 I'm still enjoying the inspiring afterglow of last Sunday's day of yoga, reflection and intention setting. A lovely group of people gathered for the New Year Retreat Day at the Bishopston studio to take space for themselves and to delve a little more into simple but gorgeous yoga practices and refresh their yoga life skills ready for 2024.
The practices and chats on Sunday reminded us that yoga is as much about moving and breathing, as it is about the skills involved in living a more joyful life. We don't often have time in a group class for explicitly engaging with the philosophical framework of yoga, but it is a real, rich, living philosophy which once explained is hugely practical in every day life. The yoga framework includes aspects such as: ~ being kind and generous to yourself and others ~ ~ reflecting inwardly from time to time ~ ~ noticing how things effect you and adjust the stuff that isn't helpful ~ ~ being present more often, it is where joy can be found ~ ~ keeping things simple, overcomplication rarely helps ~ We do this often on the mat in our yoga class. We are invited to turn our attention inwards to our breath and body sensations, rather than outside of ourselves. To be more gentle with ourselves than we might normally. To pause and observe effects of a pose or technique. To be present and to simplify what we are doing with our attention. These are all aspects that we cultivate on the mat so that they are more available to us in daily life too. Insights are witnessed in our practice that allow us to be easier on ourselves and become wiser in our lives. And the net result will be that we become happier and healthier, nicer to be around, better to ourselves and others, and a whole lot more effective in whatever we are hoping to achieve with our day. (Win, Win, Win!) Beyond the day-retreat being a wonderful, refreshing escape from usual life, it was so valuable to discover what people took from the day. Many participants found the lifestyle framework from yoga, the 'Yamas' & 'Niyamas,' helpful for reflecting on their own situation as we took stock of 2023 and then shifted towards our direction for 2024. This framework is a way to rediscover unnurtured aspects of ourselves and remind us that life isn't all about work, or being a parent or a much-depended on support for others. Rekindling attention to our more whole self, which includes our sense of fun, adventure and creativity, will bring more joy into our life and those around us. "Wonderful,nourishing way to spend a Sunday." Very worthwhile day, would thoroughly recommend to anyone. Feel relaxed and refreshd and looking forward to the year ahead." Enjoyed the reminder of the power of simplicity. A really warm and welcoming experience." The next deep dive into our practice will be the yoga weekend retreat in April where we can take time away to refresh and nurture ourselves.
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Slow downWe took the opportunity to slow down and really give space to our yoga practice and to go deeper. Each practice was longer than a usual class giving more time to delve, spend time exploring poses or pauses for longer and gaining familiarity with the ‘health mantra’ to cultivate our health and nourishment. Nourish It could sound self-indulgent to spend a weekend like this, but truly it isn’t. Each of us needs nourishment so that we can show up in our everyday lives with more energy, kindness, patience and good humour and do all the things we need to do better. The hope is that periods of deeper practice rekindle the love of regular practice to inspire you to continue to nourish yourself regularly, to show up on your mat and avoid running on empty for too long. BreathThe interest and discovery of breath was a real take-away for many. The workshop seemed to gravitate towards this through the interest of everyone there. It was so great to have time to experiment with the effects of breathwork in our practice and to understand how it can profoundly change our state and effect how we feel energetically, physically and mentally. Working with the breath takes patience, I remember working with a breathing technique for 5 years (!) before I finally got it and was able to gain the benefits from it. Yes it was worth it! It can be such a useful and vital aspect of ourselves to cultivate. ResultsThe feedback from the weekend has been wonderful. “Beautiful house, gardens, great food and very friendly. I enjoyed it so much and learned so much about the breath which I think has transformed my practice and I'll take forwards. I loved how relaxed it all was and a perfect gentle rhythm to the days. Thank you so much.” “An outstanding weekend” “A fabulous weekend. Feeling relaxed and grounded. Thank you.” ContinueI’m already looking forward to the next one and will be planning it soon. Watch this space as the last one has been fully booked since last December.
In the meantime, keep yourself nourished, including through your yoga practice. I have weekly classes which keep you practicing reguarly, offer 121s to support you with starting or developing your home practice, have online resources to help you practice in a fruitful way, and some nourishing Autumn workshops available soon. Please get in touch if I can help or give me a ring if you want any guidance on your yoga practice or getting started. Clara x  Free yoga to raise money for charity! We are delighted that we had another successful Open Day with the other independent yoga studios in Bristol as part of the Bristol Yoga Trail. Together we all raised a whopping £943.59 for charity, all going directly to OTR (Off the Record) supporting young people's mental health. Each £10 raised equals a counselling session for a young person and we are so pleased to be able to support such a good and worthwhile cause. Thanks to everyone who came along to our free yoga classes. From the 8:30am Saturday morning yoga class, to the pregnancy yoga and the viniyoga classes, everyone seemed to have a lovely day and we certainly enjoyed meeting so many new faces and beginners to yoga. Gloucester Road in Bishopston was buzzing and the balloons from our studio and Yogawest next door made a gloomy day into something quite delightful. Don't forget to use your discount vouchers and come back and visit us again soon! x 
The gentle yoga class was quieter but always nice to be able to offer a more adapted and therapeutic approach to yoga practice for those who want to start there. Small groups are ideal for this approach to yoga so that we can ensure that it is adapted and suitable for you.
We are pleased to say we raised £163.28 for Off the Record, the local Bristol charity providing free mental health support for young people. Thanks for your donations and the donation jar is there this week for anyone who wants to drop-off a donation who didn't get a chance on Saturday. It was a lovely chance to collaborate with many of the other independent yoga studios in Bristol too. Our lovely neighbours, Yogawest, who offer the more alignment based Iyengar yoga joined in, Yogafurie who offer hot yoga in Ashley Down, Yogasara and Bristol City Yoga in Stokes Croft, and Flow yoga in Windmill Hill. It is so nice to collaborate with the other 6 studios, work together to share yoga to the broader Bristol community, and raise money for charity. It is great to demonstrate that in this day and age, not everything is competitive or trying to get ahead. We all love yoga and see if as a way to share our love of it with as many people as possible, bring people together and become more integrated with our communities as a collective. Looking forward to the 2018 yoga trail and working with the other yoga studios again to bring that to everyone. Thanks again for coming and we welcome you back to the YogaSpace studio in Bishopston soon!  Thanks to those of you who came and made our new Bishopston yoga studio open day a huge success! It was lovely to welcome so many new faces to our beginners yoga, viniyoga and gentle yoga classes. A big thank you and hope to see you in class again soon.
 Sunday is World Yoga Day as designated by the United Nations. The UN "recognises the holistic benefits of this timeless practice and its inherent compatibility with the principles and values of the United Nations."
United Nations The system of yoga was developed thousands of years ago and has been one of India's greatest gifts to the world. The human body and mind work far better with with regular use, and yoga offers a system of exercises, practices and teachings to enable the body and mind to achieve the greatest health possible. Some of the practices are rather esoteric and may not suit our western culture as well, but many of the teachings and practices are applicable to everyone and a great way of improving our health, strength, energy, awareness and becoming able to live a full life. Tune the instrument of your body and mind and see what becomes possible. Back to Bristol YogaSpace homepage.  We are delighted to open our doors on Sat 13th September and invite everyone to join in our free yoga classes, meet the teachers and enjoy refreshments.
We are inviting you and your friends to join us, whether you are a beginner or just want to try another style of yoga or a new teacher. Everyone is welcome! Free class schedule 11:45 - 12:45 Flow yoga with Virginie and Sheila 13:00 - 14:00 Beginners yoga with John 14:25 - 15:15 Viniyoga with Clara 15:30 - 16:30 Beginners yoga with Clara All levels of fitness and experience are welcome to all the classes. YogaSpace along with most of the other yoga studios across Bristol are all opening our doors for the 2nd Bristol Yoga Trail. Last year's was great fun so hoping to make this year's even better. Hope to see you there! See the Bristol Yoga Trail website here > Back to YogaSpace homepage >  If you head to London's Olympia on October 25th - 27th you'll no doubt be headed to the Om Yoga Show. A space where the whole range of yoga approaches and yoga products can be found. From their hot yoga pod - a super heated bubble of 37 degrees to make you sweat, to the world record attempt for the most people in headstand at any one time (aiming for 300 yogis in headstand!).
With so much yoga teacher training being advertised, the target audience must be mostly serious students who enjoy yoga so much they want to go on to become a teacher. Something that can be a life changing experience. There is of course the usual array of yoga clothing, to yoga oils, yoga crystals and all sorts of other yoga regalia to help you feel like your buying a little more yoga into your life. The Om Yoga Show will bring a little commercial mayhem, and perhaps a little inspiration into the lives of those who attend. I have a couple of free tickets to give away if anyone can use them. Om Yoga Magazine sent me a case of free magazines and a card signed by all the editorial staff congratulating me on being the Om Yoga Magazine teacher of the month. Who knows how that happened but I don't even know if they've ever been to one of my classes. But my students enjoyed the free magazines so thank you for sending them! Anyway, have fun if you go and if you do, leave a comment on what you discovered there. (Or get in touch for the free tickets!) Back to the YogaSpace homepage  Bristol Yoga Trail on Saturday Over 20 FREE yoga classes across 6 locations in Bristol! Saturday was a chance to explore the wonderful variety of yoga available in our city. We are lucky to have such a rich array of yoga teachers, yoga classes and yoga participants and there really is something for everyone, new and old. We were thrilled to welcome so many students to YogaSpace on Saturday who were keen to explore our classes. We are very sorry to those who couldn't fit in as a couple of the classes were completely packed and we just couldn't fit anymore in!
We loved the range of students, from complete beginners to some who had been practicing for 25+ year. And we were inspired by the open questions and range of experiences that you all came with. We would love to welcome back students new and old to yoga classes in the meantime, and we very much look forward to next years' Bristol Yoga Trail! Back to Bristol YogaSpace homepage.  The Bristol yoga community are joining together on September 14th 2013 for our first annual Bristol Yoga Trail! An open day of free yoga classes and events across 6 locations in Bristol. It's a wonderful chance to join in and explore the different yoga centres in Bristol, try different yoga styles and yoga classes. Or attend a talk or see a yoga film later at YogaWest in the evening. All are welcome and the classes will be free and open to all levels and abilities of fitness. No need to book, simply join in and enjoy! There is Hot Yoga with Ed at YogaFurie, Iyengar Yoga with YogaWest, and a mix of different yoga styles at Bristol City Yoga, Wilder Studios and Yogasara. And we at Bristol YogaSpace are offering 3 viniyoga classes and a hatha yoga class for you to enjoy. Plus if you visit all 6 locations in the day, and get your leaflet stamped at each centre, you can get a free yoga class at the centre of your choice. Save the date and tell your friends: Bristol Yoga Trail, September 14th 2013 For more info and the schedule of free yoga classes and events visit here: www.bristolyogatrail.wordpress.com #bristolyogatrail Back to the Bristol YogaSpace homepage  The Smithsonian Institution in Washington is fundraising for a new exhibition -
Yoga: The art of transformation. It is their first crowd funded exhibition, with the primary exhibition going ahead but crowd funding providing additional activities. It promises to provide an exhibition about the visual history of yoga with artefacts illustrating its different forms, some dating back to the 3rd century. Visit the Yoga: The art of transformation link here > Or read the news article about crowd funding by following the link here > Our lives are generally noisy and busy, with constant distractions coming from all directions. At work people are often chatting and on the phone, the tapping of keyboard keys, radios and TVs, traffic and so on. Silence is hard to come by except perhaps at night once we go to bed (if we are lucky enough to live somewhere quiet!). People often say they can't hear themselves think. Many people are so un-used to silence that they find it awkward, perhaps even uncomfortable and put background noise on to keep it at bay.
This Wednesday is an international day to celebrate silence. Just this day is trying to remind us that silence is something to be valued and to bring in to our lives more often. The Big Shhhh aims to spread stillness and to unite us. Why? you may ask, in this age of achievement, what will it get me? Silence can be a chance to get to know yourself, to listen to yourself, and to allow the mind to reflect without the distraction of noise and without these distractions sapping our energy. It can be a chance to let go of negative distractions and allow happiness to emerge, and to refocus and remain grounded. But of course, silence isn't necessarily easy, and when starting out, is impossible for some people. Once you stop physically, and listen to yourself, you realise there is a lot going on that you may have either missed before, or even actively avoided if what you find isn't comfortable to you. What might remain if you stop the noise around you? Spending time in silence, once you find yourself able to physically stop, can be a revelation. Meditation is usually taken in silence, and yoga is usually taken with only the sound of your breathing, movements if practicing asana (postures), and perhaps the sound of the teachers voice if in a group yoga class. These days some yoga classes even include background music, or uplifting music, to keep the body moving and the mind focused on the practice. It takes discipline and effort to remain silent, and to remain still. Very difficult for some and something that only regular practice and supportive guidance will help. Silence crosses disciplines and is found at the core of yoga and meditation and also in church and prayer. Once you are able to find silence, what will you find there? An open question, and only one way to find out... Back to homepage The Association for Yoga Studies (AYS) had their annual conference this weekend which was brilliantly inspirational. About 100 yoga teachers got together to share ideas, take workshops on everything from 'yoga breathing for pain relief during labour' to exploring faith or confidence through yoga. It was a great chance to discuss ways of teaching some of yoga's timeless principles. Ranju Roy and Dave Charlton were the plenary speakers focusing on Pajanjali's teachings in the Yoga Sutras about awareness, how yoga practice can effect our very being, effecting us potentially in quite profound ways, and also exploring how we see the world once we allow our yoga practice to deepen. Inspiring stuff.
Beyond the brilliant sessions from the weekend, a lasting memory is the Saturday night entertainment where we were led in a rendition of a funny song where we all joined in the chorus 'oh it all makes sense when your lying on the mat'. Funny but true... yoga helps us feel good on the mat, but the effects of yoga practice can be much longer lasting and helpful day to day - sometimes! Friday evening and YogaSpace is full with almost 30 people celebrating the new yoga centre in Bristol. Paul Harvey, a deeply knowledgeable yoga teacher and my teacher for almost 5 years led the evening which included a wide range of students from experienced yoga teachers to interested beginners.
Paul led us through discussions about yoga, some yoga practices, chanting and amusing anecdotes about his time in India with some of the great teachers over the past 30 years or so. The discussions were focused around body, breath, mind and beyond, leading us into the more mystical aspects of yoga. He started with discussions about Hatha yoga as body and energy work, using yoga as a starting point for physical health. Then leading in to ideas about breathing (pranayama) with specific techniques to aid our mental clarity and concentration. We discussed the concept of 'prana' or energy, the 'glue' that gives us life. Who knows what prana actually is, science doesn't quite define yet or describe it yet either, but something in us is our undefinable life force, stronger and more vital in some than in others, energy that is variable from day to day that can't be described in chemical or scientific terms. (An interesting illustration of the elusive concept of prana is 'chronic fatigue syndrome', very real for many people, no currently understood medical cause or treatment, and the yoga model considers this to be an issue with prana or our life force.). In yoga the breath is used to influence prana so a great deal of emphasis is put on the breathing as we take postures (asana) and then as we learn to sit and just 'breathe' as we refine and deepen our yoga practice. Asana are often used for fitness and flexibility but were traditionally intended to help us strengthen the body and give support and length to the spine, the central channel in the body which provides us with the ability to sit, breathe well, and ultimately to meditate well without the body causing a distraction by aching after 5 minutes! Good asana practice leads to good energy, prana/apana and chakra health. The secondary purpose of good asana practice is to refine the rest of the body, for good structural and systemic health. We took a crash course in chanting some sanskit chants. 'Yogena yogo' helped to take us out of our normal frame of mind, perhaps we found it uncomfortable or odd, perhaps we enjoyed the sounds and the group integration into one voice and the focus needed to listen and then repeat the different sanskit sounds. Either way, we felt different when the chanting was finished, and isn't that part of the point of yoga, to help us see things slightly differently and explore our reaction to resistances in our body and mind. We talked about pranayama, the practice of controlling the breathing in different ways, a discipline often not taught in a group yoga class. We discussed the use of breath in asana to help develop a long, sustained, smooth breath so that when we practice pranayama, we have a trained breath with stamina that we can then work with. A Sivananda teacher raised an interesting point that in the Sivananda yoga tradition she was studying, they are advised not to teach pranayama unless the student has a pure body free from meat and alcohol, otherwise pranayama would be worse for you than not doing it at all. As Paul discussed this with her, he referred to the origin of the teaching which has Hindu principal's at it's heart. Sivananda brings a Hindu interpretation to yoga, coming from a Vedanta tradition, and blends yoga and Hindu teachings. The 'Yoga Sutras', a seminal and ancient yoga text by Patanjali which is studied and respected by most who teach yoga, don't mention being vegetarian or the requirement of purity before learning pranayama. There wasn't disagreement that this was a good thing, just a clarification of where the teaching was coming from and understanding of what Yoga teaches us and what religion teaches us. Yoga can be interpretted without any religious influence as a set of practices for health and transformation and Patanjali is careful not to include religion in his teachings, even though it was written over 2,000 years ago. We took some group asana practice before having a break and coming back to a discussion about Raja yoga. The focus now moved on the the mind and beyond. Yoga classes that teach asana are often for its own fitness purposes, but it was traditionally taught to ultimately train the mind. Asana and pranayama are used to provide us with a stable mind and body with the intention to prepare us for meditation and ultimately a connection with something beyond ourselves. Reflection and meditation require discipline, which requires training and preparation to be able to effectively practice these. As death looms closer for us in our later years, an enquiry into what might lie beyond death drives many to religion, or it can lead to reflective meditation and an enquiry into what life is all about and perhaps exploring something in us that might be permenant and beyond death. Or it might lead to busy, full lives full of activities and friendships that help us avoid thinking about death at all! Meditation allows space to explore or to just 'be' and ultimately not worry about it... I left the evening feeling that YogaSpace had been filled with teachings that got right to the heart of yoga. The warmth of the group and the good wishes from Paul for the new yoga centre were an inspiration to me and to YogaSpace. And we raised £235 for the Julian Trust Night Shelter! Thanks to everyone who came, to Paul for being so generous with his time and his teachings, and for making the evening such a special and memorable event. Next Friday evening should be a wonderful event as we're honoured to have Paul Harvey at the studio. He is a great teacher and one of the foremost authorities in Yoga and will lead us through an evening exploring body, breath, mind and beyond. All are welcome and entry is a £10 donation to support the Julian Trust Night Shelter, a Bristol-based charity.
The evening will offer an introduction to Yoga as body and energy work, psychology and mysticism through asana, pranayama, sound, and mantra. Through presentation and practice we will explore how Yoga postures, breathing and sound can lead to meditational stillness, along with discussion and time for your questions. Numbers are limited so please get in touch to book a space. Look forward to seeing you there! |
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Bristol YogaSpace Ltd
Princes Place, Bishopston Just off Gloucester Road Bristol BS7 8NP |
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