Teaching theme this week is working towards releasing the obstacle that doesn’t allow us to see who we truly are. Avidya is the main obstacle, this is the inability to seeing the truth of who we are. The mind aspect of ahamkar has the ability to create a false sense of who we are. Ahamkar creates another aspect of who we are - a “me aspect” which likes, dislikes, and fears. This creates a separate sense of “me” - a subject and an object; that which it’s seeing/ experiencing.

If we don’t overcome them, we stay with the obstacles and they stay with us too. In yoga we don’t see them with the five senses but with direct sense at the navel centre. The obstacles may not seem that apparent but there is a fogginess in our awareness, which can be linked to our personality. When we feel less bright and alive we can’t get a direct sense of the obstacles lying within. We would then need some intensity and intention, to overcome this and get somewhere brighte

When a thought lands inside and stays inside it creates an attachment; this is because of Asmita. The Asmita is the sense of self the “I am”part of mind. Some thoughts that aren’t related to ego sense stay outside of ourselves. But when a thought goes in and stays there is the attachment to “me”. And this creates a density, “a tension,” a blockage in the subtle pranic body and we can experience this in the physical body too. We can experience a thought that doesn’t fall insid

Working with pranayama, asana at mooladhara chakra within the pranic (subtle) body we can experience something that releases the need to hold on in body and mind. That something is fear related to material objects and how they determine us “supposedly.” We become attached and yet when detaching there’s more to experience in the material plane, more enjoyment, more meaning, deeper understanding of not needing things to relate to who you are. In yoga texts the new level of ex

We usually identify who we are by attaching to what we are experiencing at that time. I could easily experience myself as someone with shoulder tension in this posture. But with the tools given by the ancient yogis there wasn’t an experience of my shoulder or pain. We see ourselves as someone who is in pain or pleasure; I am… a happy person because today is going well. I am … a miserable person because … of what is going on at the time that is unpleasant. The identification i

There are 8 limbs to yoga practice and this week we will be working with detachment and non greed; one of the yamas which make up the first limb known as Aparigraha. This can be associated with ourselves personally and in society. We work with all levels in yoga; personally and socially, all leading to peace and harmony within and outside. How much we hoard, want and need to make us happy and to feel like we fit into society. A constant play of attachments and then we move on

In ancient yoga, the masters didn’t use mind and body to do the yoga practise but overcame mind and body, as they were the obstacles to experiencing their inner Being. Their physical bodies became open and mind, wise from the detachment. In yoga there is the importance to detach and allow the ancient teachings to do the undoing. Pranayama is the expansion of prana; life force in the pranic body, a subtle inner body where tensions originate from. Pranayama shares the rhythm of

This week in class we will be working on Karma Yoga; working without attachment to the end result and this will then not leave a deposit on the mind, but brings freedom. Every action affects your mind Whenever you do something, it leaves a mark on your mind: If you act for a reward (praise, success, feeling good), it creates a mental habit or expectation. If you don’t get that reward, you may feel disappointed or restless. Attachment creates pressure When you act mainly for

Why don’t we always feel fresh, light, and truly alive? Yoga teaches that the root isn’t just in the body—it lies within the pranic field, our inner energy system. The yogis understood that when this field becomes disturbed or clouded, we feel it as tension, heaviness, or physical discomfort. By turning inward, they discovered how to clear these impurities at their source. Often, we blame the body. But the deeper cause is not realising that it is all related to the mental pro

In yoga, we can feel a sense of inner light or brightness. This shows up in how we live—being kind, accepting others, and feeling a deeper sense of joy. This feeling is connected to something called Kundalini shakti, an inner energy that exists in everyone. It awakens from being dormant in muladhara; (the root chakra) and can rise upward through an inner path; Sushumna to the crown of the head, Sahasrara. This journey represents growing awareness and connection to our true se

In authentic yoga practice we work on our inner life and not on the physical body. We come to see, “ vidya” in Sanskrit something more than body. We are the experiencer of life and body and when we look in this way it moves more freely. We are not stuck in body’s physical discomfort. The more we practice the more we experience BRIGHTNESS; “sattva” within. However we can feel the clouds drop down again during our practice and in life too. This is an obstacle we can overcome. T

In yoga philosophy, the mind is made up of different faculties. First, we have the senses. Through our five senses we constantly receive information from the world around us — what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Then there is buddhi, the intellect. This is the part of the mind that understands and interprets what the senses experience and stores those impressions in memory. Next is ahamkara, often called the “I-maker.” This is the part of the mind that takes our experi

Something within us never changes, we cannot think it or use the senses to identify it. We have to use the ancient teachings of yoga to teach it. But why try to find it? Through our senses, memory and thoughts we know what our body and life looks and feels like and we most probably have an opinion of it or disregard it through not wanting to “see it.” Those illusions have been created by part of mind that has attached or created an aversion to those feelings/ experience. The

Prana Moving from the Centre Outward Moving prana from the centre outward allows us to enter the places where we are blocked. When we are in resistance, we do not recognise these areas as blocked — they feel absent, unreachable, or simply not there. But when awareness touches them, they begin to come alive. And as they awaken, the mental aspect that was held there also begins to move. It is like shining a torch into dark, dormant spaces within us — places we may feel do not e

Can you imagine how this student must feel being given all those instructions! ….and now he has to stay sharp and focused aswell on this and that part of his body… and at the same time trying to do some pranayama to release the holding on or resistances he feels. It won’t work! When in asanas it’s best to NOT work with the body and thoughts Once the alignment is safe, which is a MUST. …Working with the more subtle layer underlying the physical body shifts the “restriction p

What does imbalance mean to you? In yoga there are places within we experience that are bright and open and places stuck and dense, for wanting to put into words. It is there for all of us. Within the sheath of life force, the yogis called prana, which is beneath the physical body there are impurities which block the life within and we feel stuck, tight, immobile. Using the practice of pranayama and asanas (postures), we will bring a clear understanding that they can be remo

Some questions and answers about yoga and why we practice classes are for all abilities - we are not an ego based class performing perfect postures but finding the deeper meaning to yoga Student “ I feel so light after yoga, why is that?” Teacher “ The mind has released and when that happens the tightness felt in the body also releases” Student “ I have nothing going on in my mind after a class when we practice not only asanas (postures), but also the powerful practice of pra

using lesson planning each week for Hatha yoga and meditation classes, from ancient texts. Each week in class ~ there is an evolvement in understanding what is body and mind and how the mental activity can effect how the body moves or becomes blocked. The body moves because the inner pranic life force moves and expands, (when we use the practice of pranayama,) ~ which loosens off the mental activity that is like a glue in this inner body bringing symptoms to the physical bod

We often experience the body as something solid and fixed, but in yoga we begin to sense that the body is actually movement and flow. What gives the body life is prana — the vital life force that moves through us and expands in all directions in a non physical experience. When we turn our focus inwards away from the outer 5 senses and bring awareness, we can feel the body not just as a form, but as sensation, vibration, and a feeling of life. This is where prana becomes more

We will focus this coming month on the movements of the spine. This week the inversion and yoga philosophy will teach us to inwardly evolve; Letting go of habitual viewpoints Challenging the ego- based identity “I am what I do/ how I appear.” cultivating humility and surrender. In yogic philosophy- growth requires seeing life from a non- egoic perspective. When we experience inner stillness and peace even when the outside physical conditions are upside down we can be free. Om