Ashtanga Yoga Basildon

23/02/2023

Triyangamukhaikapada paschimattanasana x

Committing to a regular yoga practice by carving out the time and space to be with the body, mind and breath is one of the most beautiful gifts we can give ourselves and those around us. It is an act of loving kindness, which permeates the rest of our lives. How different the world would be if everyone practised, truly practised yoga, on and off the mat....

Sometimes it is really hard to come to class, to roll out our mat and synchronise movement and breath. Sometimes it may seem easier to press the snooze button or just say we will do our practice tomorrow. But, always remember your practice matters. It is important and is never wasted. In still showing up for ourselves, irrespective of how against the grain it feels, whatever resistance or obstacles surface, we generate tapas. Tapas is one of the five niyamas of yoga, sometimes translated as self-discipline, austerity or friction.....And, this friction generates heat: the heat of purification, of transformation, of self-mastery:

“The mind is a beautiful servant but a dangerous master” - Buddha

*

I have just added a few more classes (*) to my teaching schedule so feel free to come along on:

Sunday 07:00 – 11:00 Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore in Shala (online 07:00-09:00)

Monday 08:00 – 11:00 Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore in Shala

*Monday 19:00-20:00 Yin Yoga: in Shala and online

Tuesday 08:00 – 11:00 Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore in Shala

*Tuesday 18:00 – 20:00 Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore in Shala

Wednesday 08:00 – 11:00 Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore in Shala and *online

Thursday 08:00 – 11:00 Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore in Shala

Friday 09:00 – 10:30 Ashtanga: Traditional Sanskrit Counted Led Primary in Shala and online

Saturday & Moon Days: Do take rest x

Plus, the next gong bath is on Friday 3rd of March 19:00-20:00.....It would be beautiful to share the practice with you 😊x

02/10/2022

New Class Schedule starting tomorrow with pictures of the goddess Saraswati statue we just gave Guruji and Friday’s online led primary x

I have just returned from studying with Paramguru Sharath Jois at the source of Ashtanga Yoga in Mysore, India. This was my sixth trip and third time assisting Guruji. I miss being there already but I have also missed being with my students, teacher, friends and family here in the UK whilst I was away....

At the end of this season at Sharath Yoga Centre, 22 of us joined together to gift a Saraswati statue to Sharathji, potentially for the shala altar. Just as Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge, education, arts, literature and learning, I feel so grateful to Guruji and all my teachers for sharing the art of yoga with me. I hope you all like the statue.

"Goddess Saraswati is the light of knowledge, hope and peace. May your life be filled with the eternal light of knowledge and wisdom. May the divine grace of Goddess be with you today and always"

As one door closes, another opens....I am looking forward to sharing more of what I have learnt this season, and my yogic journey thus far....and getting off the plane to a stream of golden sunshine was a beautiful welcome back.

Here is the new shala schedule, with the online options in brackets, UK timings:

Sunday 07:00-11:00am Mysore in the shala (option to attend online 07:00-09:00am)

Monday 08:00-11:00am Mysore in the shala

Tuesday 06:00-11:00am Mysore in the shala (option to attend online 06:00-08:00am)

Wednesday 08:00-11:00am Mysore in the shala

Thursday 06:00-11:00am Mysore in the shala (option to attend online 06:00-08:00am)

Friday 06:00-07:30am and 09:00-10:30am Traditional Sanskrit Led Primary Class in the shala (option to attend online)

No ashtanga classes on Saturdays and moon days. Do take rest...

Do come along....All welcome...if you can breathe you can do yoga. Be beautiful to share the practice with you 💜🙏🕉️x

29/09/2022

Happy birthday dear Guruji with a few photos from Monday's live streamed led intermediate class in Mysore x

It was beautiful to attend the last Mysore class of this July-September 2022 season with Sharathji this morning. And, to sing happy birthday to Guruji after samasthiti before the opening chant 🎶....There is something so powerful and special about chanting and practising together, especially under the guidance of the Paramguru of Ashtanga Yoga. I will definitely miss doing so when I return to the UK on Sunday but will carry you all in my heart 💜

you give so much to each and everyone of us. Your dedication, devotion, discipline and determination is awe inspiring and a shining example of a true teacher and Guru.....I would love to wish you to receive today, on your birth day, and always, all the many blessings you have made available to us through this practice...May you be happy and well, peaceful and free. May you touch the essence of your true unbounded nature, more and more. May your life be filled with divinity, clarity, serenity, love, acceptance, grace, calm, true happiness, joy, community, insight, wisdom, connection, and liberation. May you always know how much we love and appreciate you and the practice. And, once this season closes tomorrow may you be blessed with an abundance of sleep after so many 1am starts to teach us 😴💤 x

Happy birthday Sharathji 🎉🎂💜🙏

Thank you to whose friend captured these moments in led class x

24/09/2022

Congratulations on receiving Guruji's blessing to teach full intermediate series ashtanga. Such an amazing inspirational achievement 💜 This is part 2 of 2 (April's perspective) x

"When the lockdown hit in 2020, I was lucky to be able to seamlessly meander from my Shala practice in Berlin to practicing remotely with Kalyan from the UK. I had met her in a previous season in Mysore and the way she carried herself through her practice had impressed me a lot. Stumbling into a time of greatest uncertainty with the challenging global situation, the daily practice with Kalyan became a lighthouse and a safe haven for my mental, emotional, and physical health. I had been practicing yoga at that point for 11 years, ashtanga yoga for 3 years. With Kalyan I decided to go back in my ashtanga asana practice quite a bit, and over 1 1/2 years rebuilt my primary and my intermediate series step by step, refining many small details I had previously brushed over, not cared about, or never noticed.

I remember how Kalyan said to me one day through the screen: “I want you to immediately get Level 2 authorized by Guruji.” I was surprised, as the thought of authorization barely existed as a hibernating seed in my mind back then. Kalyan gave it the impulse to grow, and with it my practice and my perspective on it changed massively. I suddenly understood her repeatedly encouraging me to work on a cleaner and at the same
time simpler practice, learning to leave that chatter of my mind behind. She invited me to find ways to explore myself thoroughly through the practice, and gently but relentlessly pushed me to scrutinize and face my fears.

Through working with Kalyan my asana practice reached a standard that enabled me to receive the blessings of Sharathji this season for the full intermediate series. However, what I learned from the time with Kalyan goes beyond mere physical standards. She firmly held the frame for me to make small and big steps in my personal development, enabling me to discover unknown territory within me, & experiencing myself on a different level with all the good, the bad and the ugly that comes with it......

Continued in comments x

06/09/2022

Ashtanga Workshop with authorised teacher Tom Norrington-Bass 04.09.2022 x

A heart felt thank you for coming to to share the practice and your delicious food.....I wish I could have been with you physically but I was definitely with you in spirit :)

Some feedback about the workshop:

“We had a brilliant time at Tom's workshop”

“Tom was so lovely and his food was incredible”

“Thank you for organising the workshop. It was amazing”

“Could listen to Tom all day”

Here are a few of my favourite inspirational quotes from Tom's talk. I will share some more in my newsletter and website so do PM me to sign up for the former if it is of interest:

“Asana is often translated directly as seat, but it can also mean a state or a place.....First and foremost this space must be a safe space...It is a small space with infinite possibilities because when you are practising asana...we shift our focus internally. Off the mat we constantly have to navigate the needs and desires of other people. On the mat we do not have to do this, especially if we practice tristhana.....”

“Relearn your practice breath by breath”

“Swadhya, Self-study is one of the niyamas....explicitly it referred to the learning of sacred texts...my understanding is that swadhya is about studying something in its most unsullied form and drawing your own conclusions from it. Your experience and your understanding of something is extremely valid, as long as it doesn't become dogma. Ones own understanding of something only becomes a problem if you start thinking that everyone else's is wrong.”

“I have this little moto I always say to myself every morning:

May today be my greatest teacher.
May I be today's most willing student.
May I hold what I learn without grasping.
May I share what I learn without preaching...
Because knowledge, when shared without ownership or dogma is always light in the dark and is always a path in the forest”

Yes! Love love love Tomb 🙏💜....So inspiring....A heart-felt thank you. Do come back to again soon x

28/07/2022

Ben doing paschimottanasana being assisted by his daughter Robyn x

When the teacher's away in India studying with Guruji...

"I had a little helper for today's practice...Honestly, it was the most amazing experience…I taught Robyn and assisted her from start to finish and she helped me too... It was so lovely...She said “Daddy, yoga is really fun”....I didn’t know she was doing this pose on me until Lucy came in and started taking pics 😂

Usually it’s Pearl that shows the interest in yoga but when I told Robyn yoga is also about strength her eyes lit up....I wish you could have heard her chanting…it was hilarious....it turns out that the opening and closing chants actually go: "Ommmmmmm cucumberrrr and chandelierssssss"....

I honestly had the most overwhelming sense of love practicing with Robyn though. My ego originally wanted to tell her to go away so I could practice in peace but, I realised this could be a really special moment to share something that’s really important to me. She worked so hard. Robyn loved the jump backs and couldn’t wait to get to them each time (defo doesn’t take after me haha). I even got her into some of the Mari poses (just) haha!

Over the last few weeks I really feel like I’ve turned a corner with my own practice.... I’m not fighting my body.... My hips, back and hamstrings have softened a lot and I’m not beating myself up if it’s not the perfect practice anymore. I’m just taking what comes…even if that thing is my lovely little helper, Robyn 😍"

Thank you Ben for letting me share your 7th series practice and true yoga. Beautiful, heart warming and so inspiring. And thank you Lucy .lrd for the photographs 💜🙏x

24/07/2022

24/07/2022

with .repost
• • • • • •
SHARATH YOGA CENTRE

09/07/2022

A few photographs of today's Ashtanga Yoga Mysore Workshop with authorised teacher Louise Newton x

It really warmed my heart to receive these pictures of the workshop today....To be able to trust my shala and house to my students and a visiting teacher, who I often practice next to, feels so special. There are few teachers I would unreservably trust to look after my students, shala and house in my absence and Louise is very much one of them. Thank you Louise, for blessing us with your presence, teaching, love and empathy. And, thank you to each and every one of you who attended, who pulled together to make it happen and run as smoothly as it did....It was very interesting trying to coordinate everything from thousands of miles away!

Unfortunately, I could hear very little of Louise's conference when I tried to join from India....However, what I did hear was very inspiring. It has moved me to start doing some writing about some of the yoga philosophy Louise spoke about, such as the kleshas, gunas, koshas, poisons etc.....so watch this space and the newsletter over the next while... If you would like to subscribe to the latter, you can do so through my website or PM me.... And if there are any specific topics you would like me to scribble about, just let me know.

Here is my favourite part of Louise's conference, where she spoke about if we feel frustrated, disappointed etc in practice:

"Do not be disheartened....Of course it is going to be a struggle. Everything worth having always is. Nothing is straight forward. There are times when you feel like giving up and feel disheartened. If we fall, we just get up again. No effort is ever wasted. No effort is ever lost and no harm is ever done. When we plant a seed in the soil, we should water the seed properly. Otherwise the seed will be destroyed. This is not the case in yoga. Whatever is done produces the proper result, in good measure, at the proper time. Nothing is lost. The foundation is always within us." - Louise Newton

Always remember, every breath and every practice matter. You and your sadhana are important x 💜🙏😘x

05/07/2022

Jana Flavin binding her hands in supta kurmasana for the first time without assistance x

Receiving this video today with the text: "Kalyan, it is a miracle" has made my day, made my heart dance and filled my being with gratitude.....Moments like these, remind me how incredibly blessed I am to share a practice I love.....

A little while ago I spoke with my dad about something I didn't think was possible, and he quietly said to me 'I believe in miracles'. This really touched me and soothed my heart. It was precisely what I needed to hear.

And, yes I too believe in miracles...I believe in the power of love, of yoga, of the present, of the breath. I believe in the magic of Mysore....I believe in you. And, I am working on believing in me much more than I ever have before.

In line with this I wanted to share a quote from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh:

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

We are all miracles. We just do not necessarily recognise the miraculous nature of our own being.....

02/07/2022

Online led class from India on Friday x so happy to see four of you practising together too x

Today Sharathji began conference by talking about the phrase 'Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga' being incorrect. In Sanskrit, 'asta' means 8 and 'anga' is translated as limb. Astanga yoga thus refers to the 8 limbs of yoga, as passed down through the lineage of his grandfather, Pattabhi Jois, and Krishnamacharya. To add the word 'vinyasa' is nonsensical as vinyasa is only part of the third limb, asana (posture). 

Pattabhi Jois very much emphasised not practising asana without vinyasa. Simply put, vinyasa is the synchronisation of movement with breath. In practising vinyasa between the state of each asana, it increases stamina and lung capacity. Sharathji also stipulated how important it is to include led class in our practice. Led class is a beautiful way to reinforce the correct vinyasa, and to develop internal strength. In learning how to control the breath and body in practice, we are better placed to be able to control the mind :)

When Sharathji spoke about the coherent chain which vinyasa creates with each posture, it reminded me of my favourite passage in Yoga Mala. I hope you like it: 

"Mala is a Sanskrit term that means garland. In India, there are many different kinds of malas. There are japamalas, made of sacred beads strung on a thread which are used in prayer for counting and keeping focused on the repetition of a mantra. There are pushpamalas, which are garlands of vivid flowers, smelling of jasmine and other scents, that are strung in the form of wreaths and offered in worship to deities in homes and temples. Guruji here offers another kind of mala, which is ancient in tradition, as sacred as a prayer, and as fragrant as flowers. His mala is a garland of yoga, in which each vinyasa is like a sacred bead to be counted and focused on, and each asana is like a flower strung on the thread of the breath. Just as a japamala adorns the neck and a pushpamala adorns the gods, so too does this garland of yoga, when diligently practiced, adorn our entire being with peace, health, radiance, and, ultimately, self-knowledge.” - Eddie Stern, p. xix

💜🙏x

25/06/2022

Drop backs with the beautiful during our last trip to Mysore. Can't wait to share this season with you too 💜x

“Dare to live by letting go.” - Tom Althouse

Going to India this time feels different somehow, with an underlying theme of letting go.

One of the things I love about this practice, is how what is learnt on the mat can be applied off of it....Take drop backs for example.....We have to learn to develop the experiential confidence* to know that if we fall backward, we won't land on our head. And, that falling can actually be exhilarating. The universe frequently asks us to trust ourselves enough to let go, whether that be of people, places or things and to do what is indicated....When we drop back, we have to trust that our mat/teacher/universe will catch us. Backbends are notorious in being emotive, especially bringing up fear. Being more yang in nature, they naturally stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, elevating the heart rate, breath rate and blood pressure....On that other edge of fear though, is enlivened presence, love, empowerment, and freedom.

I am experiencing fear of leaving 'my' shala, students, teacher, friends, family, things......But none of these things are actually 'mine'. They do not belong to 'me'. Every Asana is transient. We cannot hold on to it but there is something so beautiful about being in the state of it and transitioning out from it. From one perspective, even 'my' body is lent to me. As a teacher I definitely believe in the law of deliverance.....and that law states that as a teacher it is my role to deliver 'the' (not 'my') student to the divine, to the lineage, to the practice, to their own inner teacher, not to my finite ego...And that is one of the empowering things of a mysore self-practice. It becomes our own, our sanctuary, where we can come home independent of any one else..So I am letting go and trusting my path as I deepen my connection with my Guru and hope to share what I learn with those who wish to receive it.

Come fly to India with me 💜🙏 xx

18/06/2022

I have just got back from a little social gathering today . It was so much fun and lovely to have some 7th series attendees join too. We played a couple of games of tenpin 🎳 bowling, rather badly in my case, followed by lunch at Wagamama.... I loved it!!!

Thank you to all those who attended and for those who didn't make it, do come next time....

These were our game nicknames:
- Crazy Cat 🐈
- Lulu Lemon with Oli Evs, T-bone and Oleg Olf (James I know you are a professional javelin player but I'm not surprised you hurling the ball down at over 24 mph caused the lane to malfunction 😂!!!!)
- Candyfloss (good luck for your 27 miler tomorrow. You've got this 🍀)
- Jnana mudra
- (Calvin &) Hobbes (David all the best for your exam tomorrow. Dance like no one is watching 🕺)
- Rattitude sway and E Schmizzle (Elise 🤞for your audition next week and may you both enjoy Ed Sheeran for John's 00000)
- Darth Vaderess as inspired by a cheeky pink panther after 'i canting' in the shala.....
- Pink Panther , Maradona and Secret Yoga Lover (sorry Rob, couldn't resist and change your anti-yoga name to this). The first photo of the three of you is a rather hungry unimpressed Maridona after his dad got another strike and the second one Maridona is much happier after food and striking too. So cute x

Love you lot so much....keep out of trouble whilst I'm in India and let's have a rematch on my return 💜🙏🕺🍀😚🎳###