"The main aim is to personalise Yoga according to the individual and their situation, through respecting differences in age, gender, mental and physical health, lifestyle, occupation and interest, together with the persons current situation." About Cathy
My yoga teaching style is practical and adaptable, progressive and relaxed. I teach yoga using the body, breath and mindfulness, introducing yoga postures step-by-step and maintaining a close link with your breath throughout the practice. Viniyoga uses precision and alignment along with flowing movements and encourages a meditative approach to your yoga practice. Yoga is for everyone, no matter what your level of experience or fitness, size or shape. I apply the tools and techniques of yoga to suit your situation. Yoga teacher training
I qualified for my yoga teaching and yoga therapy diploma under the teaching of Paul Harvey who studied with Desikachar for over 25 years. The yoga teaching and therapy qualification was an extensive four year course which covered yoga practice, postures and anatomy, yoga therapy for a wide range of health conditions, yoga philosophy and yoga psychology. ViniYoga
The principle of applying Yoga to the person is called the viniyoga of Yoga. It use, underpinning the teaching of Yoga according to different needs and situations, has long been referred to as ‘Viniyoga‘. The term viniyoga had come to be associated with TKV Desikachar’s methods of teaching Yoga.
“The spirit of viniyoga is starting from where one finds oneself. As everybody is different and changes from time to time,
there can be no common starting point, and ready-made answers are useless. The present situation must be examined and the habitually established status must be re-examined.”
– TKV Desikachar
Personal Yoga Lessons
Personal one to one lessons can be offered whether for Fitness, Well Being or Recovery
Private lessons can be for anybody in any situation or life phase, though those with specific interests or needs will find the advantages of working individually more beneficial than group classes. Furthermore certain situations may better suited to individual Yoga Lessons and require practices and advice customised and developed for home use within the privacy of a personal context. Thus whatever your situation 121 lessons mean Yoga can be customised to meet your needs as a:
• Developmental Practice for Personal Pursuits of body, breath or mind, or
• Constitutional Practice for Lifestyle Support in sustaining health, energy and vitality, or
• Therapeutic Practice within Recovery from illness, disease or unhelpful lifestyle consequences
Personal one to one lessons provides an opportunity to have a set number of meetings through which we have time to adapt, review, refine and develop your personal Yoga practice as well as time to explore lifestyle support strategies, firstly by respecting your limitations and then by exploring your potentials. Here time can be given to exploring your needs and developing personal practice and lifestyle support skills appropriate to your current situation, interests and ongoing and changing commitments. Yoga Lessons are uniquely customisable and developmental according to your needs
In modern life Yoga practice can be applied both developmentally or therapeutically to enhance health, well being or life potential from many different directions, such as to support our efforts to:
• Access specialised integration of specific Yoga or Chanting Practices
• Improve and Enhance personal fitness and energy levels
• Explore and Access physical potentials and specific physical goals
• Influence and Elevate attention and focus in mental or emotional states
• Address lifestyle skill issues, unhelpful living rhythms and dietary patterns
• Reduce dependency on socialand medical drugs or overeating
• Learn to care for health issues such as back pain, arthritis, asthma, circulatory or digestive disorders
Utilising Yoga concepts it is possible, within a careful individual Yoga teaching, to introduce practices and lifestyle skill strategies that both respect our issues, problems or health, as well as supporting our intention to reduce their negative effects in the future, alongside cultivating positive alternatives. Here the approach must be different for each person as our potential to practice Yoga will be affected by the problem, or the problem by our attitude towards working with it. However, practicing Yoga for recovery, as a lifestyle support skill or for personal development also presumes that we are willing to accept responsibility for making and sustaining changes within our own situation. Also according to Āyurveda those diseases that are chronic and cannot be cured by medicine alone can also be helped by using Yoga. So Yoga can be used as a support alongside other forms of treatment. A Personal Yoga Practice is designed for regular use at home. It can vary from a two or three times daily short 10-15 minute practice for Yoga as a therapy, to an hour or more single practice for students, depending on its role and how much time the Yoga student is prepared to make available. Typically it is around 20 - 25 minutes for beginners working with general postures. This can expand as we develop our work with postures or embrace progressive facets of practice. The Yoga Teacher guides the student through the Yoga practice, carefully ensuring that it meets their needs and that they are comfortable with the structure and forms used. The frequency and overall span of personal Yoga lessons can vary according to the needs, concerns and requests of the Yoga student regarding such as seated breathing, meditation or other practices. Fees for Personal Lessons and Review Meetings
The first longer practice consultation is £30 and will be over an hour, thereafter lessons will be £25 for a lesson of up to one hour and £15 for a practice review meeting of up to 30′. Free Initial Meeting
A free preliminary half hour meeting is available with Cathy. Please email info@yoga-prana.com or inbox me here to arrange an initial meeting, to chat around options regarding Yoga within individual lessons.
