An Answer For All Questions

Dear Yogis

This week I wrote to Dr Timothy McCall, author of the indispensable Yoga As Medicine. I wanted advice about a yogi and, while he’s pondering my question, he gave me a stop-gap answer that covers all of us, whatever our question or problem is: “Work to reduce his stress and otherwise bring him into balance. Good luck”.

Actually, I do have that magic wand! In every class, when I emphasise the importance of lovely long breathing and reducing sympathetic nervous system dominance (de-stressing), I wave the wand of the wonderous benefits of the parasympathetic nervous system. Shall I recap on those benefits? I’ll let this Ted Talk, Breathe, by a sports coach, Joe DiStefano recap: breathing properly is about investing in your vitality and believing in yourself, delivering more nutrition to our cells, getting rid of pain, even, he claims, releasing hamstrings!

He goes further. The parasympathetic system, “wants to use all the energy it can to optimise your immune system, to detoxify, to digest your food, and, of course, maintain a very strong interest in sex”. And to remind you of the monstrous effects of sympathetic (fight or flight) overdrive he lists: cardiac mortality, acid reflux, erectile dysfunction, restless leg syndrome, low back pain, anxiety and depression.

Now that I have your attention, try some of his breathing techniques.

1.    Inhale, then exhale three times longer than the inhale.

2.    Block one side of the nose and take ten breaths, then do the other side.

3.    As you get better, progress to alternate nostril breathing.

4.    Baby postures for breathing – you’ll have to watch that bit to see the postures!

5.    Finally, blow up a balloon in the position he shows. He has his athletes doing this. 

Home Studio

Thursday evening Ashtanga classes are back to 8.00. Sorry about that disruption. It’s all back to normal now. Come to class! You can see what’s available on my website.

Training

I’ve signed up for a class tonight; Adam Hustler’s Heavenly Hips and Tight Bits at Triyoga Soho 19.30-21.30. At the recent Yoga Show I took a workshop with him and I like the way he target’s muscles and makes us think about what we’re doing. My cherished teacher David Swenson is back in the country and teaching at Triyoga Soho on the weekend of Friday 23rd to Sunday 24th. I’m doing both Saturday and Sunday. A couple of the workshops are discussions: ‘fear, focus, forgiveness + fulfilment’ and ‘advantages of age + the myth of eternal youth’.

Eden Yogis, go to Alain’s new Ashtanga classes if you want to experience what a ‘Counted’ Led Primary Series’ class is like – in Sanskrit! Monday 8.20-9.20 and Wednesday 2.00-3.30.

Yoga in the news

The Metro posts a helpful article called: Can yoga help with fertility issues? It’s true that infertility is associated with stress levels and yoga is associated with de-stressing. This interesting article sadly commits this spelling-mistake howler: ‘Another option is medication classes or a gong bath’, and this incisive technical medical gem from Tim Allardyce, a chartered physiotherapist: ‘‘Doing yoga will not directly make you pregnant.’ Otherwise worthy… for men too. Stress is associated with a lower sperm count.

This last week was International Stress Awareness Week and FM (Facilities Management) World says that ‘almost half of workers want a yoga and meditation room and exercise facilities to help tackle workplace stress’. A baffling amount of people have had ongoing workplace stress for the past five years. Have a look at the stats in this article. I’m so pleased to teach yoga in the workplace. It’s so massively important.

Wild, Gyrating Yoga

Dear Yogis

Like a bug to a light bulb I did the David Sye workshop at the Yoga Show. I’m drawn by his endless positivity and funky James-Brown-inspired soundtrack. The actual practice is wild: lots of shaking, pulsing and gyrating. While moving our hips in an obscene manner he tells us off for not living with maximum happiness and admonishes us for wasting time instead of living life to the full. Every time I’m with him I come away with tremendous gratitude and feel a little less imprisoned behind my own bars.

This month’s Om Yoga magazine has an interview with him. Here are a couple of extracts from the article. His father, Frankie Vaughan, wanted him to train with a Hungarian teacher called Clara Buck ‘who emphasised freedom and following one’s inner teacher’. She’d say: “You didn’t come here to be a yogi, you came here to be a human being”. Also in the article he says: ‘Once you understand that celebrating life comes from within, you realise you’re on an exploration and it’s about preparing to leave this world. Yoga is teaching you to enjoy your life as much as possible while preparing you for infinity.’

Here’s something from him you can put into practice immediately. When you have a problem, he said, don’t meet it at the energy level you are in. Go out and run, dance, do yoga, do anything to come back with higher energy. Then meet the problem from this higher place. Guess what; it works! More compassion comes. Your higher and more energised self gives you more thoughtfulness and awareness. You think about the opposite point of view and you avoid getting into an arms race of arguments or resistance.

Home Studio

Just for a little while the Thursday evening Ashtanga class will start at 8.30 while I look after a corporate yoga class. This will finish on November 22nd and possibly before. This might suit one or two of you. I’ve added a Tuesday class at 6.00 next week because all the other Yin-style classes booked up. Come to class! You can see what’s available on my website.

Training

Eden Yogis, don’t forget Alain’s new Ashtanga classes: Monday 8.20-9.20 and Wednesday 2.00-3.30 – a rare 90 minute class in a gym! Lucky devils! I’ve signed up for a couple of things that you can join me in. Next Friday, 9th November, I’m going to Triyoga Soho for Adam Husler’s Heavenly Hips + Tight Bits. For yoga teachers there’s training with my teacher Valentina Candiani  - 40hrs Aerial Yoga Teacher Training on the 8th-9th and 15th-16th December. I need to go to some aerial classes before that so if you fancy coming with me let’s arrange a date.

Yoga in the news

As yet another Home Studio yogi succumbs to the lure of Lulu Lemons, Bloomberg tells us: Yoga pants built a $48 billion industry that's replacing jeans, plunging denim into an existential crisis! ‘Years ago, research was limited to focus groups and feedback from store associates who would query their shoppers. Now there are fabric labs, especially in the athletic-wear space. Lululemon’s research arm does motion-capture testing and uses pressure sensors that allow researchers to test how garments work as they move’. Hence the price!!!

Happy November

Om Yoga Show 2018 Review

Dear Yogis

What can I tell you about last weekend’s Yoga Show: eating lots of free chocolate, coveting expensive yoga leggings, taking random classes, having treatments (some dodgy!), entering competitions to win luxury retreats. There were more companies advertising retreats than you can shake an incense stick at and endless supplies of turmeric lattes. I spent lavishly, as was predestined!

By far the most impressive teacher of the weekend was with 19-year-old Robin who qualified when she was 16. You can’t believe how assured and knowledgeable she is and how wonderful it is to learn from her. Her mission is to teach teens (based in the Gloucestershire area) and her website says that she is a youth ambassador for ‘Teen Yoga’ and for the British Wheel of Yoga, she speaks at conferences, and she works with the Medical College of London and is part of an All Part-Parliamentary Group (APPG) for yoga in education. I hadn’t achieved anything at that age!

The other thing of note was this app called YogaLingo. If you want to learn the Sanskrit names of the postures or if you are training to be a teacher, it’s really fun. (In the beautifully designed quiz I won third prize. My yoga brother, Ankur, won first!) It’s only available on Apple at the moment; a free version and a £4.99 version and its great company on public transport.

Home Studio

We’re coming into the season of colds. Please be mindful of others if you’re sniffling… and please skip the class. I caught a yogi’s cold this week and had to cancel some evening classes. Now might be a good time to remind you of Samahan, an Ayurvedic ‘tea’ which definitely helps lessen the impact. I’ll be up and running next week. Come to class. You can see what’s available on my website.

Training

My wonderful teacher Valentina Candiani is holding her second 40hrs Aerial Yoga Teacher Training on the 8th-9th and 15th-16th December. It’s the only Aerial Yoga Teacher training in the UK dedicated to qualified Yoga Teachers and is a registered Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Program. I was Valentina’s guinea pig a long time ago when she trained in Aerial Yoga and I’m signing up to this. Come with me!

Eden Yogis, don’t forget Alain’s new Ashtanga classes: Monday 8.20-9.20 and Wednesday 2.00-3.30.

Yoga in the news

So many yogis mention to me they practice yoga with Adriene on You Tube. So many! Here’s The Telegraph with How the online yoga world fell in love with Adriene Mishler. She’s on European tour like a rock chick and in London she has taught over 2,400, more than even Kino Macgregor! Here’s how far she’s come: ‘She might now have a sponsorship deal with Adidas, but for a long time she owned just three pairs of yoga pants’. That’s heartbreaking!

Competing with the Telegraph’s recommendations of yoga mats, the Guardian pitches in with: From yin to iyengar: a yoga glossary. It’s nice run-through of the major styles of yoga to fill column inches.

Clocks go back on Sunday! Enjoy your lie-in.

Mindfulness, Meditation, Gratitude

Dear Yogis

Last weekend I was teaching yoga in the beautiful Sharpham Trust house, Totnes, with Deborah Smith on her Complete Wellbeing Retreat. It was a whole weekend based on mindfulness… a very yogic word but did you know there’s a definition? Jon Kabat-Zinn who was the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in the 1970s, took the idea from the spiritual sphere into a secular setting and gave mindfulness this definition: doing something on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.

This is how we practice in a yoga class: we stand at the front of the mat and (knowingly or unknowingly) set an intention; maybe to practice with focus or kindness or with vitality. We enter the zone! When we bring the attention to the breath we tune in to the present moment. And we should try to practice without judgment but I can see how difficult this is; sometimes we have a good practice, sometimes it isn’t so good but there seems to be so much need to ‘achieve’ in a yoga class. Let it go; that’s not the point. Accept and celebrate your practice as it is.

Gratitude will help with this; it’s another definition we looked at over the weekend: “a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness and appreciation for life”. Bring that into your yoga practice too; set your intention to practice with gratitude. Gratitude has been studied since the 1970s and it is shown that people with a grateful outlook feel happier and are more energetic, hopeful, optimistic, positive and are more satisfied with their lives. Gratitude neutralises negative emotions and reduces physical ailments such as headaches.

Meditation was a major part of the weekend. Here is Deborah’s website page with You Tubes on meditation from 2 minutes to 20 minutes plus a compassion meditation. I really recommend starting with the first offering on the page – a four-minute Ted Talk on stress and how it changes the structure of the brain.

Home Studio

Final call for anyone interested in the Thursday 6.00pm Ashtanga-based class. It doesn’t seem to be a time that suits anyone but let me know if I’m wrong and I’ll keep it on the little timetable. You can see what’s available on my website.

Training

It’s that time of year again, the Om Yoga Show at Alexandra Palace. I love it! It’s the cattle market of the yoga world. I’ve paid up for Yoga Cross Training with Adam Husler tonight, Friday, at 16.45; Deeper & Higher Backbends with Craig Blake (Iyengar Yoga) on Sunday at 10.30; and OF COURSE, The Infamous Yogabeats Revolution with David Sye on Sunday at 14.00. That’s my birthday present to myself!

Sarah Ramsden, the yogi who teaches footballers, sportspeople and other inflexibles will be there and holding these free 30-minute classes: Friday 16:45 in the ‘Tea India’ area; Saturday 12:00 in the Pukka area and Sunday 11:15 in the Hero Open area.

Yoga in the news

The Scotsman has a fun article called: Yoga makes me feel the way I want to be on my deathbed. “For many of us, the thought of yoga turns our stomachs. It’s all just flower power and ringing bells, while sitting in a knee-crushing pose with our eyes closed humming “Ommmm”… But forget all that clap-trap and myth. Yoga is far from this mystical “marketeered” picture and a lot more like you and me – ordinary people with muffin tops and bingo wings. Not to mention the odd varicose vein and beer belly. And not a lotus pose in sight”.

Blessed Are The Stiff

Dear Yogis

Summer wine gives way to Sober October and I’m a year older and very definitely a year wiser having studied with Ryan Giggs’ yoga teacher Sarah Ramsden. Her day-long workshop last weekend was called: short, stiff & tight: how to work effectively with really inflexible people. This, she says, refers to most of the population. “The miracle of ballet is that it is able to distort the body so much”… and Ashtanga, she adds, is not based on human design!

If you think you have short or tight or restricted muscles, here are some definitions for you. ‘Short' means the actual measurement of the muscle is short when compared to the bone it covers. This means the joint it operates won't go through its full range of motion. On the other hand, the terms 'stiff' or 'tight' or ‘restricted’ are expressions of feeling but might not refer to an anatomically short muscle. 'Tense' refers to the muscle being slightly contracted in its ‘resting state’ which might be because of stress.

So why do we get restricted? Routines, repetitive sports, bulking up, sedentary lifestyle… you know the kind of thing! Injury is another reason; repair tissue sets down around the injury and weakens muscle around it. There is also a genetic possibility; some people have more fibrous muscle, some more elastic and malleable muscle. And don’t forget the modern disease of stress. Constant stress releases all the wrong hormones, restricts blood flow to muscles, decreases oxygen, lets waste build up and results in muscle tension.

Her advice to teachers and practitioners is to look to the ancients for inspiration. “Teachers who went before like Pattabhi Jois were revolutionary and radical and dragged yoga up from the Tantric vagabonds and tricksters to clean it up for a new India. Like them, question, change, adapt and make it useful”.

Home Studio

Classes are starting to book up in advance up to the week before Christmas! Can you believe it! Anyway, there’re loads of spaces left and the 6.00 classes are back. It’s cold outside but we can still create a Bikram studio with our six mats and our Ujjayi breathing! You can see what’s available on my website.

Training at Eden

Really lovely news from Eden Fitness in Ealing. Incredible teacher Alain Zak is joining the yoga teaching team. You may have experienced his wonderful classes in my Home Studio, at Yoga West in Acton or at Eden. Alain is a student of John Scott who, in turn, was a direct student of Pattabhi Jois. Alain’s classes include the traditional Vinyasa count, vigorous practice and meditative focus on breathing and alignment. He is also influenced by Tibetan Heart Yoga and Buddhist meditation. Eden is giving him two classes starting Monday 22nd October: Mondays at 8.20-9.20am and he is taking over my Wednesday class which will be starting at 2.00pm from now on – not 2.30 – and finish at 3.30!  A wonderful 90 minute class! You won’t find that anywhere else in this area. I will see you there.

Yoga in the news

This is a nicely written article: How yoga is changing to meet contemporary needs from The Centre Daily in Pennsylvania. The first example given is that no one discusses renouncing existence as part of their approach to yoga! Errrm, no, not really! Other examples of how the focus of yoga has changed: yogis generally don’t prioritise meditation over physical practice, and the guru-student model has given way to the studio-student model.

This is a sweet read from the Huffington Post: ‘What My Yoga Teacher Taught Me About Improving My Life’. As you would expect, yogis never talk about the physical results but the life-changing effects. Here’s a helpful article from The Standard with suggestions for people observing Sober October. Yoga is there, of course: Disco Yoga every Tuesday at the Trapeze bar, Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HX for yoga under a glitter ball.

Have a glittering weekend

Conducting Reiki Waves

Dear Yogis

I had an introduction to Reiki energy healing this week… an ‘initiation’ or ‘attunement’. It was fascinating! A Home Studio yogi who is a Reiki Master guided me along this path which is rather esoteric and other worldly. Attunement is like being tuned in as you would tune in a radio to pick up radio waves. Here’s what happened.

First, I practiced long Ujjayi breathing. I was told to breath in love and exhale gratitude. I found my images and motivations easily: the silver moon over Kapsali Bay is my place of love (easy to breathe in), and my gratitude is towards my endlessly gorgeous mother (easy to have glowing gratitude). Then I was told to send down roots deep into the earth. I thought of the reading I gave at a wedding recently: ‘Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.’

AND THEN IT HAPPENED! My head filled up with… a feeling like marshmallow! It felt huge and round and warm and gently throbbing. Then my arms and hands felt big and warm. Then the right side of my intestines woke up and had a little throb. Then I swayed to my right and then back again. Then my left arm and hand seemed to get bigger and warmer and the left middle finger had a diamond glow at the tip. Then I had gentle pulsing in my head which made me nod rhythmically a tiny bit. Then the lower intestines heated up briefly. All of this took half an hour or so. It was intriguing, but I did feel that my hands with all their warmth could heal. I turned my hands down to cup my knees and send them some love. I’m told I should practice on plants!

Kapsali Retreat 2019

I’ve been checking flights to Kythera for the school half term of Monday 27th to Friday 31st May next year. I found that the journey there (leave Saturday 25th arrive Sunday 26th) needs an overnight stay in Athens. Sofitel hotel at Athens airport is not too expensive if sharing. Happily, it’s possible to return from Kythera on June 1st straight through from Kythera to London on Aegean. If you’re interested in an All Levels retreat let me know and I’ll start the arrangements. If that’s too soon for you, I’ll look at September dates as soon as flight timetables are available.

Home Studio

More joy in my Home Studio this week; more fun, more new yogis and more incredible one-to-one sessions. One yogi said her ph. level changed after our first class. Yes! Ujjayi breathing raises the carbon dioxide level in the blood which nudges the pH level back to a less alkaline state. Yet another benefit of the breathing practice. Come to class! Loads of spaces left and the 6.00 classes are back. You can see what’s available by clicking here.

Training

This weekend I’m training at Triyoga Soho: Yoga for Athletes with Sarah Ramsden. Tonight’s session is mind mastery for enhanced performance and tomorrow, all day of course, is short, stiff & tight: how to work effectively with really inflexible people. Come with me if you relate to that!

Yoga in the news

The Irish Sunday Independent has: ‘Meet President Michael D Higgins' yoga teacher. The Yogi who is helping the President unwind’. The Irish President has had the same yoga teacher for a decade, ‘dashing’ Michael Ryan. Ryan says: "We do a lot of slow and steady movements and a lot of our work focuses on breathing through the movements. We also usually do a few standing poses, back poses and a lot of twists and positions that uncoil the spine. We target the areas of joint mobility and his back and his core." I wish more presidents were like that!

Wishing you a marsh mellow weekend.

Goodbye to Kapsali 2018

Dear Yogis

We’re back from Greek sun to chilly London, from chilled cafe nights under the stars, listening to music and the sound of the waves, to the promise of darker and darker mornings and evenings. During the Kapsali Ashtanga Retreat, fellow teacher Lisa Maarit Lischak, asked what it was that brought people to yoga. She’s asked this before and it always brings up moving answers. Not one said it was to improve on postures, to get the leg behind the head, to do splits or achieve any other massively clever posture. A common theme is the search for some kind of peace.

Why do we want peace? Well, I wish I had come across yoga before adolescence hit me with its sledge hammer. Work is world that throws peace and stability out of the window. Another place of conflict is how we view ourselves and our self-criticism. This week I’ve heard from people who have adverse feelings towards their bodies or looks and, by coincidence, Kino MacGregor has written very movingly about this in her blog called ‘Keep Practicing Until You Love Your Body. She says: ‘The promise of yoga is inner peace… While the by-products of the practice will undoubtedly make an impact on your physical body, the real gift of the practice is love.’ So true!

Lisa also asked her workshop students to spend time thinking of three things they could change when they get home. A yoga retreat is an opportunity to draw back, reflect, take time, and make positive decisions. It might be as simple as to drink more water, get more sleep, or adopt a better diet. It might be a bigger, life changing decision. 

Greek Retreats 2019

I‘ve visited the Kapsali Bay since 2004 and yet every time I discover more that I love about Kapsali. This time it was noticing the alpha star of the evening, Aphrodite. This is the Greek name for the star we call Venus. She’s the first and the brightest on the scene, daring to compete with the moon who arrives later. Nice to be where Aphrodite was ‘born’ and where her star is so eager to shine. One yogi said: “Kythera is a truly divine, special place”. If you fancy coming next year in the May half term for an ‘all levels’ yoga retreat, let me know. Two people have said ‘yes’ so far. (Flight timetables aren’t published yet!)

The next retreat I’m teaching is the October Complete Wellbeing Retreat; Happiness workshops, Yoga and Mindfulness sessions run by Deborah Smith of Grow Your Own Happiness. It’s £495 for a regular room and £565 for a premium room. It starts on Friday 12th at 4-5.30pm and finishes on Monday 15th after Lunch. I’ll be teaching Ashtanga, Yin and Pranayama.

Home Studio

This week my lucky home studio has seen returners from the Kapsali retreat, new yogis looking for a place to practice, a rock climber looking for an injury prevention practice, and an Ealing Half Marathon runner looking for a stretch. Whatever your reason, come and practice with us. You can see what’s available on my website. If you tried out other teachers in the last two weeks, please send your recommendations so that I can tell others next time I’m away.  

Training

Good luck if you’re running the Sold Out Ealing Half Marathon this weekend. I did a little training in Kapsali and I’m struck by how my legs feel fine in Kapsali and weary in London. Pollution = less oxygen to the muscles. However, it’s not a good reason to give up running. Good luck!

Yoga in the news

The BBC has the story of India's 'king of motorbikes' shares yoga tips for success. Rajiv Bajaj says that everything he has learnt about management of Bajaj Auto motorcycles comes from the practice of yoga.

The Hindu tells us about the 8th Asian Yoga Sports Championship and its 350 contestants. It’s a four-day championship with six categories of competition and entries from 13 Asian countries such as India, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, and the UAE.

Wishing you success this weekend.

Kytherian Eyes On The Yoga Prize

Dear Yogis

Time in Kythera with yogi friends has been a fabulous and fleeting joy. It’s nearly over. I’m writing this to the sound of night crickets, the gentle hum of a generator and the swishing song of the sea and with reflections of these two retreats. Our most popular workshop so far has been Leg-Behind-Head with our mission impossible teacher Lisa Maarit Lischak. She promised in the beginning that “all you need is a head and a leg... perhaps two”. She does that every time! She makes the impossible seem doable!

In our first week here our Kythera guest teacher, Sensei Kiros, told us that we must always practice inside, not outside. He said the location of our classes, the roof-top balcony, was ‘very bad’! The idyllic view of the bays, the beautiful sea, the cloudless sky and Aphrodite’s rock were too distracting! He is, of course, right. Every time you look out over the gorgeous bay, the soul moves and the balance is lost. The whole point of the ‘drishti’ discipline in our yoga practice is to keep our sight as close to us as possible and not let the sight and the mind stray. All the way through the yoga practice your gaze should be on one of the nine drishti, gazing points: the nose, the third eye, the navel, the hand, the foot, the far right, the far left, the thumbs, up to the sky.

By being outside we’re breaking other rules too, as set out by Pattabhi Jois in his book Yoga Mala:  “Yoga should neither be practiced in open air..., in a basement nor on a roof. Instead, the place of its practice should be spotlessly clean and level, have windows, and be suitable for smearing with cow dung”. Also “the body will be sapped and its power exhausted if, in an effort to dry the sweat of practice, it is exposed to the outside air.” (This he takes from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika of the 15th century which tells us to rub the body with perspiration to make the body light and strong!) There! You’ve been told!

PS. Dried cow dung has antiseptic qualities.

Retreats

The next retreat I’m teaching is the October Happiness and Wellbeing retreat in Totnes run by Deborah Smith of GrowYour Own Happiness. But I’m writing this in my favourite place on earth and thinking of next year. Teachers are always disappointed with my chosen month of September so, if you fancy coming to Kythera in the summer half term in May, let me know.

Home Studio

I’m back with a tan next week. You can see what’s available on the ‘classes’ page of this website.

Training

If the OM yoga Show isn’t your thing, Triyoga Soho has the perfect antidote: Dr Jacques Anthony Soyer and Tracy Elner: Breath, Stillness, Movement + Modern Medicine.  It’s on the 20th of October at 10:00 - 13:00..They combine Hindu Yoga and Taoist Neijia, teach Pranayama, moving Qi Gong, and explain how we can use different systems of breathing to balance and heal various systems within the body.

Yoga in the news

This is quite funny from the Telegraph: ‘What no one tells you about life as a yoga teacher’. It doesn’t reflect my experience but it’s a good read. Another effort to demystify comes from the Belfast Telegraph; ‘Thinking about starting yoga? Here’s what you should know’. Of the four examples the best one is: ‘“Yoga improves the body’s circulation and this includes blood flow to the brain. It promotes growth in the prefrontal cortex, the region associated with response, memory and attention span. Even after a short 30 minute class, you’ll notice a heightened sharpness.

Please get the sun out for our return.

Pranayama with the breeze of the Kapsali Bay

Dear Yogis

Greetings from magical Kapsali bay on the island of Aphrodite. We’re practicing yoga under Kythera skies, with the warming sun of the morning to encourage our Asthanga and the sea breeze of the afternoon to cheer on our Pranayama. Of all the wonderful questions I got this week, here’s the one I always enjoy. It came after our first Pranayama practice: “Why do we do Ujjayi breathing... or any breathing exercises”. Hundreds of responses polka about in my brain but the question was about the panic of holding the breath. Breath is called ‘Prana’ in yoga. This translates as ‘life force’. Without it, we die, and breath retention is a petite threat to our lives. Good reason to panic!

Yoga gives us the rare opportunity to increase the capacity of the lungs and give the respiratory muscles a good workout. Did you know that in normal life we only use around a 1/3rd of the capacity of our lungs – top-of-the-lungs-breathing? The average human lung capacity is about 6 litres of air but the majority of the breathing we do is shallow breathing. That’s ok, we can’t Ujjayi all day, but it’s like sitting on the sofa for the lungs! They need exercise. Shallow breathing may also be caused by poor posture, stiff muscles or inactivity and those things, in turn, lead to shallow breathing and general sluggishness. Deep breathing exercises also clean out the stagnant air in the parts of the lungs we don’t use.

The explanation I like best, though, is in the Hindu belief that we are born with a set amount of breaths. We can increase our longevity by using those breaths wisely. It makes sense! If we are always in stressful situations with panicky breathing, stress stays in the body, infects the brain and welcomes in illness. Stress kills! I found a lovely article about this where the writer points out: “The restless monkey breathes at the rate of 32 times per minute, in contrast to man’s average, 18 times. The elephant, tortoise, snake and other animals noted for their longevity have a respiratory rate which is less than man’s. The tortoise, for instance, who may attain the age of 300 years, breathes only 4 times per minute... The ever excitable dog breathes 40–50 times per minute and dies at 25.”

The ancient yogis observed these things and came to the conclusion that we need to be more tortoise-like! Can there be a better example of not panicking! If fear comes up for you in Pranayama practice, don’t follow the teacher’s instructions too closely. Give yourself room. Like everything in yoga practice, it will get better.

Retreats

The next retreat I’m teaching is the Happiness and Wellbeing retreat in Devon run by Deborah Smith of Grow Your Own Happiness. Come along! After that, if you fancy coming to Kythera in the summer half term in May, let me know. I’m itching to come back!

Yoga in Ealing

Take a look at last week’s blog for some of teachers and classes in Ealing. Or perhaps you could try something else… a treatment for example. Nancy Crawford is an Ealing-based reflexologist who will come to your home to give a treatment. (I’ve written about reflexology here.) And there is a special discounted rate for Good Times Yoga Friday Email readers if booked this month: £30 instead of £40 which includes a free 20min consultation for the first treatment. Email nancy.reflexology@gmail.com for more info or to book an appointment. 

Training

Have you looked at the Om Yoga Show, 19th- 21st October 2018? I’m addicted to going every year and spending as much time there as possible. David Sye will be there. A class with him is the most positive, life-affirming thing you can do. See this description from last year.

Yoga in the news

It’s always good to see sportspeople make use of yoga to improve their performance. Watford’s football coach is leaving nothing to chance, the Telegraph tells us, and fining players if they don’t turn up for yoga: “If you don’t do yoga you get fined – which some of the lads aren’t happy about – but these are things to help us,” said one player. The Guardian this week writes that yoga in prisons cuts reoffending. The Mail Online will probably have some hapless celebrity heading to yoga or in a yoga position.

Give Up The Fruits Of Your Labour

Dear Yogis

Something has been on my mind since my weekend with Tim Feldmann’s. He talked about ‘giving up the fruits of your labour’. This idea comes from the Bhagavad Gita and it’s useful in posture practice as well as in spiritual endeavour. Sri Dharma Mittra (visiting Indaba next February) often says if you’re struggling with a posture it’s because you’re not practicing ‘bhakti’ - love and devotion. He says ‘offer up’ your practice and then the difficult posture will come. Hmm, nice, but you need a few more pointers than that. Here they are…

Tim Feldmann talked about yogis yearning to get straight to the result instead of concentrating on the toil. I see this all the time when I teach Bakasana, Crow Pose. The eagerness to jump the feet off the floor means that no balance is established to hold the pose. Similarly in headstand: forget strong arms, shoulders, core and legs; kick up, kick about a bit, then collapse in a heap. What went wrong?

Tim says: “you changed your mind from the effort to the effect! Don’t put your mind on the result; always put your mind at the root of the activity. Success happens or doesn’t happen, don’t be concerned. If you put your mind on the result, the posture won’t work”.  When projecting on the result, the mind isn’t still enough, not meditative enough, not selfless enough. Don’t project on the outcome! Just do the work with all your might and make your discoveries there.

Kythera Retreats

The first group is leaving this Sunday (9th). I had an unbelievably last-minute cancellation. If you want to be totally impulsive and come, get in touch! There are no classes in my Home Studio for the next two weeks. The next classes here are on the week beginning Monday 24th September.

Yoga in Ealing

Try out one or two of these. If you are completely new to Triyoga you get your first month for £54 or an introductory two classes for £20. For your Ashtanga needs go to Zeena Kalisperides at Yoga West – you just can’t go wrong with her and the Yoga West space is just lovely. If you don’t like big studio classes try Cath Barnes-Holt, an Iyengar teacher in West Ealing and Northfields. Or First Class Free with Ladan Soltani  in Ealing Town Hall and West Ealing. Also free are classes in Lululemon in Westfield, Shepherds Bush, every Sunday at 10.00. Finally, a perfect winddown to your weekend is with Ruth Voon for Yin on a Sunday evening at Triyoga Ealing.

Training

I would definitely do this if I wasn’t in Greece: Wanderlust108 is a ‘Mindful Triathlon’ of running, yoga, and meditation. It’s on September 15 at Battersea Park. It’s a 5k run, 75 minutes of Yoga and 25 minutes of guided meditation and then from 1.00-5.00 there are classes and other activities. Goldie will be there! When I get back from Greece I’ve signed up for the Ealing Half Marathon… no training! I could do with your company for that!

Yoga in the news

Elite Daily has a rather sweet article: 5 Life Lessons From Yoga That Will Stick With You Long After You Hop Off The Mat. ‘The physical poses are honestly the least interesting thing about the practice; rather, they are the gateway to acceptance, self-love, and unconditional compassion.’ The first of the 5 things is how your thoughts shape your reality! It’s a sweet article!