We offer daytime, evening and weekend classes for Yoga, Meditation, Gong baths and more www.notleyyoga.co.uk We offer daytime, evening and weekend Yoga, Pilates and Meditation Classes with experienced teachers, as well as monthly Gong and Sound Baths, Yoga Nidra, Yin Yoga, Drum circles and many wonderful workshops to help deepen your practise. Slamseys Barn is a wonderful setting for the Yoga Centre, an ideal place to come and let go of any troubles and nourish your whole being, and only minutes from Great Notley Garden Village, Great Leighs and surrounding villages. Whether you are looking for some peaceful Meditation, Yoga or Gong Bath to help you unwind and relax or a more challenging fitness class, we hope that Notley Yoga Centre will be able to help you. Yoga – I believe YOGA IS FOR EVERYONE and EVERY BODY, Yoga means ‘unity’ or ‘union’ and practising Yoga is a means of balancing and harmonising Body, Mind, Breath and Spirit to take us back to our true nature. Ha-tha Yoga is the duality of Sun & Moon and means Force…but not forceful. It is the ‘force’ required to dissolve the duality, the joining of Sun & moon, Light & Dark, Feminine & Masculine so we can hold both. Yoga becomes the space in which the Light & Dark exist. In the practise of Ha -tha Yoga we have a system of postures and breath for the whole body – the Asanas (postures) are the physical stretches or postures which are designed to put pressure on the glandular systems of the body, thereby increasing its efficiency and total health. The body is looked upon as the primary instrument that enables us to work and evolve in the world. Asanas come in standing, sitting, and inverted forms and are designed to improve suppleness, flexibility, and posture. They also stretch the muscles, and help to build stamina and strength in the body, as well as calming the mind. Pranayama Breathing exercises are designed to master the movement of prana (or life-force) within us. The practice of pranayama enhances lung capacity, oxygenating and energising the body, and improves the circulation. Like the asanas, pranayama also calms the mind, allowing a feeling of tranquillity and emotional well-being to develop over time. Mantra The word mantra can be broken down into two parts: “man,” which means mind, and “tra,” which means transport or vehicle. In other words, a mantra is an instrument of the mind—a powerful sound or vibration that you can use to enter a deep state of meditation. When you chant in the ancient language of Sanskrit you can tune into its vibrations. Sanskrit is an expression of resonance of sound. You may not even need to understand intellectually what the mantra means but you connect to sound, the expression of the sound and the outcome could be different for everyone. You may find it helps you to express yourselves more in everyday life or that you can enter meditation more easily and the mind has less chit chat! Dhyana Meditation/Relaxation allows us to become aware of how our mind works and allows us to accept ourselves. We become more single minded, our concentration improves, and we give up on habitual thought patterns, allowing us to become self-confident, open, and honest with ourselves and others. Here we can encompass the duality of Light & Dark. You become a witness to your being ‘sakshi’ and in this moment you are aware of everything in you. Through this continuous movement of body, breath & mind we find ourselves dissolving the duality, so we hold or sit comfortably with Light & Dark and you become the space in which Sun & Moon qualities exist. You come back to your true nature
Yoga is a very personal practise, even though we work together in a group; each individual works to their own ability and take each posture to their own level of comfort. Everyone is reminded that Yoga is not a competition and you certainly do not have to be flexible to start, you can be any shape or size. I believe we can all benefit from Yoga, whether physically, mentally, spiritually or hopefully all of these. We look forward to welcoming you to the Centre soon. Leigh xx
