shape your life. Rod Stryker calls it ‘your soul’s call to greatness’.

How to uncover? Now would be a good time for the inner teacher to step forward! Come out, come out, wherever you are! This inner teacher is the gut feeling, the voice that knows you better than you know yourself, that herculean strength you find that you didn’t know you had. It’s that feeling that shines when you put your normal, rational, busy, intellectual, thinking mind aside. This is the voice that will guide us to the life that we want.

In meditation, or in a state of relaxation like Yoga Nidra, we are no longer in this time or era, neither are we this age or sex or anything else. Take time away from the intellect. Seek out the means by which you take a break from worldly matters. Disengage. The value of stepping away for a few minutes can ensure you are responding to what comes up next in the most meaningful way possible.

Home Studio Zoom Classes

My super duper conferencing equipment... is coming! It’s so lovely to see you ‘in’ class. Numbers are finding a level in-between 12 and 22. I’ve been thinking about doing a Friday class... Many people usually work from home anyway and an end of the day 4.30pm class might be just what you want. Let me know. Some of you can’t make the evening class because of dinner with the family. I’m keeping an eye on what other times I can offer... morning, for example? Let me know what you think of the Friday 4.30 idea.

Evening classes from my studio are free so have a go. Note the time - 7.00-8.00pm, Monday to Thursday. If you’re not a yogi and shy of trying, keep your camera off. No problem.

Yoga in the news

The Guardian has: Streaming the flow: 'Next yoga class I'll turn my webcam on'. Funny article on not opting for a beginner’s yoga class and keeping the camera off! ‘I’m all tangled up in tiger curls and three-legged dogs. I’m panting furiously and my monkey mind is wandering to my leftover tuna-macaroni casserole lunch sitting heavily in my stomach.’

USA TODAY has: Ready to give yoga a chance? Here's why you shouldn't be intimidated. 'The thing that’s really fun about it is it takes away that feeling of self-consciousness that a beginner can have walking into a yoga studio'. The article recommends that you '"have an open mind, a sense of humor, and if you don’t like the style that you try, try a different one'.

Have a sweet weekend.