Tell me about yoga
What is yoga?
At its roots, yoga is a spiritual practice, which helps to stabilise and contain the mind so that we may realise more of our true self, the eternal self which never changes, which is called purusha. This is not our true potential in so much as our job title or salary, but in terms of our deeper sense of self – our connection to soul essentially. Thus yoga is a discipline, which helps to link us to various parts of ourselves, whether that be our body, our breath, our mind or something higher, in which we may have faith.
It is worth noting that yoga postures (asana) are only one of various practices available to us which help us establish a state of yoga. Other practices may include breathing exercises (pranayama), the use of sound (mantra), the use of visualisations (yantra), meditation, and actually anything that takes us in the direction of a state of yoga, which essentially means being fully conscious, and can therefore also include activities such as gardening with awareness, walking mindfully, enjoying a sunset etc.
But what about yoga postures – how can they benefit us?
The most obvious place to begin yoga is with the body, because it is something tangible, which we can see and compare between yesterday and today, so we can notice how it is changing. This means practising asana, which are body positions that we might not ordinarily use in our daily life. As we begin to relate to our body through these postures, we might become more interested in our breathing and how this affects how we feel. Over time we might start to notice our mind and how it is becoming more focused and contained, and as a result we might begin to experience less mental suffering and greater freedom on all levels of being.
Furthermore, practising yoga postures helps us to heal our relationship with out body, and provides many benefits to our overall health and wellbeing, from lowering blood pressure, to calming the mind, to easing anxiety, to healing depression, to strengthening our bones, to helping our grounding, to increasing our overall stamina, to encouraging greater focus and ultimately to freeing the spine and indeed the mind, which leads to greater freedom.
For me this is the joy of yoga. With consistent and regular practice, we are offered freedom. You simply cannot put a price on this. The best thing too, is that it’s free, at least if you manage to establish a daily home practice.
How do I establish a home practice?
Personally, I found this easy simply because I appreciated very quickly the benefits of a daily practice, and in part because I was competitive back then and wanted to improve quickly! I bought myself a yoga book called Yoga in Practice by Katy Appleton and I basically taught myself from this, while also going along to regular classes. After a year, I threw myself into yoga and travelled on and off for a good few years, spending lengthy periods of time in Australia and Nepal as well as in India and Canada, immersing myself in yoga.
Nowadays you don’t need to travel to access a variety of different yogic teachings as You Tube is awash with free yoga content. There are a number of free videos available through our You Tube channel too, which you can access from this website, and while they no longer reflect my current style of teaching, I know that they have been very helpful to my students in establishing a regular practice at home.
Ideally though, yoga should be practiced with a teacher who understands your needs and can help you to establish a practice that benefits rather than hinders or keeps reinforcing old habits and unhelpful ways of being.
It wasn’t until I met my teacher, Louise, in 2019 that things really changed for me. Until that time I had moved from one teacher to the next, depending on my location, and while this was helpful in so much as I explored a myriad of yoga styles, spending much of my time practising and indeed then teaching vinyasa or dynamic yoga, it wasn’t helping me to go deeper and shift some of my core Samskaras (habits, patterns) which were unhelpful ways of being, not only in my body and my mind but also in my daily life – as Henry Ford said ”If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.
How soon will things change for me?
We have to remember that it takes time. Yoga is not a quick fix approach. We have to move away from the allopathic mindset that says we can take a tablet to heal ourselves. This is often only superficial, merely treating the symptoms without getting to the root cause. Like Ayurveda and Reiki, yoga tries to take us to the root, to free us from whatever it is that is causing our loss of wellness or anxiety or depression, or knee issue etc.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is the first ancient text solely about yoga, tells us that to overcome obstacles in our life, we should choose one practice to focus upon, which should be a steady and balanced practice (an equal amount of both) practised with a certain amount of effort. Furthermore, the practice should be for the long term (again, no quick fix approach), without interruption, with a positive attitude, with enthusiasm and thoroughly.
Do I have to commit to yoga
If you wish to experience the many benefits of yoga, then yes, there must be a certain discipline and therefore commitment.
I work best with those who are willing, committed and ready to take responsibility for themselves and their practice. Many people tell me they practice yoga, but when prompted it turns out their yoga mat has spent the last six months in the boot of their car. There has to be clear intent and the discipline to get on your mat and to class regularly.
An open mind and heart works best, from me too. When it comes down to it, I truly want the best outcome for you and your life and love to share yoga for this very reason, because it absolutely positively changes things.
What style of yoga do you teach
For me, yoga is about freedom and this is what I hope to share in my teachings. I have been inspired in recent years by the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli as imparted to me by my teacher, Louise Simmons. The emphasis is on freeing the spine and therefore freeing stuck energy and ultimately freeing the mind. In this way we can link with a deeper aspect of self, and our lives begin to change in ways we can never have previously imagined as we begin to realise more of our potential – essentially we come to know ourselves much better, which improves all our relationships including our relationship with ourselves. Ultimately this is a Tantric approach to practice, free of dogma and limitation.
And what about breathing and meditation
In theory, the yoga postures allow us to establish sufficient stability and ease in our body to enable us to sit, without discomfort and distraction, so that we may focus on our breathing, which may ultimately lead to a state of meditation. The breath is probably one of the most useful tools we have at our disposal, and it is always there and always free! The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali references the breath a number of times, especially lengthening into the exhalation, as a quick way to stabilise and calm the mind.
In my humble opinion, it is absolutely pointless attempting to meditate unless you have managed to create a certain focus and centredness to the mind. If your mind is all over the place, it is likely to get worse when you try to sit still and observe it. My suggestion is to do something grounding first, such as preparing food consciously with love, or getting your hands in the earth gardening, or going for a swim, or a long walk, anything which helps you to feel more grounded and centred before you begin meditating.
How do I deepen my yoga practice and increasingly move towards a state of yoga – freedom?
Through regular and committed practice with a teacher who can guide you and ensure that you are not bypassing or creating more of the same through the reinforcement of existing and unhelpful movement patterns - and let us not forget that movement patterns in the body also contain a thought and emotion, so once we change the pattern, we free ourselves on all levels of being. Furthermore, a practice aimed at you personally can help you to overcome the various obstacles and afflictions in your life.
What’s the difference between a general class and an intimate class
While I do my best to attend to each student’s needs, this is perhaps more challenging in a general class environment as students present with such different bodies and there is only one of me! In an intimate group there are less students (usually about five), so I am able to get my hands on each student, making the experience more personal.
Furthermore, while my general classes are friendly and interactive to an extent, in an intimate group we can be more interactive, so that we might observe other students practising a posture so we can see how their body moves, which helps us to understand more of the movement and potential of the body and embody this ourselves.
Also, while the general classes follow a familiar structure – dropping into the body, breath awareness, postures, relaxation – the intimate classes do not follow any set structure, and will generally focus on only a few core postures, so that you can take this learning with you and start to integrate into your regular yoga practice. The smaller group and the nature of the hands on experience may encourage a greater therapeutic benefit.
An intimate class costs £28 per student and lasts 90 minutes. There are usually only 5 students in each session. A general class costs £60 for 5 tokens payable in advance, or £13 drop in.
How about a private session
Private sessions are of course much more intimate and tailored to your body and your needs. The sessions are hands on, I give Reiki where I can too. There is no set structure and we will generally only focus on a couple of postures. Thus it is a not a class where you might establish a set routine to copy at home, it is more so a therapeutic approach to practice, where we can seek to establish new movement patterns which you can start to integrate into your yoga practice and in daily life. Please bring a notebook if you wish to record what we are practising ad I do not provide notes following the class.
Private sessions can be taken for 30 minutes (£40), 45 minutes (£60) or an hour (£80). Please email me to book in at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk
I have never practised yoga previously
No problem. No one is excluded from yoga, everyone can gain something from yoga, regardless of age, physical ability or illness.
What happens if I have injuries or patterns of unwellness
With injuries or loss of physical wellness, yoga offers an opportunity to help you get to the root cause and will offer the opportunity for healing and understanding yourself on a deeper level. We have various tools available to us and a myriad of postures, to make the practice accessible. You will feel undoubtably better from practising yoga, and whatever your problem is, it will not overtake you; yoga will help you to take care of your body, your mind and your breath and you will likely have more energy.
What do I need to bring with me?
From a hygienic perspective you might like to use your own mat, but I do have spare mats which you can use if needed.
Do you offer other classes beyond yoga asana?
Yes, I offer Vedic chanting, pranayama & meditation and the study of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This is offered in small groups of 5 or privately. The website contains more information, please email to book at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk.
Anything else ?
If something has gotten your attention and you are feeling drawn then honour that inner nudge. I remember what it was like to attend my first yoga class and if it hadn’t have been for my brother attending the class with me then I doubt I would have entered through the door! We all have to start somewhere and let’s not forget that yoga is non-competitive and I encourage you to close your eyes as much as you can so you can begin to internalise the practice, which is essentially what yoga is all about – going inwards.
Love Emma x