A Manifesto For Practice

Super fast movement, punishing sequences, extreme poses, brutal intensity, loud music...a complete absence of introspection or cultivation of self awareness.

It seems that this is becoming an increasingly popular approach to yoga - the ‘do more, push harder’ culture is in full effect.

And whilst I really enjoy challenging calisthenics and exercise, unless they encourage an exploration of the self and cultivation of presence then they’re not yoga.

I'm conscious that what I offer in my own classes sits at odds with this trend.

I don’t play music, preferring to give you the space and silence to really connect to your breath and a sense of inner stillness - rather than giving the mind another ‘hook’ for distraction.

We explore the practice in a way that encourages a rebalancing of the nervous system - breath work and meditation in particular - rather than using our yoga practice to further agitate our fight, freeze or flight response.

We move slowly, paying attention to the sensations that can be felt in the body, and the effects of the postures, transitions and practices at the various layers of our experience (physical, mental, energetic).

We work with simple movements and sequences so that we can focus on how we move and the quality of movement rather than worrying about complex sequencing.

We take ranges of motion that can be controlled functionally rather than pulling and pushing our bodies into extreme places - making sure that we pay attention to cultivating strength and active mobility rather than simply focusing on passive flexibility.

There aren’t many (if any) hands on adjustments - you’ll be encouraged to connect to the intuition and innate wisdom of your body rather than relying on me for external guidance. Any assists I do provide will help cultivate a greater sense of grounding and stability rather than forcing your body into places it’s not ready to go to.

And we approach everything that we do in our practice with a sense of curiosity and compassion - cultivating kindness towards ourselves and our bodies, and engaging in the practice in a way that’s both enjoyable and nourishing, rather than as another way of diminishing and criticising ourselves.

That’s not to say it won’t be challenging or even dynamic at times. Yoga is a means of probing our existing patterns of thought and behaviour and expanding our potential to its fullest state (including our movement potential). But we’ll explore these edges in our practice mindfully and with a sense of care.

This approach might not be fashionable, but I’m increasingly convinced it’s the approach that most of us need.

We’re subjected to so much ‘noise’ these days that we’re chronically over stimulated - the time we spend practising yoga is an opportunity to retreat from this constant assault on our senses. To embrace quiet, to still the mind and soothe the nervous system.

And if this approach to yoga strikes a chord with you then I very much look forward to exploring the practice together - in whatever shape that may take.

The Integration Of Practice

There was a time when practice for me meant getting up at 4.30am to run through 2+ hours of postures before beginning my day.

There was a time when I would sit for 40 minutes of meditation every day - sometimes twice a day.

But as the conditions of life shift and evolve, so does the 'shape' of our practice.

Right now - and particularly of late - the circumstances of life do not allow me the luxury or space to commit to this sustained level of ‘formal’ practice.

There will be a time I'm sure when this space will open up again, but in the meantime it's left me pondering - what does ‘yoga practice’ mean for me?

Certainly I like to move as often as I can - though my movement practice is a lot more explorative and unstructured than the formal systems I used to adhere to…and sadly less regular too.

It’s also a lot more opportunistic - taking advantage of breaks and gaps in my schedule whenever I’m able to...though it’s rare that I’m able to practice for more than an hour.

I do of course meditate and explore breath work when I can - though again these practices have to fit around the cadence of work and family life, rather than being the structure around which everything else is organised, as was once the case.

In the Bhagavd Gita Krishna outlines three forms of yoga to Arjuna: jnana (the yoga of knowledge or wisdom i.e. study of scripture), bhakti (the yoga of devotion), and karma (the yoga of action).

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali lists svadhyaya (self study) as one of five internal observances (niyamas).

And seva is the Sanskrit word for the art of selfless service that is believed to contribute to our spiritual growth.

I think a combination of karma, svadhyaya and seva is probably where the heart of my practice lies right now.

Life has thrown a lot at my family of late and so a big focus for me has been the integration of yoga practice into everyday life. Taking care of my family, showing up for my students and trying to maintain a sense of equilibrium so that I can be a decent human in my daily interactions with other people.

Because ultimately, yoga is whatever allows us to find a sense of flow and connection - to ourselves and to others…recognising that we are part of something bigger.

For some of us it’s making shapes with our bodies and sitting for meditation, for some of us it’s climbing, gardening or playing music and for some of us it’s caring for others and engaging in meaningful work.

Because the essence of yoga can be found not in what we do but the way in which we approach what we’re doing.

It can be found in the way we respond to what life throws at us - knowing that we won’t always get it right, but using those occasions to learn about ourselves and our patterns of reactivity…and perhaps finding more skilful ways to respond in future.

So whilst it can be tempting to give ourselves a hard time when we’re not able to take as much formal practice as we’d like, it can be helpful to remember that yoga is so much more than the relatively limited time that we’re able to spend engaged in postures, meditation and breath work.

The real work of the practice is how we then integrate that back into our everyday lives and how our practice can help us to meet the many challenges that life will surely present.

Confronting Death...Celebrating Life

Last week was tough.

We buried my cousin. He was much too young to leave his body and losing him has been a deeply painful experience...to see the suffering of his parents and daughters was incredibly difficult to bear.

Of all the lessons of our yoga and mindfulness practice, coming to terms with death and with our own mortality is the one I struggle with most.

But it’s perhaps the most valuable lesson of them all. And in many ways it’s the essence of the practice.

For if we’re not using our practice to confront the reality of existence then what are we doing?

And what reality of existence is greater than the certainty of death?

Cognitively I get it. What I perceive to be ‘me’ is merely a set of conditions - and like all conditions they are ever changing and impermanent...in time they will cease to exist in this form.

The life force that animates me will one day grow quiet, the essence of ‘me’ shifting to another state, leaving just this physical container behind.

The sooner we can REALLY turn towards this reality...and TRULY accept the felt essence of this truth rather pushing the discomfort away, the less resistance we’ll have to our final journey.

If only it were that simple.

The reality is that I do struggle to accept that one day the world will spin, the wind will ruffle the trees but I won’t be here to witness it.

It’s something I’ve sat with in my practice and from time to time I do feel somewhat more reconciled to this reality - but yesterday was a reminder that there’s still much work for me to do.

But this doesn’t have to end on a somber note.

For if we are able to start reconciling ourselves to the certainty of death, it throws the beauty of life into sharp relief...

A reminder to be grateful for what we have, to cherish the ones we love and to embrace life and the many wonderful experiences it has to offer.

I think back to an interview I listened to with the musician Wilko Johnson. He described how, after being diagnosed with what was thought to be incurable cancer, he walked out of hospital…and in that moment he’d never felt more alive.

His senses were acutely heightened and he was filled with a sense of genuine awe and wonder at the living universe around him.

Thankfully he went on to make a miraculous recovery and his perspective on life has forever been changed (for the better I think).

But we don’t need to wait for a tragic diagnosis.

As practitioners of yoga and mindfulness we’ve been gifted a wonderful opportunity to cultivate this same sense of awe, wonder and reverence for life NOW...even as we reconcile ourselves to the certainty of its final destination.

So my way of honouring my cousin’s memory will be to fully commit to appreciating and honouring the beauty of the life I have to live.

Are you with me?