Yoga practice – "Towards Inversion"

I am feeling generous tonight, and shall give away a lovely yoga practice that I designed last year and have taught a number of times to my dear students.
Notice that “B” or “R” means breath or respiración.
When it says “6x”, it means do the vinyasa six times.
When it says “6B”, it means hold the pose for six breaths.
Respect any contraindications and check with your primary care provider should you have any doubts about the suitably of this practice for you, at this given time.

viniyoga hatha yoga sequence
Viniyoga practice “towards inversion”

Yoga is meant to calm me…so why do I feel so nervous?

This is a brilliant question that I received this week from a newcomer to class.  This particular lady was recommended yoga by her doctor, so comes as a special case.  Ideally, it must be said, such a person would have private tuition.  But, the mere fact that she has managed to make contact and come to class is practically a miracle.
Before the second class, she asked me this

During class last week, I felt very good.  But afterwards, I went home and felt more nervous than ever.  Isn’t yoga meant to calm me down?

Thus I replied:  Most anxiety arises from repression of emotions.  Anxiety and depression are often mixed, and sometimes confused.  But they are vastly different.  While depression has to do with a lowered level of mental activity, anxiety is a heightened state.  In yoga terms, anxiety is rajas and depression is tamas.  
Anxiety seems to arise when the brain is over-active.  This can be an excess of information, or an excess of emotion.  Most people with anxiety develop coping mechanisms.  The best way to plunge on through life when your brain is screaming red murder is to pretend it isn’t happening.  Here is the delightful Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s explaining it much more clearly than I ever could:

So, this lady suffers from chronic anxiety.  ie:  running to Tiffany’s every time she gets the mean reds.  And Tiffany’s can be a place in your mind, it can be a bottle, it can be distraction, an addiction, whatever.  You’re afraid and you don’t even know what you’re afraid of, the best response is to run, right?
Well, yes, until it isn’t the best response.  Because, just like Holly Golightly, if we could find a real live place that makes us feel like Tiffany’s, then we would buy some furniture and give the cat a name.
You see, dear readers, dear students, dear seekers, yoga brings you home to that real live place. When suddenly you have contact with the Still Point inside of you, simply through breathing, movement and the right teacher, you realise that all your running was in vain.  And you relax a little bit.  But… the minute you relax a little bit and then go back to breathing fast and shallow, fighting with the traffic, being surrounded by people who are NOT on the Path and almost seem to wish to shove YOU off the Path, you have to start running away again.  And you feel even more nervous than before.  
You can think of it as a study of contrasts.  If you are always in the mean reds, then a little deeper tone of red is hardly noticeable.  But if you are suddenly “in the pinks” and you go back to the reds…ouch.
Why does yoga make me feel good in class but nervous afterwards? Because yoga holds a mirror up to your inner state and makes you look at the things you don’t want to see and have probably spent a lifetime avoiding.  For that reason it is very, very, very important to have a trusting relationship with a qualified teacher.
Upon receiving that information from my student, a person I know hardly at all, I modified the pranayama at the end of the class and gave a technique specifically indicated for her, but that would cause no harm to any other members of the class.  And then, the next morning, I texted her, to make sure she was okay.  And she was.  And what’s more, she felt good.
So, people, there are Youtube videos a-plenty, gymnasium yoga fit classes galore, all sorts of bells and whistles.  But yoga is a practice that transcends all of this stuff and has tools to help everybody and the teacher is the one who will show you the path.  Get on your mats, comes to class, breathe deeply, be joyful.  The Spirit is within you, let it move you.
Love,
Rachel

The sun will come out, tomorrow….Yoga before the sea and the big blue sky


Yesterday morning dawned rainy and grey.  Around these parts, precipitation is a present, a gift.  The chill in the air was invigorating, and the light reflecting on the wet cobblestones a portend of danger, for they are slippery when wet.
Sophie and Laurence and I warmed up with a white tea before class, then ventured upstairs to el Cielo, which means “Heaven” in Spanish, for yoga class.
There was a chill in the room, so we doubled up the yoga mats, and distributed nice, warm, hot pink wool blankets.   When we reached the floor phase of the practice, I noticed that the chill was starting to bite.  Feeling protective of my students, I hoped and prayed for some warming rays.
As we began to practice dvipada-pitâm (“the two-legged table pose”), the sun burst through!  Suddenly our little greenhouse of a room warmed up!  Joy!  We finished the sequence with Dolphins and headstand prep…energies were moved, smiles dawned upon faces and yet again, yoga worked its magic.
Thanks to everyone who came to class, it is a honour and privilege to be allowed to teach even a little bit of this ancient system.  Thanks to all the yogis and sages who kept this oral tradition alive for us to employ now, in 2018.  Thanks to my teachers, Claude and Carmen, for dedicating your lives to teaching teachers.  Namasté.

New term starts 12-Sept-2017

Yoga at GOA
Yoga at GOA

Hey people, sorry it’s been a while.  The summer term has gone swimmingly and I’ve been kept busyingly busy!.  Classes were sometimes full to overflowing, sometimes empty to the point of silence.  But, the 90-days of consecutive classes is drawing to an end. And, of course, I have got my fingers in the pot, planning for next term.

Firstly, I am going to take a few days off teaching.  Last class is this Friday, 1-Sept-2017.  Then, until Tuesday 12-Sept-2017, rien de rien.

From 12-Sept-2017, I will offer a five-days-per-week teaching schedule. No class Sunday or Monday, but every other day, yes.  Start time is 9:30, pricing model remains the same:  7€ first class, 6€ the second one in the same week, 5€ for the third and so on.  Weekly cost for all five classes is 25€, and there is no monthly fee.

So, I hope to see you there. Not for me, but for you.  Yoga has special, magic powers and my most sincere wish is that everyone reading this could feel that blissfulness at least once.  No, yoga won’t change the world:  only activism and engagement can do that.  But yoga can change your inner world and that might be a good starting point.  Om.

New Term starts 12-Sept-2017

Yoga at GOA
Yoga at GOA

Hey people, sorry it’s been a while.  The summer term has gone swimmingly and I’ve been kept busyingly busy!.  Classes were sometimes full to overflowing, sometimes empty to the point of silence.  But, the 90-days of consecutive classes is drawing to an end. And, of course, I have got my fingers in the pot, planning for next term.
Firstly, I am going to take a few days off teaching.  Last class is this Friday, 1-Sept-2017.  Then, until Tuesday 12-Sept-2017, rien de rien.
From 12-Sept-2017, I will offer a five-days-per-week teaching schedule. No class Sunday or Monday, but every other day, yes.  Start time is 9:30, pricing model remains the same:  7€ first class, 6€ the second one in the same week, 5€ for the third and so on.  Weekly cost for all five classes is 25€, and there is no monthly fee.
So, I hope to see you there. Not for me, but for you.  Yoga has special, magic powers and my most sincere wish is that everyone reading this could feel that blissfulness at least once.  No, yoga won’t change the world:  only activism and engagement can do that.  But yoga can change your inner world and that might be a good starting point.  Om.