Come and join us for our first Kirtan

We are introducing Kirtan to the rosary of offerings at the Vishuddha centre. Unless you have taken part in a Kirtan session in the past, you may well not know what Kirtan is. It’s a call and response musical meditation led by a Kirtan singer who usually also plays the harmonium.

Designing a space for yoga

4 Dec

We approached Adrian James Architects to design a Centre for Yoga in Oxford. The Centre would accommodate a range of yoga classes, as well as offer a space for social gathering, cooking, building friendships and community.

In clarifying our requirements, we were guided by the principles upon which yoga practice is built.

I have been offering classes and one to one sessions in Restorative Yoga for maybe 7 years now. I was lucky enough to spend some years assisting Anna Ashby, who is a leading light of this practice in this country. There is nothing like learning from someone with such sublime experience of this way of offering support. I never cease to marvel at the effect this way of working has on people. Usually the practice takes place on the ground with each posture being experienced for a long time. A class might only consist of 4 to 6 postures. The art is to completely support the body with bolsters, blankets and any props that assist the body in deeply settling, since it need make no effort in having to maintain itself in gravity. Rather we let gravity do the work, allowing our bodies to ground and release. This is a practice originally developed by Iyengar but like most Yoga, everything unfolds more over time. Depending on the teacher, anyone attending a class might also experience breath practice and some meditation and even some very soft music to help settle the mind.