The ancient practice of Yoga began, as most people know, in India, and goes back to a man named  Patanjali. Ironically, no one actually knows if he practised yoga himself, whether he was a teacher or simply a compiler of information. But Patanjali’s jewel of a text is the basis of all yoga. The practice is made up of eight disciplines, or limbs, which Patanjali denotes as being practised concurrently, all of them dependent on each another.

They take into account our daily morality – how we chose to lead our life, obviously trying to improve the way we behave. To begin with, the “yamas” and “niyamas” (Sanskrit for moral adherences) cover such things as the non-violence by which Mahatma Gandhi lived his life. The third limb was the physical practices themselves – “asanas”-  and the fourth  “pranayama”. The word pranayama means “expansion of energy” – something all ancient yogis are known for as they generally live very long lives (literally “expanding” their life or life force).

The fifth is the  wonderfully exotic “pratyahara”, or sensory withdrawal. Imagine if you could control your senses so you were not pulled this way and that by your desires.

Pratyahara is the stepping board between the basis practices of yoga and what we call the “higher” practices which  are more concerned with the quality of the mind than the fitness of the body. “Dharana”, the sixth limb translates as concentration, while the seventh and eight limbs are concerned with meditation. Clinical studies talk of the great benefits of being able to sit quietly, even for five minutes, and think about nothing.

I know it all seems a little out of reach, but remember that in a good yoga lesson all eight limbs operate together and once you get a taste of the calm and focus that a good practice brings, you might become hooked – as I did.

Kari Knight

For more information our events page or visit www.bwylondon.org.uk
Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th June 2012
City of Westminster College – Paddington Green Campus

The story is about Frog who is very worried as he has an important speech to make at his school assembly. The speech is about breathing and he doesn’t know a thing about it! He asks his friends for help and they teach him all about the lion breath, the crocodile breath, the humming bee breath and the woodchopper breath. Can any of these breathing techniques calm his nerves before the big speech?

The story successfully increases children’s awareness of their breath and shows how breathing can be used to deal with anger, anxiety and tension. It teaches children the four yoga breathing techniques in an embracing, fun and interactive way and the calming effect of the breath.

It is clear, intelligent and well constructed. The story is engaging and adaptable to any kind of classroom activities as well as a great bedtime read.

This book will be a great resource for children’s yoga instructors, as well as parents looking for an engaging story to teach their children about coping with difficult emotions and stressful situations.

BWY members can purchase the book at a special a discount: You can receive a £3 discount of Frog’s Breathtaking Speech(£9..99 not including p&p) by visiting the publishers website: www.singingdragon.com or call 020 7833 2307 and quote the voucher code CHISPE.

Review by John Cain

Sunday June 24th 10:30 – 16:00

• A celebration of yoga for all the family
• Experience some positive psychology and have a giggle in our Laughter Yoga sessions with renowned tutor Julie Whithead
• Enjoy a variety of yoga styles in our 30 minute taster sessions
• Bring your kids to our children’s yoga space while you nip off for some quality practice
• End the day relaxing and listening to a live performance by acclaimed musician and singer Narayani

Highhouse Barn Vellacott Close, off London Road, Purfleet RM19 1RJ

For more info Click Here

Thank you for your time

Namaste

Karen McQueen

And it’s not the first time. Ever since I have been practising  yoga I have read articles damning it for the apparent aim of producing adherents who are super-flexible, and damaging their bodies as a result.

Ignoring the Guardian story is easy, but the New York Times piece repays closer attention. In a well-written and entertaining view of current teaching, Broad talks to Manhattan based teacher Glenn Black, who says that “awareness is more important than rushing through a series of postures just to say you’ve done them”.
Sound familiar? I have often attended yoga classes in London that are apparently modeled to appeal to the young, fit, slim and trendy. They are not yoga classes but exercise classes,  whizzing from one pose to the next.

However, Black goes on to say that  “the vast majority of people” should give up yoga altogether. It’s simply too likely to cause harm. This opens up an interesting debate and one about which I think yoga teachers need to be more open, particularly with regard to their own bodies.  I’ll start – I have had a problem with a sacroiliac disorder.
Many years ago, when I began as a student teacher and was teaching the Triangle, Trikonasana pose, a student said that she had a pelvic misalignment issue and that “yoga had caused the problem”.  I can remember wondering how on earth to deal with her anger. It wasn’t until I was a far more experienced teacher – and a country BWY rep for Suffolk – and worked with the renowned Dr Ruth Gilmore that I came up with the answer. I had discovered that there was a link between side angle poses and sacroiliac disorders and asked Ruth to do a workshop discussing and highlighting the problem.  It was only then that I realised that it was a secret among established yoga teachers – and that many of them, too, suffered from  sacroiliac disorders.
We all have physical weaknesses and underlying problems that make us vulnerable to injury, whatever form of exercise we choose to take. At the end of the day the onus is on the individual in class settings to be honest about what they can achieve. One way to do that would be to avoid those increasingly common instances in which people, sometimes as many as 50 in a class, follow barked instructions from a teacher on a mike.  It’s the American way, creeping into Britain, but I hope we don’t go in this direction and remain sensible about class numbers.

The NYT article may be unhelpful in its portrayal of a widely held yoga stereotype, but it does draw attention to the need for greater understanding of anatomy and better teaching styles. We need an honest and open debate about how some of these ancient ideas can be out of date with modern thinking on anatomy and the way the body works. Certain Iyengar manuals and the Bihar books often give out-of-date and esoteric knowledge that cries out to be revised (I’m thinking here in particular of Iyengar’s Light on Yoga). We need more teachers who  cross over from yoga to other disciplines, such as Ruth Gilmore an the osteopath Peter Blackaby, who continue to help us explore our yoga more safely. The British Wheel of Yoga promotes safe practice and is working towards raising standards in teaching, but we all have to face the reality that folk are unrealistic about yoga because they have misguided preconceptions about its aims. It is not to be hyperflexible bendy people but to give us an opportunity to explore who we are, stay healthy in mind and body and to engage with life and each other in a better way.

Kari Knight, RO, Eastern

New York Times article

Guardian article

BWY (Pierre Bibby) Response to NYT article

With 4 out of 5 people experiencing back pain at some point in their life and with the growing issues brought on by poor posture and inadequate attention to working practices it is not surprising that we see an increasing number of students in or classes with back issues. The Guardian newspaper recently reported on a study that seems to reinforce what we already know as yoga teachers, that in some cases Yoga can be better for backs than conventional treatments.

The British Medical Association has recently published an excellent book that describes many back issues has some great diagrams and flow charts to help sufferers understand what might be causing their problems and it’s full of practical information with clear anatomical images of various neck and spinal conditions such as arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, stenosis, facet joint strain and sacro iliac dysfunction amongst others. There are also many pages of exercises to help specific conditions many borrowed from regular sports training, pilates and yoga.

It’s published by Dorling Kindersley and up to their normal high standards. It is available from Amazon for just under £10. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Bob Brace