7th feb – 3 april (8 weeks)

24 april – 26 june (10 weeks)

Day after Easter Monday – 10 April (Tuesday) Holiday

*7th Feb 2012 – Tuesday

Laingholm Hall, 9:30

*9th Feb 2012 – Thursday

Laingholm 10:30

cost $10 plus *Koha

*koha is a gift, if you want it can be produce, inspiration, swapped skills or the usual $5 for regular classes.

So I cant afford a colonic (more info than you needed, sure) But this form of cleansing on the following link is what Ive always wanted to do, in a nutshell you drink a saline solution and do asana to push it through the digestive tract,.  The salt water gently cleans all the gunk out and ‘bobs your uncle’.

Im offering this link, because they show it well, I will be doing this in a few days and will let you know how it goes.

Namaste, aK

http://www.yogapoint.com/info/shankha_praksha.htm

Align, Activate, Stack, Yield, Push, Reach, Breath, Lengthen, Broaden, Release, Tone, Support, Lift.

These words I hear myself say over and over again. In fact each and every verb can be applied to almost every transition and asana. These relate to fundamental principles of movement as well as the instigation and support there of. Once you understand these it is amazing to see how asana changes. I find myself applying these and then watching the intelligence of the body take over. Asana becomes effortless.

‘Yoga is a journey, and with most journeys it helps to have clear directions and know how to drive the car, ride the horse or fly the hot air balloon.’ L Lovegrove

‘The mastery of asanas occurs when practice becomes effortless.” Patanjali

This course introduces the basic building blocks necessary to have a safe and healthy yoga practice. Students will learn

- How to align the body, creating a safe structure.

- How to use the breath to shape and grow each pose.

- Basic Asana (poses) for creating strength, balance and openness in the body

- Relaxation techniques.

Students from all ages and experience will get something valuable from this course; it is an excellent place for beginners and a humble remembering for those who have already practiced.

‘Anneliese (Dip IYTA) is a kind and experienced teacher who brings a wisdom, intelligence and laughter to her classes, this course is her way of helping stabilise the journey into yoga and destroy the myth that only flexible people can do yoga.’

Tuesday 6 pm  25th October

Ponsonby Hall Ponsonby Terrace

Ph 0210667765  Booking is essential

Yoga is about meeting yourself, on the mat in this very moment of time.  Contrary to the majority of western thinking it is not about the ‘glory of the pose’.  There is a very real hangover from the decades when yoga become fashionable in western societies.  Yoga came through in a very pure way from a culture that had had this style of body-work common place for hundreds of years.  Still today many older folk remember yoga of there twenties as strange, difficult and often harmful contortions.  Sadly some yoga teachers today hold the pose as prize and still students are getting hurt and leaving behind what I’ve come to know as the most beneficial physical practice for self knowledge, spinal health and general well being available bar none.

I often come across people who say yoga is too physical in the west and not used as a spiritual cultivation tool as it was originally intended.  To that my answer is always the same.  Weather or not the student is looking for a spiritual dimension in their Asana (pose) practice they will find one.  Simply, because a body that is cleansed, open and strengthened regularly is intrinsically connected to the greater whole.  A person cannot help but get closer to their intrinsic ‘true nature’ when they are involved in regular Asana practice.  On the other hand I find people often unnerved by the possibility of meeting some form of spiritual dogma in Yoga.  This is tricky to answer because yes its there, but it, like the Asana is not a goal.  So what is the point of Yoga with out a goal? that is as personal and varied as the people who practice yoga across the world.

Yoga is knowing who you are and what you are made of in both the literal and metaphoric sense.  It is about charting and mapping the personal territories of self.  Starting at the gross, reaching into the subtle realms of existence. How far can you map the influence of that breath in that body? How does the Asana grow when subtle fundamental principles are acknowledged and allowed to exist or applied and observed?  How can the edge of asana be used to bring the mind into the uncomplicated now? Where can I gleam physical information and how do I react with my mind?  In the temple of Apollo in Delphi the words appear ’gnothi seauton -Know thy self’, this is what I think yoga is, a method of understanding and cultivation the self.  Yoga in the physical practice of Asana seems to be the re awakening of curiosity and the application of play, there are rules, because the body is a known quantity, but know these rules, understand the principles and clear messages can be found in very small places.

In exploring the body we become more aware of the influences of the mind.  The two are interconnected and sometimes very hard to untangle.  The body often yells at the mind, the mind yells back and we have a schoolyard brawl to contend with. But give our selves permission to enter Asana with ease and when that alone becomes our objective, then the mind and body set about working in harmony.  Patanjali, the author of yoga sutras says that yoga is achieved when the pose becomes effortless.  This could mean after years of painful practice when finally can put our foot over head in ‘pretzel pose’ with ease, or it could apply to the very next Asana you do.  Like everything in life Yoga is a subjective discipline with many different reasons for practice, but when the practice is safe and mindful the results are usually uniform.  I could tell you the results, but that would be like trying to describe a sunset, nothing like seeing it for your self.

“I rise to the call of the son of eastern suns,

inevitably the day has began,

its quarter to just right o’clock…”

I find my own sunsalutaion is a beautiful way to start any day, it should be fluid, kind and juicy.  Allow each round to be different, allow the body to soften, allow the heat to rise and burn off any unwanted dross.

Suryana Maskara can be performed any time of the day and is different when done so.

There are so many variations out there, find one that suits you.  i have put a link to a video here, please, beginners should not attempt to move into these poses fully, experiment with baby steps firsts.

TRY THESE TIPS (even intermediate students will learn some thing here)

-Roll down the front of the body with spine curved rather than going to uttanasana with a neutral back (Or even worse extension!)

-Rather than steping forward from dog, step forward with small ‘walking meditation’ steps into  Tadasana and then back into lunge.

-Allow your dog to easy, moving the pelvis in circles, padding the heals up and down.

-Forget about planks for awhile and focus on the fluidity of transitions.

-Maybe put standing Asana in the flow and make a complete work out.

-Before back bend sequence use the full prostration to open the sides of the body with a lateral extension (which if you notice is the only thing missing in this glorious vinyasa).

Video Here is a great link to a lyrical sun salutation.

‘In one Salutation to thee, my God, let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.

Like a rain cloud of july hung low with its burden of unshed showers let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.

Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current and flow to a sea of silence in one Salutation to thee.

Like a flock of homesick cranes flying day and night to their mountain nests let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home in one salutation to thee.’

RAINDRANATH YAGORE (Gitanjali)

Supta Padangusthasana

Start in Conducive Rest Pose, bring knee into chest and allow leg to oscillate with the breath, note the opening and closure of the inner elbow joint.  This connects movement with breath and allows the hip joint to soften.  Then strap foot and take to straight (think bent knee straight leg).

Do not lock the joint.  Reach through heel to create dynamic connection from floor to heel. Activate a muscle by moving it toward inner shin.

Note;

There are many variations of where the strap should be on the foot and how to hold the strap.

Release all tensions in surrounding areas, then whole body into the mat.

Work at your edge to keep focus, become curious, map the breath into the smallest parts of the body.

Rule no1: yoga teachers always do the first side longer know your self and start with the leg the needs most time.

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