Yoga

Monday morning gentle yoga is soft hatha yoga taught by Gwen. It focuses on loosening the joints, gently stretching the muscles and relaxing the whole person. It is a drop in class suitable for every age and ability and payment is by donation.

The Astanga class Monday is taught by Sundara. It is a dynamic class which focuses on flowing though a set sequence of postures on the thread of the breath. It is a deeply cleansing practice of moving meditation, strengthening the mind and body simultaneously. The classes can be booked as a 6 week course or a single class.

The Chakra yoga class on a Monday night is suitable for people with some previous experience of yoga/meditation. The group is never more then 6 people and it is facilitated by Gwen. Over 8 weeks the group focuses on the body’s main energy centres. These are deeply healing and transformative classes and pre-booking is essential.

Intermediate yoga is taught by Gwen on Tuesday evening. It’s a Hatha yoga class based on the Sivananda system. Suitable for fit beginners or those with some previous experience of yoga.

Yoga

Yoga in our society is understood in many different ways. Some people see yoga as a physical fitness programme, others as a means to relaxation and peace of mind; some interpret yoga as a spiritual practice. Yoga is in some ways all of these things and more.

Yoga has been practiced in India for over 4,000 years. The evidence for this has been seen in prehistoric art and in the ancient Hindu Vedas (sacred texts). One of the earliest known definitions of yoga appears in Katha Upanishad (5 th century BC) which says yoga is the “steady holding of the senses” whereby the practitioner “becomes attentive”. A slightly later definition from the yoga sutras is “the restraint of the processes of the mind” but a more common definition of yoga is based on the Gita’s interpretation of union of the human and the divine. It is often said that the word yoga means union or literally a yoking together. What is being united is the individual soul with the universal soul.

Yoga is the spiritual goal achieved through dedicated practice of yogic techniques. These techniques are manifold. They include, Asana or physical postures, Pranayama or breathing techniques, Mudra which are sacred hand gestures, meditation, devotion to a god or deity often shown through chanting, dedicated work, study and the development of wisdom and much much more.

So whether one is bending backwards on a yoga mat, praying to Jesus at Sunday mass or working to feed their family this person may very well be practicing yoga. They also may not be. Yoga is not in the action but in the intention and quality of the action. How I practice yoga is based on how I interpret these early definitions of what yoga is. For me the practice of yoga is the practice of continual still self awareness with the intention of connection with the divine.

Many have said that yoga is a way of life and that is indeed the case. It is the intention behind every living breath, every thought, word and action. Some of the best yogi’s I’ve met have never even seen a yoga mat but they live with a constant awareness of greater purpose and devotion.

As a practice yoga asana (postures), Pranayama (breath awareness and control), meditation and so on are useful in helping practitioners become increasingly more self-aware. This I believe (and others may disagree!) is the yogi’s ideal focus. Many people practice yoga in order to relax or to get fit, to achieve some ideal of physical beauty or health. However to use yoga only in this way is missing the whole point of it. Yoga is something far more beautiful, special and sacred and the gifts of a conscious yoga practice go far beyond any of these things.

Ashtanga Yoga

This is a dynamic form of yoga whereby the student flows through a set sequence of postures on the thread of the breath. It is a deeply cleansing practice of moving meditation, which clears the mind and strengthens the body simultaneously. The use of specific bandhas (yogic energy locks) and the ujayii breath create an internal heat that deeply detoxifies and cleanses the internal organs of the body. The primary series is designed to help realign the spine, release holding patterns in the muscles and tissues, and release emotional blocks that are held in the mind and body. Sundara realises that each individual is unique and adapts the posture sequence when necessary for individual requirements, the ashtanga class encourages self exploration, knowledge and growth and so is not limited to a set structure every week, it depends on the moment, the energy of the class and whether something else needs to be explored at that time.