Beware the ego and blow the nose

Dear Yogis,

Last week I took part in workshops dedicated to adjustments. It’s the kind of workshop that teachers go to, where postures are advanced and interesting and the steps up to a pretzel shaped impossible tangle seem deliberate and safe. However, the ego can overtake ability. Injury is a possibility! The brilliant teacher, Will Lau, came over to adjust me and I could feel my body breaking in three separate places. This reminds me to tell you that if you don’t want me (or any yoga teacher) to adjust you, or if you want only gentle adjustments, you must let me know or scream... or both. Will Lau also took us through ‘shining skull’ breathing and the top of my scull really did feel scrubbed clean with a wire brush. If you know a few pranayama techniques, it was Kapalbhati combined with Alternate Nostril. You really do need to blow the nose first!

Book Online – Home Studio

More loveliness in my lucky Home Studio this week. Yesterday we finished the class with inversions using the ‘Feet Up’ stool. The head doesn’t touch the ground and the neck is left unstressed. It’s a great prop to use if you have fear of going upside-down... plenty of people do. We conquered that fear for one of our number. And it again proved to me the immense positivity that comes from inversions. The brain/endorphins/mood seems to love it.

Come and have a go at a class here. Beginners always welcome. It’s a group class with personal attention and adjustments. Also, please consider booking through the website – although if web technology is not your thing, this is not a hard and fast rule. But late cancellations and no shows/forgotten bookings can be easily managed or remembered if you reserve the class online. You get an email reminder with the time of the class and the opportunity to cancel so that I get notification!

Second Greek Yoga Retreat

The first week’s retreat is really filling up. The apartments in the serene and lovely back bay of the island village of Kapsali are full. No worries though! There’s plenty of room on the second retreat which is the kind of yoga retreat that will suit the majority of us. You'll do yoga every day which is a big step up and quite a revelation for people who take only one or two yoga classes a week. This will be perfect for you.

Austerity, passion and peace! Yikes!

Dear Yogis,

The British Museum is putting on a special event in an attempt to tell us about the ‘fundamental meaning’ of yoga. Here we go again! It’s called “Yoga: austerity, passion and peace” and it takes place next month on Friday 8 April 2016 at 18.30–20.00. Lots of notice! I cancelled all my clubbing plans and bought a ticket. Have a look at the full description if a Friday night of talking about austerity and passion strangely interests you: http://bit.ly/2240QuI

Home practice

I had an interesting lesson in posture practice and ego last week. I had a photoshoot in my home studio for the website (take a look – incredible photography!). The postures weren't linked or logical but my standing-half-lotus-forward-fold has never been so deep. Home practice should be like this; full of surprise and fun, satisfying, not over concerned with logic. We’re more likely to practice on our own that way. However, keep an eye on the ego and ambition! The next day will tell you that a slower and more logical ride into advanced postures is a better idea. My legs took a while to recover... and a few pain-killers!

Second Greek Yoga Retreat

I’m really excited about putting on a yoga retreat for people who are not sure that the full-on all day yoga thing is right for them. This is a nice half-way point. Yoga every day in the morning will teach you plenty of new things and step up your practice phenomenally. Kapsali Bay in Kythera (also spelt Kithira) is the perfect place for relaxing and recharging, reclaiming the person that you could be without the workload and responsibilities.  Navigate over to the retreat pages. Flights for Kithira (this is the spelling airlines use) are pretty good in price – budget lines will be cheaper than BA, of course. If you were hoping to use Flight Centre, they can only book flights originating in the UK, not the Greek internal flights. The flight from Athens to Kithira can be bought on the Olympic website.

 Book Online – Home Studio

Classes in my home studio have been a real joy. On Monday we paid attention to backs and elbows! On Tuesday a small class with inversions. On Wednesday we built up to Eight-Angle Pose - called  Astavakrasana in Sanskrit. It's the kind of pose you might do at a break-dancing party. On Thursday, members of Ealing’s Special (Yoga) Branch were here. Total joy! You can always come here and work through a posture that you’re trying to figure out – we can work it into a class and find alternatives for everyone.

And it would be really nice to get some new testimonials from you – you can post them on the ‘testimonials’ page on this website

Secure, Safe and Special

Dear Yogis,

It gives me such great joy and satisfaction to teach. Last week, a yogi who is on a Triyoga Teacher Training course came to my studio to practice her assessment routine - an hour’s class for beginners. She was so good; I had such pride. I have since found out that she passed, that she kept to time, she explained everything clearly, and that she was generally amazing! She didn’t say that! She told me all about the ‘feedback’ and where she needs to improve and how she could do better! I read between the lines and saw that she was amazing!

This reminded me of the notes I made during the John Scott training in Cambridge two weeks ago. He spoke about relationships and what we ultimately need from one another: to feel secure, safe and special. This goes for the teacher/student relationship too.  Be drawn towards where you feel valued. You can see that when children are valued and loved, they blossom at school. Adults are no different! And in this crazy world of brutal ‘feedback’ – especially in the workplace - we need to make the yoga world different. We are learning, in a yoga class, how to be confident. That comes from ‘stilling the fluctuations of the mind’ and hushing the needless chatter which leads to self-doubt.

You can also think about those John Scott values in a yoga posture practice. Be secure in your foundation, bandhas, balance and alignment. With security comes safety to relax and establish freer breathing. When we take great interest in the breath we can realise how very special it is, how magical our body is... and how very special we are. Practice these values.

YOGA MAT

The yoga mat industry is mesmerising. Can you believe that you can easily spend £100 on a mat? I’m a fan of spending much less than that... but I still need a bit of anti-slide grip. Lululemon is selling off its UN-Mat. It’s a thin mat cover. It’s light and easy to carry around and it is half price at the moment – from £42 to £24: http://bit.ly/1oUwBaS (or, from the menus, Women > We Made Too Much > scroll to the bottom). Don’t worry about the colour – you can use the black side! You can also come to practice in my Home Studio and try it out.

SECOND GREEK YOGA RETREAT

The second week is different from the first – which is really filling up. Week 2 is not full on yoga – two classes a day, yoga yoga yoga! It’s all about getting away: starting the day with a yoga class and then relaxing or exploring for the rest of the day - letting the island look after you and entertain you. To that end, I have called this retreat Yoga ‘n’ Chill! Take a look from the menu bar.  Get in touch if you need more information. Secure a place with a £50 deposit. 

 BOOK ONLINE - HOME STUDIO

Come and see what it’s like to experience yoga in a small group with instruction and adjustment specific to you. You can read testimonials/leave feedback here on the Good Times Yoga website. Click on 'About Me' in the menu bar and the 'Testimonials' option appears.

Some of you are getting into the swing of booking online. For people who haven’t been here before, I can reserve the place for you. It means that you get a reminder and the option to cancel, and I get a cancellation notice instead of a no show. However, last minute cancellations mean that I can’t use my waiting list – I turned away two people this week. Please give as much notice as you can.

Friday Newsletter - Finding Your True Self

Dear Yogis

Last weekend I trained with John Scott in a weekend designed to help us “be Empowered by SELF”. Senior teachers like to talk about liberating the self and have various stories and metaphors to indicate a way to identify the self. John Scott is a New Zealander by birth and so gave a Māori saying: “If you face the sun, all your shadows fall behind you”.

Often we spend too long staring into the shadows. Sometimes we do the opposite of spending too much time looking into the future. This is how we might find ourselves in self doubt, lack of confidence, and self induced fear where the shadows are big. The saying: ‘the past is gone, the future is unknown, now is the knowing’ is about reducing those shadows and that self-induced worry about what is either passed or yet to come.

This is language I understand – but don’t worry if it doesn’t speak to you. I used to be highly empowered by the ego and identity: I was a radio producer and felt it to my bones; then a radio presenter, and deeply believed in what I did; then an author, and poured myself into that identity; then a government press officer, with my hearty politics degree; then a press officer in a political think tank. I identified with all of these masks absolutely utterly. When ego and identity and props fall away, that’s where we start to work!

Did that help? Was it just waffle? Both are valid.

Second Greek Yoga Retreat

My website is taking shape as is my second yoga retreat. It’s different to the first but in the same idyllic seaside village with the unique magic of Kapsali, endless friendliness of our Kythiran friends and a chance to stretch and unwind, relax and recuperate. With half the amount of yoga as the first week, you will get a chance to explore the island, be pampered, and take the world off your shoulders.

The dates are Sunday 18th to Saturday 24th of September. Perfect for people in highly stressful corporate jobs, especially if the idea of a full-on yoga retreat scares you slightly!  See what the body feels like without the suit and the strain

Get in touch for more information. Secure a place with a £50 deposit. Treat yourself!

Corporate Yoga

If you've been thinking about introducing yoga into your workplace and been brave enough to suggest it to your colleagues, you might have found yourself in a hailstorm of; "I'm not flexible enough", from baritone to soprano. Tell them that I'm still waiting for the magic of flexibility! Till then, yoga will help move the joints, massage the muscles, strengthen the bones and, most of all, give the lungs a good clean! (Did you know that in normal life we only use around a 1/3rd of the capacity of out lungs.) Also tell them that I've taught my 84-year-old mother, I teach people with injuries and conditions, I am qualified to teach pregnancy yoga, I have a qualification in Yoga Sports Science, and I'm sure I can cope with the odd tight hamstring.

Friday Newsletter - Treat Yourself With A Retreat

Dear Yogis,

Did you take a free valentine yoga class? The next event that some studios celebrate with free offerings is Mothers’ Day so, if you’re interested, sign up to their mailing lists to be informed in time. Need a list of studios? Indaba in Marylebone; Triyoga Chelsea, Soho or Camden; the Life Centre; the Light Centre; Power Yoga Fulham; Lumi Power Yoga Hammersmith; Yoga West, Acton. There are more, but those are the ones I have experience of.

Greek Yoga Retreat

My website is taking shape - www.goodtimesyoga.co.uk. Have a look around! New photographs are commissioned but, more importantly, you can find details of my September yoga retreat in Greece on the Island of Kythira. I have already started taking deposits and people are booking enthusiastically! So far, half of last year’s yogis are returning and new retreatees are coming to experience the special magic and unique charm of Kapsali Bay for the first time.

Lisa and I teach in a way that is inclusive, a great shared experience, and yet with tailored instruction taking you to your own edge of yoga experience and capability. You will be completely renewed and inspired, setting new goals and resolutions. We share our classes with Kythirans so you will naturally get to know people from Aphrodite’s Island! Look at the website then get in touch if you want more details. Some of you have discussed leave with your employers. Secure a place with a £50 deposit. Treat yourself!

Second Yoga Retreat

Details coming soon of a retreat I will hold from the 18th of September. There will be morning yoga and more time for excursions, relaxation, exploring the island and more unwinding, de-stressing and ‘finding yourself’. Perfect for people in highly stressful corporate jobs. Take the responsibility right off your shoulders. See what the body feels like without the suit and the strain.

Home Studio - Ealing, West London

I have plenty of spaces since I expanded to four evening classes a week. Here’s my weekly timetable:

Every Monday at 7.30 - 8.30pm
Every Tuesday at 7.30 - 8.30pm
Every Wednesday at 8.00 - 9.00pm
Every Thursday at 8.00 - 9.00pm

Come and see what it’s like to experience yoga in a small group with instruction and adjustment specific to you.

Tania

Friday Newsletter - Valentine's Day Yoga

Dear Yogis,

Have you left it so late that you’re looking for a Valentine idea?! Our very own local west London yoga studio suggests this: “In the spirit of Valentine’s Day how about inviting the people you love to share your love of yoga and Pilates with a free first class at Yoga West before February 14?http://www.yogaat.com/yogawest

I don’t know. Free is nice... doesn’t speak all that loudly of love, though! (Materialistic??? Oops!) What about an unquestionably romantic (not free in the slightest!) Yoga at The Shard? Imagine floating into your postures high above the city vista. If there are still places left, you can book before 4.00pm today/Friday. (They have to submit a security list of names!!!)  http://bit.ly/1nSEuZd

Home Studio - Ealing, West London

Here’s my weekly timetable:

Every Monday at 7.30 - 8.30pm
Every Tuesday at 7.30 - 8.30pm
Every Wednesday at 8.00 - 9.00pm
Every Thursday at 8.00 - 9.00pm

Details on my website or just email me if you would like to come here for a class. My website is going though changes this weekend to make it easy to book and pay for classes online before you come to class. Hopefully this will suit some of you. Changes to the website can’t be done offline, though, so this weekend is not a great time to check it out.

Workshops/Classes

There are a couple of days left at Triyoga to ‘bring a boy for free’. This is what they say: “Bring your partner, brother, son, boyfriend, husband, fiancée, work colleague or your best mate for free to any triyoga yoga or Pilates mat class at Camden, Chelsea, Covent Garden and Soho between the 08th - 14th February. This week is your opportunity to share the amazing benefits of yoga with the men in your life”. http://bit.ly/1QMNC03

Fantastic Teachers

My own guru, Valentina, will be holding a Teacher Training Information Session to meet her and her Shakti Power Yoga graduates. It’s on Sunday February 28th at 3pm. Her early bird discount on the Spring 2016 Teacher Training applies until the 15th February.. not too long now.

Happy Valentine's.

Tania

Friday Newsletter - Love Having Feet!

Dear Yogis

Twice this week and several times in the past I have come across people with instability from the feet /ankles which causes wobble in some postures and total collapse in others.  It's okay.  You just have to figure out where the instability is... and strengthen that part. The Australian Ballet has a wonderful YouTube on how to strengthen ankles. This might be the thing to help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSHfBTXf484

When a teacher encourages you to work the feet (press them down, press the ball of the big toe, lift up on inner arches, press the outside edge of the foot, etc) it's easy to tune out. You’re struggling with the complexities of the posture, after all. But the actions of the feet have been a theme of mine in class ever since I spoke to the Traffic Prosecution Police and found out that my hit & run driver barely missed running over my feet. Unshockable police were shocked! I've been LOVING having feet ever since and urging yogis to pay attention in class to theirs! This horrific story seems to work! More stability for those complex postures!

Home Studio - Ealing, West London

The new Thursday 8.00pm class in my home studio is up and running. Here’s my weekly timetable:

Every Monday at 7.30 - 8.30pm - Yoga
Every Tuesday at 7.30 - 8.30pm - Yoga
Every Wednesday at 8.00 - 9.00pm - Ashtanga Yoga
Every Thursday at 8.00 - 9.00 - Yoga

Details on my website or just email me.

Workshops

Some of you mention an interest in trying out various yoga studios, courses and workshops, and classes with well-known teachers. David Williams, the guy credited with bringing Ashtanga yoga to the West, will be back here in London in July. A long time off, I know, but worth considering. One of those sessions will be a history of yoga. More here: http://bit.ly/1nLVPaS

Fantastic Teachers

My own guru, Valentina, will be holding a Teacher Training Information Session to meet her and her Shakti Power Yoga graduates. It’s on Sunday February 28th at 3pm. If you’re interested in teacher training, or in trying out her studio in Hammersmith, come with me! I’ll be going. 

Also take a look at Alain’s teaching timetable if you’re an Ashtangi: http://alainzakyoga.com/classes/

Tania