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Ashtanga Brighton Newsletter | October 2009

Hi,

Welcome to our first quarterly newsletter for 2011. It's such a relief to be coming out of what feels like a very long winter.

The big news for August is that Sharath will be teaching in London from the 21st - 26th. Joey's workshop in March was a great success. You can read about it in the workshop review.

Happy reading!

- Guy

  • In This Issue:

  • News In Brief
  • Yoga Holidays
  • Forthcoming Workshops
  • Workshop Reviews
  • Off the mat

News in Brief

Hamish confirmed this morning that Sharath will indeed be teaching in London from 21st - 26th August. A booking form will be up on the Dharma Shala website in May. Tickets will sell out quickly for the week so keep an eye on the Astanga London website.

Authorised teacher Monica Marinoni will be visiting Brighton for a weekend workshop in June. You can check out the details and book online.

Yoga holidays

Our friend Scott from Stillpoint Yoga London is organising a week long Ashtanga holiday in Turkey at the end of May.

Our friends Davy and Janaki are also organising a week long yoga holiday in Spain at Cortijo Romera.

Forthcoming Workshops

  • Ashtanga Yoga intensive with David Keil & Denise Martin-Harker, Ware, Hertfordshire, May 7th-13th. Click here for more info.
  • David Keil, Stillpoint Yoga London, London Bridge, May 13th-15th. Click here for more info.
  • Ashtanga yoga weekend with Monica Marinoni, Brighton, June 11th-12th. Click here for more info.

Workshop Reviews

Monica shares her experiences of Joey's workshop at The Brighton Buddhist Centre.

Joey Miles at The Brighton
Buddhist Centre (5th Mar - 6th Mar)

Joey Miles practicing Utthita Hasta PadangustasanaJoey Miles was authorised to teach by Guruji in 2004. He assisted at Dharma Shala and also taught at Triyoga in London. In 2009 he started Ashtanga Yoga Leeds with his wife, Donna, where they have been teaching ever since.

The workshop fell on a weekend after a new moon. Well rested from a day off the mat, the room at the Buddhist Centre was a buzz. It was nice being in the company of about 20 participants - new faces and more familiar ones from morning Mysore practice - and knowing that we would be sharing each other's energy.

Joey began the workshop with breathing exercises, having us lay on our backs with our knees bent and feet flat on the floor. It was a great way to begin the session, grounding us and bringing awareness to the upward and downward movement of prana. Sitting up in Sukhasana, Joey led the chanting of the opening invocation, the authenticity of his Sanskrit very moving.

This was followed by leading us through the Primary Series, with a few modifications to some of the asanas and added hip-opening exercises. Working with postures in different ways is always a good approach to veer away from usual habits or comfort zones, which may eventually enhance the strength of the posture.

The led practice seemed to go quite quickly however like all Savasanas, this one was much welcomed. As we lay on our mats, Joey read us an excerpt from Michael Stone's book "The Inner Tradition of Yoga", which turned out to be a foreshadow of the afternoon session...

Read the full workshop review online

- Monica Luna

This month's sutra: 2:3 avidya asmita raga dvesa abinivesah klesa

Ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion and fear of death are the five afflictions.

Living with clarity is prevented by the active interference of the five klesas or afflictions, of which the first is the most important. "Avidya" comes from "a" which is a negating prefix, "vid" which means to see from the inner eye, and "ya" which is an activating suffix. "Avidya" translates then as "actively being in the state of not seeing the true nature of reality". This is not the ignorance of just not knowing a fact, but rather a very deep vritti which keeps us from knowing the Self. In Vedanta philosophy, the equivalent term to avidya is "maya", the great illusion. Avidya is the root of all the other klesas. In the state of yoga, the veil parts and one directly comprehends reality as it is, purely, without any intervening thought, abstraction or judgment. Read the full translation here

Translation by Judith Hanson Lasater PhD, PT

Judith Lasater has taught yoga since 1971 and holds a doctorate in East-West psychology.

 Chris Barker

Off
The
Mat

Patricia Teixeira

  • How long have you been practising? I have been practising for about 4 years, but for a great part of that time I was self-practising without guidance from a teacher because where I was living there was no one teaching the traditional Ashtanga practise.
    I still don't know how I managed to keep it up, but I'm glad I did because in a way it helped me get to where I am now.
  • What first attracted you to Ashtanga? I had tried other kinds of yoga but was never really interested. When my cousin in Portugal told me that she was practising Ashtanga I felt I had to go and try. And from the first practice it felt so right and I kept on practising ever since.
  • What do you enjoy most about your practice? The deep sense of peace that it provides sometimes and the challenge of wanting to learn more and more, and to overcome my own boundaries. Over time the practice of yoga has helped me to step out from my own individual perspective and gain a wider understanding of things. Although I know I still have a long way to go!
  • Name 3 things you're passionate about. Sun & beach, cooking veggie food, travelling.
  • Describe your typical weekend. I really enjoy sleeping for longer on weekends. I often go down to the sea, sometimes I read a book, watch a movie, hang out with friends or just walk around the city. It's exciting to explore because most of it is still new for me.
  • What's your favourite food? I like almost all kinds of cheese, and also chocolate. But in general anything that is vegetarian and tasty is good for me.

Moon Days

  • Mon 18th Apr 3.45am (full)
  • Tue 3rd May 7.51am (new)
  • Tue 17th May 12.09pm (full)
  • Wed 1st Jun 10.03pm (new)
  • Wed 15th Jun 9.14pm (full)
  • Fri 1st Jul 9.54am (new)
  • Fri 15th Jul 7.40am (full)

Find a Class

Looking for a class in Brighton? Click here for our class finder.

Links

Would you like your website link to appear here? Email us the details.

Next issue

we'll have a review of David Keil's week long intensive in Ware and a new victim for off the mat!

This month's editor is:
Guy Anderson

This newsletter was designed by
zero G media Ltd

Namaste

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