Mandala Yoga Bodies

If you enjoyed your time with Sushama Chitale in Studio Harmony in July or if you missed the opportunity to be taught by this wonderful teacher, then here's a chance to experience her teaching in the comfort of your home studio ☺️

Join Sushama online to discover how to use Iyengar yoga to combat dullness and inertia as you age.

https://www.yoga-cu.com/schedule

https://yoga-cu.punchpass.com/classes

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It's been over 2 years now that I've been teaching yoga to at Woodlands Community

I wanted to ensure that there was a class where people who belong to the could do yoga and feel at home - as well as support the development of new yoga teachers from more diverse communities

Thanks goes to the Iyengar Yoga (UK) development fund, which supports this often oversubscribed class, that is still welcoming newcomers 🙏🏾

TOMORROW!! I'll be covering for the lovely Emma Mcgurn and Glasgow Yoga Collective in Studio Harmony 10 -11.15am ⏰
Book via: https://www.glasgowyogacollective.com

This week's sequence is focusing attention on the 3 sections of the torso - the pelvic area the abdominal area and the rib-cage area 🩻 seeing how we can engage differently to improve the practice of certain asanas

I shall also be teaching at:
Woodlands Community Hub - tonight at 6pm
Studio Harmony - Wednesday & Friday at 6pm

For my studio classes book at: www.momoyoga.com/mandala-yoga-bodies 💻

The Yoga of Power by Sunila S Kalè & Christian Lee Novetzke 📖

I found this book at Woodlands Hub Antitacist Library and had to buy my own copy (after I received a return reminder🫣)

Strictly an accedemic book about the word "yoga" - and its many synonyms and translations - and how that term has moved so far from it's origins... It refers to yoga as:
- a martial art 🥋⚔️
- a means of control ⛓️🔗
- a discipline 💪🏾👨🏿‍🎓
Using the Mahabharata and the Rg Veda as sources

As any reader of the Bhagavad Gita knows, the fight is mostly metaphorical, referring to the Kushetra or field of battle within us 🧘🏿

It's a reminder that yoga is a specific discipline that has survived only because it has always remained open to change but never dilution 🕉✨️

I experienced a fantastic class at Studio Harmony by Mandala Yoga Bodies taught by Aubrey Maasdorp today, where we approached familiar asanas from a new perspective 🔍

Thank you Aubrey 🙏🏾 Can't wait till the next time! 😊

When your morning practice is hijacked by a sleepy pup 🐶

https://youtu.be/EJ_CSvVOdVs?si=BvMHpfKSfxiXdFJK

If you haven't already found this fascinating series of interviews about Light on Yoga - often referred to as "the bible of yoga" - I'd thoroughly recommend it. It's available with just the audio track but this interview with John Ferrabee is definitely worth a watch.

The series has been conceived to celebrate the 60th anniversary of BKS Iyengar's book, which constitutes a mammoth endeavor - capturing 602 photographs and describing 200 asanas - not to mention the explanation of yoga philosophy, which illuminated the subject to so many people in the west, including myself.

John's interview is especially interesting, because as a book collector and dealer, he has some rare copies and a different perspective on the book and the body or work that it represents.

So if you needed an excuse to pick up your copy of Light on Yoga and view afresh, take a look!

Episode 1 - First Editions and First Encounters with John Ferrabee Welcome to Living the practice - Light on yoga at 60 years series...

We're unaware of how our body is constantly supporting and protecting us. Where there has been injury or trauma, that mental or muscular support mechanism never rests - it is constantly switched on ⚡️

That's why restorative yoga is so important. It gives time and the external support to allow the mind and body to recognise those barriers we've erected, that are holding us back from achieving our goals and fully surrendering ourselves in our practice 😌

This wonderful book 👇🏿 by Geetaji, Rita Keller and Kerstin Khattab is in my temporary custody (thanks to Victoria Russell and Helen Graham) And so I took the opportunity to practice a sequence for "Lack of self confidence, lack of courage and endurance" 💪🏾

Because as women, we are constantly in flux and ever evolving. A changing state that can cause doubt and overwhelming feelings - even without day to day pressures 🦋

This is not crisis management, it's selfcare

**CLASSES RESUME THIS WEEK**
I'll be teaching:

🌻 TUESDAY - Woodlands Community : A class for People of Colour, 6pm - 7.15pm
🌻 WEDNESDAY - Studio Harmony : General Class (Beginners welcome), 6pm - 7.15pm
🌻 FRIDAY - Studio Harmony : A Rest & Restore Class - to welcome the end of the week, 6pm -7.15pm

Spoiler... 🥸 I'll be helping you to find more stability in from both an active and more restorative perspective

For TUESDAY's class BOOK via the Woodlands Community website 📲
For WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY's classes BOOK via www.mandalayogabodies.com 💻

It was a wonderful week, with six classes taught as generously as ever, with what seemed like endless energy and humour, by the incomparable Margaret Austin ✨️

As Aubrey said at the close of the week: "You've created a warm welcoming space, that reflects the warmth of your teaching." 💫

I personally came away with added insight into more than one asana that has up to now eluded me and faith in the Iyengar community, having shared the experience with practitioners from all over the UK and Ireland

Thank you Margaret 🙏🏾 💓






*pictures by A Kirsty Does Yoga Haggis Walker Johanne Macdonald and Carole Ann 📸