Master Class with Dave Curtis of Vinyasa Flow Yoga Dublin at The Ananta Yoga Studio. Friday 30th September 7.30pm-10pm. Fee €25. We have extended class time by half an hour from last one in July to bring you all best value for money possible so this will be a long session! Only 20 spaces and payment due in full by Friday 16th to hold your space and to avoid wasting precious yoga time on the night. Text Liz to book your place 086 8963425 asap. Many thanks! Liz

Om Shanti,

Liam B.

Check out the best supplements for Yogis and natural flexibility at:

www.yogabodynaturals.com

Pure Joy!

Acupuncture has been shown time and again to benefit couples who are experiencing difficulty conceiving. So how does this relate to the issue of weight? For some excellent info on this topic check out this excellent article by Zita West, the renowned acupuncture and fertility specialist, written for the lovely people at rollercoaster.ie, Irelands best online resource for pregnancy and childcare. Zita West has a practice in Harley St and specializes in fertility. She is an acupuncturist, nutritionist and midwife and the author of many excellent books relating to these issues. To learn more about acupuncture and fertility in general check here for more details

To learn more about the Zita West approach to fertility you can check out her book Plan to get Pregnanton Amazon.

www.yogabodynaturals4u.com

Fit & Flexbible with BodyTransform!

Yes that’s right, a free Yoga Workshop and Pilates Workshop rolled into one! No need to book, just show up on the day. We had planned it for 11am but has been extended! At no cost to you, you are welcome to come along for over 3 hours of Yoga and Pilates with time for discussion and demonstration at the end. I’ll be teaching approx 45 mins to an hour of Hatha Yoga, 45 mins to an hour of Ashtanga based Vinyasa yoga and 45 mins of Pilates. Each will be discussed briefly before we begin. You are free to attend all three back to back (with breaks in-between!) or to just pick and choose. So for example if all you are interested in is Hatha Yoga just come along at 10am.

This is perfect if you would like to try out any of these for the first time, if you already practice yoga and would just like to try out the venue or if you haven’t taken yoga or classes with me before and would like to sample a class or two before you commit.

You are also more than welcome to just come along, no strings attached and just enjoy a good, long 3 and a half hour Saturday morning holistic workout!

The schedule will be:

10am to 11am – Hatha Yoga
11am to 12pm – Vinyasa / Ashtanga
12pm to 1pm – Pilates
1pm to 1.30ish – questions and demos

All are welcome. Bring a mat if you have one, but don’t worry if you don’t we will have penty of mats there.

More details about the location can be found at http://www.bodytransform.ie/classes.html

www.yogabodynaturals4u.com

Very handy location in D8/City Centre just off Camden St. The price will be standard as with our other classes – Eur 50 per calender month or Eur 15 drop in. The class will be a perfect mix of led and Mysore self practice.

The class will be a perfect intro to yoga for beginners or re-intro for those who have been out of practice for a while.

To book a place just call me on 086 408 2428 or email at info@therapyandyoga.com.

See you soon on the yoga mat.

Liam (and Anto)

For more information about this and about the true history of Usui Reiki (based on scholarly research rather than psychic revelation) check out this very well structured and researched article by William Lee Rand.

http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/ResponseBishopsStatement.html

Certainly one of the best I have read in a long time.

Om Shanti,

Liam.

Check out this article regarding the effect of Hatha Yoga on bipolar disorder and clinical depression in Psychology today.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20001101-000022.html

It sounds like a lot more work needs to be done, but these preliminary studies are a step in the right direction.

Om Shanti,

Liam.

Years ago I asked one of my yoga teachers if he was interested in the spiritual aspects of yoga and he told me that for him the poses in themselves were spiritual. He could not distinguish the practice of yoga from spiritual activity. At the time I thought it a bit extreme and perhaps a bit of lazy and wishful thinking, that you can just do the poses and forget about the ethics of yoga.

However, with the passage of time I have slowly begun to agree with him. There is an inherent elegance and strength in many yoga poses, or a humility inducing lack of elegance, which I now believe have a subtle effect on the mind and character. Whether or not your teacher is interested in or understands the philosophy of yoga (and many will have only a passing interest) you can be sure to gain something of the essence of yoga just from doing the postures faithfully and consistently. Will it guarantee an ethical, spiritual character and frame of mind? I don’t think so, but if the intention is there then the postures will surely support it.

And now enough theory and web-searching – to the yoga mat and do your practice!

Om Shanti!

Liam.

Sign up here to receive our (almost) monthly newsletter.

Visit us at www.yogagorey.com and www.therapyandyoga.com

However, if you do have goals then one practice a week is the starting point. Once you have completed a course of six or eight weeks, practicing the same routine each time, then it should be possible to practice one day at home and one day in class. Two practices a week will (obviously) double your practice and you will begin to notice positive change coming more easily and with more regularity. With just two hours a week then you can being to ‘progress’ in flexibility, strength and concentration.

Ideally, once your routine has become more internalized, more natural and flowing, then three days a week will be even better. You will make steady progress over the years and occasionally when you miss an hour or a week here or there it will be no problem to get back into the rhythm of your routine. For most people, this will be more than enough for a lifelong, satisfying practice of yoga.

If you are a teacher, then in my opinion, you need to be practicing a bit more than this. You can still continue to teach on 3 or 4 hours personal practice (not counting anything you do in class) a week, but your ability to take advanced students to higher levels of practice will be compromised. Nothing wrong with this of course, but it will limit your teaching ability to beginners and maybe to intermediate as well if your 4 hours a week are good and things come naturally to you.

My personal feeling is that a teacher could aim to practice at least 6 days a week. Alteranating different styles of yoga to allow for changes and natural cycles of rest and progress in the body. Ashtanga practitioners should be practicing 6 days a week, resting on Saturday and on days of the new and full moon.

As a teacher of mixed styles, I aim to practice 7 days a week if I can, outside of my yoga classes. In reality, this usually means that I get to practice 6 days a week with a day of ‘enforced’ rest through tiredness or lack of opportunity. Like any form of exercise, if you get into a good rythm of practice then it becomes easier to practice than to not practice and you will feel it if you skip more than a day and visibly see it if it goes longer than this.

So to sum up, here are some levels of practice:

1. If you just enjoy stretching, then you can do yoga whenever you want, but don’t expect any concrete results and don’t think that you are actually practicing yoga.

2. If it is your first time and you are just starting, practice at least once a week, absolutely not less.

3. After 6 or 8 weeks, aim to practice twice a week if you can. Not less than once.

4. Maybe after 6 months or a year, if it is right for you and you want to see more progress, then practice 3 or 4 times a week when you can.

5. If you are planning to teach, then start to aim for 6 days a week, not less than 5.

6. When and if yoga becomes your way of life … then its up to you, you will know what’s best for you already. If your life and your body permits, then why not aim to practice everyday and just rest when your body tells you it’s time to rest.

Hopefully this is a useful guide to someone somewhere.

Namaste,

Liam

Sign up here for the Gorey YOGA Studio newsletter.