what can i say, i enjoyed it, i managed to drink more fluids in the day so although i sweated more, i was hydrated, i sat in front of the mirror so i was away from the heaters, very strange to watch yourself & how you move.. slept like i'd been hit by a truck this time & i ache, i didn't last time...

Saturday we held the first day at Calow, Lynn is very Desikachar in her teaching, not for everyone, its decievingly strong although tediously slow. I had a little bit of a melt down when addressing the group at the start, i don't know if this was because the room was so big & everyone was sat in a large semicircle but the silence & being in charge just really took me by suprise the moment i thought about it, my breathing went, my words wouldn't come out & i had to sit down, this kind of ruined my day & into Sunday. Teacher Training was good, we were given our relaxation & breathing methods to teach, i have Colour & Fractional Viloma

I booked Rachel for December too

Meghan Currie Timelapse livingroom

Jivamukti March 3rd

Hot Yoga

I have always wanted to try Bikram, so when i found a new Hot Yoga class had come to Derbyshire, i was desperate to jump in, Colin took a little persuading, We did the 26 postures the week previously in a not quite so hot room before going to Alive where the temperature was around 40 degrees. Just sitting in the room waiting at the beginning of the class the sweat started. The standing poses were ok, though i was dripping, my heart was racing but my breathing wasn't compromised, the floor postures i started to struggle, the heat made me feel light headed, the amount of sweat i was losing was immense, my heart rate was thumping, it didn't help that i had chosen to sit in the back corner right next to one of the heaters & i'm not hydrated well at the best of times, pose 22 putting my head back in camel & i went dizzy, had to leave the room for a minute, though came back in, after completing all 26 postures, lying in Savasana, i just wanted it to be over, i wanted to get up, those 2 minutes were the longest in my life & I have never wanted a yoga class to be over that desperately, immediately after class i had a pounding headache, my entire body was flushed & i was so thirsty. Once at home, even after showering my face was still red, i was still so warm, my blood pressure around 10.30pm was the highest its ever been, 109/70 & pulse 79, (just for reference its 90/56 61 whilst i sit & type this) one very positive difference i noticed after the class was how clear my head felt, despite the headache, i could breathe through my left notril better than i have in probably 3 years, this carried over into the next morning & so did the feeling of having a higher temperature, it felt the same as those 4 days of menstruating when your body temperature rises, another negative point, during the night i woke around 2.30am & didn't get back in bed till after 4.30, its now 2 days later, all the effects of that class have left, i'm cold again & my nose although i can honestly feel an improvement i wonder how long this will last, on a positive note, i didn't ache the day after the class, usually after Ashtanga where i don't particularly sweat i ache somewhere but this felt so different, my muscles were so relaxed during the class, i usually hold tension because i am cold, as odd as it sounds i feel like a warm pair of hands are wrapped around my right thigh & right lower back, this is where my body is compromised & all my inbalance & injuries are. As much as I disliked the class after the halfway point, i say dislike, it wasn't the class/postures, it was just the effects of the intense heat/sweating/heart racing/dizzyness, i will go back again next week, maybe now i know what to expect the intense heat may not affect me as much

The new Yoga centre opened in Feb & it is beautiful

& a day of Jivamukti again.. i really do love this method of yoga, more so than the Ashtanga, we need more teachers, there are only 3 Advanced in this country, doing it twice a year is just no where near enough, we don't have another now till end July 

Jivamukti yesterday.. every muscle aches today, though nothing hurts, no knee pain, no hip pain

& what did i learn.. my thumbs - keep them in, chaturanga dandasana not as low & a different way of getting into sarvangasana using halasana first

Instructions for Life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s – respect for self – respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Do not let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life.  Then when you get older and think back, you will be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation.  Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge.  It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go some place you have never been before.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

This article in the New York Times caused a fair amount of fuss, also the our very own Guardian published this article, Ashtanga New York responded with this article we had a head office email which included our BWY CEO Pierre Bibby's response -

Dear All 

Pierre has asked me to contact you on his behalf as he has been out of the office this week attending meetings.  Some of you may be aware of a recent news item, which first surfaced in the New York Times and was subsequently followed up by The Guardian.  The essence of the original article, made on the back of a recent book publication, is that yoga is bad for your health.  The Guardian essentially reported on this article without substantially adding anything to the commentary. Should you have missed either item, links to both are reproduced below.

To put the UK article in context, BWY was contacted and Pierre spent some while on the phone to The Guardian journalist but nothing of what he said was reproduced.  I likewise spent a great deal of time on the phone to a Sunday Times journalist who was hell bent on taking the line that the UK is full of people who have been damaged by yoga and wanted to speak to the BWY legal dept (!) to discuss how many cases of litigation there are.  She wasn't interested at all in anything I had to say and made that very clear.

Pierre has sent out the attached letter to the media by way of response. It is limited in scope because they simply won't print a long response however we don't have much hope of this being published as I say, the press tend to prefer the more controversial rather than accurate items.  Should you see any follow up items I should be very grateful if you could let me know.  We will follow them up.  Pierre is also briefing me on the approach BWY will take to launching and publicising the research referred to in the letter in the hopes that we can counter some of the misinformation perpetrated by articles such as these.

19 Jan 2012

Sirs,

The recent New York Times article on the “dangers” of yoga, adapted from a book by William J. Broad on The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards, is heavy on anecdote and slim on science. It is full of physiological inaccuracy’s and confines itself to the most sensationalistic aspects of yoga-related injury, cherry picking a few extreme examples to implicate the entire practice.

A more balanced article would acknowledge that it is problematic to produce accurate figures on injuries directly causally linked solely to the practice of yoga.  Injuries can result from physical activity whether or not we are taking risks.  This is not to say that yoga practice is without risk of injuries, which might occur due to the over enthusiasm of a student who wants to achieve more extreme postures and ignores the guidance of the teacher.   It could also be that a student has an underlying health issue which they haven’t shared with the teacher – a problem with can be exacerbated in very full classes in gyms etc.

Mr Black – the yoga teacher interviewed by Broad -  is quoted as saying that he has no formal training for determining which yoga poses are good for a student and which may be problematic, preferring to rely on his “ ton of experience.”  At the British Wheel of Yoga (the National Governing Body for Yoga), we do not rely solely on experience.  Our teachers complete  a rigorous  diploma course (the only  yoga teaching qualification in the UK equivalent to the first year of undergraduate study), which includes modules on physiology and anatomy, and gives advice and guidance of ways in which postures can be modified so that  people with underlying health issues can practice safely. All our teachers have professional indemnity insurance and BWY members benefit from insurance that covers them against injury.

Anyone can practice yoga, regardless of age, sex or ability.  As well as stretching and strengthening the body yoga improves posture, promotes feelings of relaxation and has been linked to improved concentration, better quality sleep and a reduction of anxiety and depression.   The British Wheel of Yoga, in conjunction with Sheffield University, is about to publish a research report into the therapeutic effects of yoga for health and wellbeing and, if Mr Broad’s experience is anything to go by,  we look forward to the comment and debate which we hope will be stimulated by our research.  Maybe the biggest benefit for him is that, after the publication of his extremely inflammatory article in the NY Times his book shot to the top of yoga category on Amazon.

Pierre Bibby

CEO
The British Wheel of Yoga

The National Governing Body for Yoga

Navasana - Boat

I have been given this pose to teach to the TT class,  but the more i research it the more complex it gets

YOGA EVENTS – 2011

2011

JAN 22                          BONES FOR LIFE – ADAM WARD – BWY EVENT

MARCH 26                         IYENGAR WORKSHOP – RICHARD WARD – PEAK

APRIL 9                         IYENGAR – ROSS BELL – PEAK

MAY 7                        ALIGNMENT – SHARON PRICE – BEELEY

JUNE 11                         8 STEP BREATH – BWY EVENT – BRIDGET

JUNE 18                        BACKBENDING WORKSHOP – SHARON PRICE – BEELEY

JULY 10                        MAINTAINING HOME PRACTICE – SHARON – BEELEY

JULY 23                        JIVAMUKTI – ANDREA – CRICH

AUGUST 1 – 5                  YOGA ON & OFF THE MAT – RETFORD – CAROLYN CLARKE

SEPT 10                        WORKING WITH THE HIPS – SHARON – MATLOCK ESCAPE

SEPT 17                        CHAKRA AWARENESS – CRICH – LINDSEY

SEPT 25                         INDUCTION TT – CALOW

OCT 01                         AGM DERBY MULTIFAITH - YOGAFLOWS – MOHINI CHATLANI

15 OCT IST                         SEQUENCING IN A YOGA CLASS - ANDREA KWIATKOWSKI CRICH

12 NOV                        YOGASANA – GRANDVILLE COUSINS - CRICH

26 NOV                         INDUCTION 2 - RETFORD