Now It's Personal!

Dear Yogi Friend.

I have been talking about the old Mula Banda in class for the last two weeks. Much tittering and smirking has taken place... and then some real and unexpected achievements found in certain postures.  I found a paragraph about The Squeeze (!) in a wonderful book that I'm reading that might inspire in you some horror... (and some gratitude that I only say that word!!!) See the attachment from 'Guruji, a portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois through the eyes of his students'.

Home Studio

As you know, nothing gets in the way of our love for Plank Pose. On Tuesday, one of my red heart-shaped valentines balloons popped like a gun shot in the middle of our favourite posture and despite our many violent heart attacks, our strong arms and abs kept us up! Come and have fun with us. Book early - my waiting lists have been long this week. If you are interested in a 6.00pm Tuesday Ashtanga class, let me know.

Training

I’m spending this weekend at Triyoga Soho with Tias Little with a weekend of workshops entitled The Yogi + The Buddha. I’m sure there are still places if you want to join me.

Yoga in the news

Mens Health has an odd article called a ‘Beginner’s Guide to Yoga for Men’. Strange because men invented the yoga system that we practice and men are the top teachers in the world. However, Men’s Health has some manly tips!

The Standard has an article about finding the right yoga for you, whether you want to deal with anxiety or insomnia or boost your gut health or even beat a cold!

I hope to see you on the mat soon.

From Shapes to Sensations

Dear Yogis.

Tomorrow is my fifth anniversary of teaching. My first ever class was in Virgin Acton and I was petrified. I had ‘R’ and ‘L’ written on my toes so that I wouldn’t get my right and left mixed up. (I should have kept that up). I also drew a little picture of a tree and a boat on my feet so I wouldn’t forget those poses. I had reminders drawn all over my mat. I spent about an hour before the class repeating ‘Right foot forward, left heel down’. Before class I felt nauseous and took a plastic bag into class with me. That carried on for weeks. And suddenly, it’s five years later. If you want to be a yoga teacher I’ll do whatever I can to support you.

Gurus

Five years later I get to train with the best teachers in the world. If I had money I would train with Tim Feldmann in Miami. As it is, Miami comes to me. He says inspiring things such as: ‘Yoga is located not in muscle and bone but in the esoteric. When we feel that, we get better. From shapes to sensations; then to the inner reality and what goes on in the mind’.

Home Studio

Places are filling up but there are spaces left. Book as soon as you can or drop me a line to get onto the waiting list. Monday saw four cancellations for one class so the waiting list was very successful that night.

My lucky Home Studio had its first ever chair yoga class this week. It’s an absolutely lovely way to teach yoga. The twist while holding the back of the chair is really satisfying. Try it in the office. Pigeon pose is fantastic. Hamstring with belt is surprisingly nice. All of it is nice. Take a look at the attached if you want ideas.

Training

Come with me! Next up is Tias Little with a weekend of workshops entitled The Yogi + The Buddha next weekend. I also have training in Valencia with Manju Jois lined and up and then again with Manju in Finland in August. Follow the links if you fancy coming with me.

Yoga in the news

The great teacher Pattabhi Jois said that we should take one posture and hold it for three hours. Here’s someone who held Cobra for six hours. (Yoga will save your life!)

Happy Valentine’s Day

All You Need Is Love (and Yoga)

Dear Yogis.

The treat of Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. As yogis, we are completely suited to a day of love – this is almost our day. Heart chakras spontaneously pop open up and down the land in yoga classes. After all, we are all about the truer self, the broader consciousness, the higher mind, the deeper connection and a whole lot of devotion (Bhakti). We’ve got this love thing down to a ‘T’. We get this from our hippy forebears. In my experience, love is a much broader and deeper tarn (!) the more you delve into yoga. You just seem to have more love to give - probably because you've joined a positive and supportive community. According to the wonderful teacher Scott Johnson from Stillpoint, yoga is all about relationships: how we respect each other, grow with each other and support one another...it’s something we just naturally end up doing as yogis.

Valentine’s Day

To share the patron saint of love day with someone, Yoga West is offering the chance to take someone you love for free. Any amount of yoga clothing brands make a declaration of love on the torso! Take a look at the Yoga Rebel website. For the guys, Bad Yogi T shirts have been making an appearance in the studios, and look cool and funny!

Home Studio

Stretchy joy and sweaty zeal on the mat this week. Ashtanga on Thursday was taught courtesy of a John Scott DVD leaving me to run around adjusting, and leaving yogis spent and hugely deserving of a 10 minute savasana. If you fancy a yoga session that won’t wring you out like a wet rag, come on Monday and Tuesday. Those are the stretchier classes. Otherwise, Wednesday and Thursday are the classes for the vinyasa fans!

Training

I’ll be training with Tim Feldmann in Triyoga Camden this weekend. (He and Kino MacGregor run the Miami Life Centre.) Come with me! I’m sure there’ll be space. He says "The body is the way to our spirit, to our true Self. That's what asana is for".

How to Make a Masterclass

Dear Yogis.

A very generous friend of mine invited me to join him in his private yoga class recently. It made me reflect that until you see a particular example of generosity, that act wouldn’t occur to you. Now that I know what it is to have such specialist dedicated attention and share it, I’ll make sure it’s on my list of things to do. My friend’s generosity and the masterclass experience made me want to bring a whole lot more to my mat – more concentration, more intention, more dristi, more bandha, more commitment. It was an incredibly special morning.

Retreat

I start with this memory because our teacher that day was Andy Gill and he has a retreat coming up. I couldn’t recommend his teaching more – the calm and easy way you climb up to your best self and your finest yoga with him. That’s how I felt. If you’re looking for a yoga retreat, allow me to recommend this one. It’s in June, 18-24 in a place near Bergerac in France. It’s an Ashtanga retreat and perfect for all levels; beginners will be welcome and supported and advanced practitioners will be challenged. You’re in completely safe hands. (As yet, I’m not planning on holding a Greek Retreat this year. Do this one!)

Home Studio

Plenty of spaces next week apart from the Monday 6.00 class which is full. It makes me wonder if you would like an extra class on Tuesday at the same time. Let me know.  If you're wondering about teacher training or how to use a teacher training qualification, let me help you. I’m always grateful that the yoga life has put me in contact with such lovely people as those I teach. I'll help you on your path.

Training

You might like this: David Sye is back with his Chocolate Tequila Workshop on 23 April in Canterbury. He usually does this at The Yoga Show in October. His company, Yogabeats, along with his peace movement projects, is a whole other universe of yoga. David is unique, irreverent and a lot of fun. He says that he wants to de-programme people; that he wants people to be wild and free! Tickets are £30.

Be warm this weekend!

Seal The Plank

Dear Yogis.

By far the most entertaining moment of my yoga week was learning all about the male pelvic floor in my lucky Home Studio. Here’s what I learnt: Men in a pub don’t want to ‘break the seal’ (go to the bathroom) after just one pint; this somehow means that when I teach forearm plank which engages the pelvic floor, men run out to the bathroom in horror, leaving the women to greedily enjoy plank pose! (I just love being a yoga teacher. Journalists are fond of saying that no two days are the same in their profession. They have absolutely no idea!)

I have consulted Dr Google about this pub etiquette and all the Mula Bandha yoga forums for men and I’m none the wiser... but slightly less spiritual! Rather than get into technicalities, I suggest less alcohol and more plank.  

Home Studio

Come and have fun, do yoga, make friends, learn lots, leave with unexpected new information. I have everything you need to have a fulfilling yoga class – a variety of mats, blocks, belts, good company and anything else you might need. (A new review from a yogi can be found over the picture here.)

Training

This weekend I’ll be training again with John Scott. He’s the one who said: “If you face the sun, all your shadows fall behind you” – a Māori Saying. At the beginning of February I’ll be training with Tim Feldmann at Triyoga. (He’s director of Miami Life Center, founded with his wife Kino MacGregor.) More Ashtanga! It looks as though there are places left if you want to join me.

Closing Chant

Today might be a good day to draw your attention to what is known as the 'Ashtanga Closing Chant' or the ‘Mangala Mantra’. My Ashtanga teacher, David Swenson, says that the closing prayer tradition was established after 9/11. Take a look at the words (an interpretation):

'May all of humankind be happy and well.

May the leaders protect the earth in every way by following the right path.

May there be goodness for those who know the earth to be sacred.

May all the worlds be happy.'

Edvard Munch on Yoga

Dear Yogis.

Is the freezing temperature making your body ache or hunch up or just feel downright reluctant? Practicing yoga in the wrong temperature is not any kind of path to enlightenment for the body or spirit. However, skipping yoga practice only encourages more stiffness in the joints. Even if you don’t feel like coming to class, you could just move through the various joints; from rolling the shoulders to rotating the ankles and everything in between. This is called Sukshma Vyayam (Subtle Yoga). It’s a style that was invented by Indira Gandhi’s controversial yoga teacher. Here’s a list of seated things you can do . If you have energy, here is a standing version! It's nice for arthritis sufferers or stiffness after a long run/workout. You might like it

Home Studio

Classes were pretty full this week (until the snow came!) Many places are already taken next week so I have added a 6.30-7.30 class on Thursday. If there is demand, I’ll keep the extra Thursday class. My lucky little studio is welcoming more new yogis, and current yogis are bringing family members and friends. The atmosphere grows more and more lovely. You can book classes here.

New Teacher

Claudine Van de Vyver trained with my teacher, Valentina Candiani, and has taken my classes at Eden Fitness. I’m proud to say that she has her own class now at Virgin Active Fulham on Tuesdays at 0645.

Yoga in the news

The Mail has an article about how yoga is the best remedy for back pain. I hesitate to include the Daily Mail (!) and their analysis of how back pain originates is ridiculous. It also doesn’t take 6-12 months to reduce back pain! In fact, I wish they’d asked a yoga teacher to write the article, but at least the article headlines the beneficial effects of yoga.

Free Yoga

Lululemon in Westfield, Shepherds Bush, has free yoga every Sunday at 10.30-11.30. They provide yoga mats and they just ask that you get there 15 minutes early. Pretty good, eh! (All Lululemon stores have yoga classes in the store and the new Regent Street store has meditation classes). You can see their events on here Facebook, whether you use Facebook or not.

Attached

Attached is the most accurate diagram of hamstring anatomy I have ever seen.

Cogitate, Calculate, Consider and Craft?

Dear Yogis.

A few years ago I did a New Year’s Day class with a wonderful and inspiring teacher called Celest Pereira about gratitude and setting intentions for the coming year. As I remember it, Celest made us write speedily and without hesitation: 1) highlights of the previous year, 2) what you're grateful for now, and 3) hopes and wishes for the coming year. We spent two or three minutes on each. Speed is of the essence! The idea is that without allowing ourselves time to think, cogitate, calculate, consider and craft an answer, the subconscious comes flowing through the pen. This exercise can reveal to you things that you already know but have either buried, dismissed or pushed aside for later. It’s a surprising and delightful exercise.

Home Studio

There are plenty of places next week. The 6.00- 7.00 Monday class is back and bookable. I’m thrilled to see new yogis come and give it a go, including New Year Resolution people, and yogis who have specific goals or poses they want to work on. I’m elated that the current Home Studio yogis keep coming back, many bringing family members if tow. I just couldn’t be more honoured.

Corporate Yoga

I often get enquiries about yoga in the workplace but it usually takes a dedicated yogi to get it off the ground and galvanise colleagues and office managers. I thought I’d write some words of encouragement. If you’ve already suggested it, you’ll still be trudging through the gale of "I'm not flexible enough". I read somewhere that ‘thinking you shouldn't go to a class because you're not flexible enough is like not going to dinner because you're not full’. Neat! (And, anyway, touching your toes is really the least of your concerns on the way to Nirvāṇa-at-work!)

Yoga in the news

Have you been out of practice and found yourself in the first class of the year shuffling around like a wizened yoda? Perhaps a yoga holiday in a warmer climate might help. The Guardian has an article about the “25 of the best yoga holidays and retreats”. Mine isn’t in there (sad face) but I was incredibly proud to see a teacher that I have practiced with at Stillpoint, Scott Johnson, is acknowledged and his retreat in Scotland highlighted. (He’s also teaching tomorrow in London – see here)

Nutrition

The trendy food of 2017 is apparently a teaspoon of turmeric every day! Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 had a turmeric feature this week which you can find here (wind forward to 36.54). The piece addresses its anti-inflammatory properties - in cancer, diabetes, dementia, and use of statins. (I’m a runner and my legs often ache so I’m instantly drawn towards people who say the magic words ‘anti-inflammatory’). Turmeric and black pepper in smoothies is gorgeous! 

New Year's Resolutions

Dear Yogis.

It’s a foggy day... in London Town. As I write this I’m planning my New Year's resolutions. Yogis are very practiced in resolutions and setting intensions. There are various ways we might do this: resolving to get up for an early class, or travel great distances, or leave a busy work desk and ringing phone to practice! We’re pretty good at that! We turn up on the mat again and again, repeating the same postures, knowing that we are involved in a practice of changing ourselves for the better – whether the hamstring or the heart, we all come with our own resolution.  

Some of you may have come across the idea of a Sankalpa – the idea of creating the life we are supposed to lead and avoiding a life without authenticity. That takes a while to develop. In the meantime, a teacher might ask you to ‘set your intention’ at the beginning of a class or they might ask you to ‘dedicate your practice’ to someone. This means that we listen to the heart and meditate on ‘right motivation’ which puts us beyond the present moment into a space of focus and commitment. We practice putting our heart and our goodness in the in the centre of our regular resolutions.

Look at that! We’re masters at resolutions! I’m sure whatever your New Year’s Resolution is, you’ll be an Olympian in achieving it.

Home Studio

There are plenty of places next week. Only Wednesday is full. There will be two classes on Monday evenings – the 6.00- 7.00 Monday class is back and bookable on the website. There will be no Thursday class but, because of that, I’m putting on an extra one-off class on Friday 6th at 6.00. There are two spaces left if you would like to claim one or both.

Attachment

I might put wishes into a jar this year instead of calling them ‘resolutions’: Northern Lights. Park Runs. Yoga retreats (one booked). Karaoke. Boxing. New Studio. Travel. Applaud the sunset.

Happy 2017

Happy Vegan Detoxed Christmas!

Dear Yogis.

Twas the last email before Christmas.... Before I settle my brain for a long winter’s nap I need to say a huge thank you to the Home Studio yogis, corporate yogis, gym yogis, BJJ yogis, the Greek Retreat yogis and, of course, to all the new yogis. You are all a joy to teach, always. It is said that you never regret taking a yoga class and that you always feel better after the class than you did before the class. Teaching is the same. I owe that to you.

Detox

I’ve been thinking about useful postures for digestion this week. You really only need three or four. If your stomach feels like concrete you don’t need too much movement. Try these and don’t rush through them:

1.    Lie on the back and pull both knees into the chest. Massage the back.

2.    Pull one knee into the chest and straighten the other leg – then swap sides

3.    Pull both knees into the chest then drop the knees to the right for a twist - then swap sides.

4.    Happy Baby Posture. Pull both knees into the chest. Part the knees. Bring your elbows in-between the knees. Let the arms cross in front of the shins and take hold of the feet. Show the soles of the feet to the ceiling and pull downwards - pulling the knees towards the armpits.

5.    Happy Baby is very much like squat pose. From Downward Facing Dog, step the feet forward to come outside the hands and lower into squat. Put support under the heels if you need it or support the back against the wall. Just stay there.

6.    Finally, instead of Childs pose, try ‘Puppy Dog’. From Table Top / hands and knees on the floor, walk the hands as far forward as they’ll go and put the forehead on the floor. Feel the armpits and chest sink downwards. It’s a back stretch. Perhaps lift the gaze and put the chin on the floor. This is a great abdomen stretch.

7.    Go back to the posture that feels the best.

Also, I’ve been looking at juicing detox recipes on the website of the nation’s juicer-in-chief, Jason Vale. He offers a free download of recipes.

Home Studio

I don’t plan to do any classes here next week. I had planned to make my escape. I’ll let you know if I stay around and put on classes.

Favourite Vegan Jokes

I’ve mentioned before, I’m the total cliché of a vegan yoga teacher. I’m attaching my favourite vegan joke of yesteryear. (My contribution to the Christmas table is a ‘Chestnut Paté en Crôute´. It’s pretty easy and amazingly tasty.)

 Happy Christmas

Yoga Presents

Dear Yogis.

I can see that people are already planning their New Year Resolutions. New people are booking places in my Home Studio and I’m getting enquiries about introducing yoga at work. It’s exciting.

Talking of the New Year... Triyoga is offering its yearly New Year's Day free classes. Any donations go to local charities.

Home Studio

My lucky home studio last week welcomed new yogis, full classes, near-empty classes and total fun. (I mean enlightenment!) There are plenty of places left in my Home Studio classes next week. Book a place! (I won’t be holding classes here in between Christmas and the new year.)

Christmas

‘Tis the season to be jolly. Here are some present ideas for the yogi in your life! A perennial favourite is the ‘I’m Only Here For The Savasana’ T shirt. Although I’ve never actually seen it in class, I know that's what you're thinking! I have it on good authority that Ohmme yoga pants for guys is a great gift. If you are thinking of getting a mat, or asking for one, take a look at the Friday Emails I have written on the subject here and also here. I know how some of you slip slide away in your Downward Facing Dog and it’s not all that conducive to meditation! Kino MacGregor’s chanting CD is gorgeous. I noticed that TK Maxx has yoga Dharma Wheels and Manuka mat cleaner for a stocking filler. I also noticed some Calmia Ultra Grip Vinyasa mats too for around £30. People who come to my Home Studio love the Feet Up Stool to help with no-pressure headstands/inversions. And here are some ideas about yoga jewellery. If it tickles you to see cats in yoga postures, see here. Finally, expensively, a ticket for Yoga at The Shard would be a real treat.

Yoga in the News

50 Cent tried yoga for the first time. It’s a rapper-type reaction to yoga = all these hot chicks do it so it can’t be that difficult... Hilarious.

Have an exciting, pre-Christmas week.