Festival yoga

I’ve been rummaging around in my storage boxes, looking for legwarmers; essential festival wear when it comes to yoga.

My teaching career begun at festivals, as a dedicated student I would practice daily in the morning quiet, often beside the canvas geo-dome that is my live-work structure, perhaps in a communal workspace. My face became familiar and eventually I was asked to teach.

What a wonderful experience it is! One is most often teaching from a temporary space, large structures with hand hewn wooden frames, covered in brightly coloured canvas. The floor, that is to say the earth, is pleasingly solid yet decidedly lumpy, it may be covered with tarps and rugs which adds to the uneven character.

Situated within the Healing Area of most events there is usually a pleasant soundtrack of didgeridoo, chimes, chanting or singing, however during large events the amplified music from the sound stages does tend to dominate: Last year I gave a session at Download, the heavy metal event at Castle Donington. Needless to say my usual suggestions to fall still and quiet seemed rather pointless as Zebrahead raged in the background.

Students are a highly diverse bunch, a mixture of serious yogis, first timers, children as well as those who have drifted in to see what’s going on. Sessions are generally free which allows for experimentation, most events will host at least two or three styles. It is entirely possible to turn Buddhafield or the Big Green Gathering into an eco yoga vacation, combining any number of classes between dawn and dusk with therapies, sauna and vegetarian food.

I love the randomness and unpredictability of festivals, especially the smaller events on the alternative festival circuit. A chicken wanders in from the horse drawn camp during meditation, a violent downpour ends and a rainbow appears, a bluegrass ensemble give an impromptu set across the way. It feels good to take my practice into this lively creative arena and offer a soothing counterpoint to the hectic stimulation of the event.

Join me for yoga in summer 2009 at the Sunrise Celebration, Buddhafield, the Healing Field Gathering and more…

Sri K Patthabi Jois 1915 – 2009

An aspirant, by grace of his guru and constant practice of yoga can someday realize the nature of supreme peace and immortal bliss. Yoga Mala

I'm studying an image of Pattabhi Jois, from the back cover of his text book Yoga Mala. He is a young man, in bare feet, simply dressed with shining eyes. Many years later, an older, portly and benevolent man is known with great affection by thousands of yoga practitioners across the globe as Guruji - dear teacher.

The scale of Pattahbi Jois’ contribution to yoga is vast; his promoted method, astanga vinyasa was somehow just right for an emerging breed of yoga students in the west. Powerful, challenging, absorbing, intensely physical it appealed to those who might have alternately worked out in a gym or done a lot of cardio work. They came in great numbers, a trickle at first in the 1970’s then as word spread, hundreds of practitioners would diligently make the journey to Mysore to study with him for months at a time.

Jois’ influence is felt throughout the contemporary yoga scene; the vast army of practitioners he personally trained and authorised to teach his method, who in turn are teaching and training others. The proliferation of derivative yoga styles such as dynamic yoga, power yoga and vinyasa flow. Celebrity followers such as Sting, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow who shunted yoga out of the hippy backwaters and into mainstream cool.

Beyond the inestimable amount of dollars and rupees generated, the toned bodies, the quantum boost to yoga’s popularity, the great man leaves another, quieter legacy; the impact he made on those who personally knew and loved him. Today they are mourning their loss and celebrating his life.

Sri K Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, South India, left his body 2:30pm 18th May 2009 at his home in Gokulum suburb with his family.

www.ashtanga.com Information on the practice and updated list of teachers and workshops.

www.kpjayi.org Website of the Ashtanga Yoga Institute, Mysore, South India, established by Jois as his teaching base.

Massage appointments now available at Shekinashram

I am very pleased to have been accepted as a therapist at the Shekinashram in Glastonbury. The ashram is a spiritual centre situated on Chalice Hill on the lower slopes of the Tor and easily accessible from the town centre, it is a few minutes walk from the High Street. I love working from this most peaceful setting.
Therapies are taken in a snug and cosy wooden cabin within the gardens, which are lovingly tended by staff, helpers and visitors as part of their karma yoga, the yoga of selfless action. Following a treatment you may enjoy herbal tea by donation, or take a sauna for an additional fee. I love working from this most peaceful setting.

Shekinashram offers a full program events and activities for personal and spiritual growth and has b & b accommodation available. Check their website for details.
http://www.shekinashram.org/

If you would like to take a massage at the ashram with me, kindly call 07779 807089

“Is this yoga going to be vigorous?”

“Is this yoga going to be vigorous?”

A question posed at the start of class, in fear rather than hope, from a new student. I take ‘vigorous' to mean a powerful, strenuous, fast moving practice. Certainly there are yoga forms one can study today which are highly vigorous: astanga vinyasa, Bikram yoga, power yoga and derivatives such as dynamic or vinyasa flow. The intention here is to create heat within the body, allowing the body to open more deeply and expel toxins through powerful breath and of course sweating. Many enjoying the feeling of exercising the body to one’s limits, maybe beyond! And of an increased heart rate. The effects are similar to a cardio-class at the gym or a good work out. There is a great feel good factor, post-class one can feel relaxed and exhilarated.

Whilst the yoga I offer has a vigorous component, it cannot be categorised as vigorous. My path of study has led me to understand that the body opens deeply when we turn our attention to conscious relaxation: undoing rather than doing. It is a metaphor for how one approaches life: busyness, stress and overactivity versus quietening down, observing and allowing what is, moving from a place of deep awareness.

It is important to add heat to the body to facilitate movement, cleanse and detoxify. We might pre-face our asana practice with ujjayi pranayama or kapalabhati kriya. Surya namsakara (sun salutations) are extraordinarily effective at generating heat, following a few rounds in class we usually turn the heating down and open a door or window. Then the skill is to maintain the heat and flow as we progress through our asanas. Generally a standing sequence is by nature vigorous, requiring a degree of stamina and strength and it is pleasing to link such poses into a sequence to maintain a sense of vigour.

For a balanced and integrated practice we must allow time for cooling restorative poses, with a slower breath. Poses such as seated forward bends and hip openers which we cannot impose upon the body, we must become quiet and await the body’s response.

Finally, savasana, the pose of the corpse, Iyengar believes it to be the most challenging pose. How might we lie still and do nothing with our physical self for an extended time?