Iyengar Yoga with Catherine Coulson

Taking last few bookings for my Iyengar yoga holiday in Dalyan, Turkey next month!

LAST MINUTE YOGA GETAWAY TO DALYAN THIS WEEKEND!
I am thrilled to be able to say that my yoga retreat in Dalyan, Turkey is definitely ON, and I have places available if you would like to join me!

We are hosted at LIkyan pension on the Dalyan River, opposite the ancient tombs of Kaunos. You can take a river taxi through beautiful wetlands to the stunning Iztuzu beach, completely protected to enable the loggerhead turtles to breed and nest.

The dates are 17-24th October and flights are convenient and still inexpensive. It is an oasis of calm and beauty, and you will be able to participate in 10 yoga classes across the course of the week.

If you would like to join please email [email protected]

Online classes and a getaway opportunity! -

Online classes and a getaway opportunity!

I've been studying various of Patanjali's yoga sutras during lockdown, and the one I was focussing on today is sutra II.46 and it is STHIRA SUKHAM ASANAM which means asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit.

The commentary Mr Iyengar adds to that which I this is very inspiring is:

“The definition of asana is given as follows – whatever asana is performed, it should be done with a feeling of firmness, steadiness and endurance in the body, goodwill in the intelligence of the head, and awareness and delight in the intelligence of the heart. This is how each asana should be understood, practised and experienced. Performance of the asana should be nourishing and illuminative.

I'm adding a photo I took at a recent exhibition of ancient yoga texts at SOAS, which will hopefully be inspiring for you, as well as being good for your toes and insteps!!

Hello yogis! A dear friend of mine, Lynn Holt, who is based in Pune and is part of the Iyengar Institute (RIMYI) there, has been struggling to return home to Australia. She was hit by a motor scooter at the beginning of March so has injured her leg and knee, and she needs to return to Australia because of the anti-foreigner sentinment there. The Australian government has arranged one last rescue flight for tomorrow, so a fundraising page has been set up to help fund her flight and medical expenses once she gets back. She has met her initial fundraising target which was modest, sbut needs additional funds, so if you are able to give something to assist her, please do.

Bring Lynn Holt home from India now organized by Julia Pedersen Dear Friends in yoga,We hope you are all safe and healthy.We are writing on behalf … Julia Pedersen needs your support for Bring Lynn Holt home from India now

Yesterday, while suffering from corona virus, I attempted an oft-forgotten posture, Bhishmasana.

The story of Bhishma is from the Mahabarata, and thanks to Yoga Journal for summarising what led to this asana:

Bhishma was King Santanu's first son—at least his first surviving son—and the crown prince of the kingdom of Hastinapur. The apparent deaths of the first seven sons had so strained Santanu's marriage that Ganga left him to resume life as a river goddess, and eventually Santanu resolved to marry again. His chosen beloved, Satyavati, said she would be his wife only if he swore to make her sons heirs to the throne. To reassure her and comfort his father, Bhishma (then also known as Dyaus) took a bhishama pratigya, the “terrible, or severe, oath” of lifelong celibacy and service to whomever sat on the throne. As a result of this great feat of renunciation, Bhishma (for this became his nickname) received the boon of ichcha mrityu, control over his own death: He could choose the time of his death.

Bhishma had all the qualities of a king: He was an erudite scholar, a powerful warrior, and a sagacious statesman. He was a preceptor to those who sat on his father's throne, and he tried repeatedly to end the strife between cousins which culminated in the Mahabharata war and the battle of Kurukshetra. His end came on that battlefield. His entire body pierced by arrows shot by his own star archery pupil, Arjuna, Bhishma lay panting, his head hanging down. The war paused; the adversaries gathered together around their spiritual grandfather. Weeping, Arjuna shot three arrows into the ground to make a warrior's pillow for Bhishma's head. Then he shot another, and Ganga herself rose as a stream of water to quench her son's thirst.

Bhishma lay dying with the poise of one relaxing in bed at home, and he watched the sun's slow path. In his mind, he waited for the moment to depart from life. His face shone with love for those gathered around him, the children and grandchildren of his celibate life. He instructed them in dharma, righteousness, and in loving and serving the lord. The seven rishis, the great sages who first received and taught the Vedas to human beings, came in the form of swans to attend him and hear his discourse. When at last the sun turned north—the position he had been waiting for—with one mighty “Om!” he gave up his breath to the wind; the wind made room for him, like the hole in a wheel, and carried him to the moon, to the sun and beyond—to the world where, the Upanishads say, there is no sorrow and no snow. And there, the soul which on earth had been Bhishma, the perfect warrior and perfect teacher, once again knew himself as Dyaus—the sky, unlimited and immortal.

Online yoga classes and a reference video -

Online yoga classes and a reference video Online Iyengar yoga classes are running fairly smoothly now, and I would be delighted for you to join.  I do not want financial hardship to be any kind of a barrier to participation, so if you feel unable to pay for the class or want to pay a reduced rate, please contact me without embarassment.  ...

More real time yoga classes online! -

More real time yoga classes online! And so it begins!  We've successfully run 3 classes in the past week, and although of course there have been some teething problems, I think everyone has enjoyed them! I've now opened up bookings for the next month, and I'm running 4 classes per week.  There are early bird one hour classes on Tues...

Keep your yoga practice up during these challenging times! Join one of my morning yoga classes this week, staring tomororw, by clicking:

Iyengar Yoga with Catherine Coulson Schedule your appointment online Iyengar Yoga with Catherine Coulson

I've had another incredible month studying Iyengar yoga in Pune. I come away inspired and challenged to be more curious, creative and exploratory in my practice and teaching.

It is clear that the way yoga is taught in the West is often very superficial and action-orientated, without an appreciation that the physical body is only the access point, rather than the goal.

As a beginner the focus will necessarily be on understanding the physical postures and the correct alignment and extensions. But we miss the fact that these particular postures are archetypal and iconographic because the positions trigger specific physiological changes.

So we have to start experiencing the postures from the inside out - becoming much more attuned to the sensory aspects of the asana, particularly the skin. We have to practice with an informed purpose, based on observations about our condition on the day, and then activate the interactions of body, mind and breath with greater perception. We have to work diligently, applying the intelligence of the body with the right kind of effort in the right places at the right times, and then observe the results.

It is an exciting journey!!!

The Dalyan and Greece yoga retreats are now SOLD OUT. If you were interested in joining and want to go on the waiting list, please let me know.

Places available for a wonderful yoga retreat in the mountains between Almeria and Granada in Spain from 30th August to 6th September, so contact me for details on [email protected]

I'm reflecting on my first full week back at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, which has been full of inspiration and challenge.

What has landed with me is that yoga is a journey on a very rocky road, with few official signposts, uneven terrain, loneliness at times and many obstacles along the route. You need to be clear what end you are aiming for, then approach this journey with the mindset of an adventurer - preparing, exploring, trouble shooting creatively and facing your own demons along the way. And you have to actually make the journey deliberately mindfully, not try to take shortcuts.

The commencement starts with the external physical body in asanas, but that is only the very beginning of the process, because thereafter you have to work from the inside out.

The most important thing is to make a start along the path, because every journey starts with a first step.