august newsletter
Hi all,
In the interest of transparency, I have to admit that I'm hoping the past 17 months will shake up the mass commercialisation of yoga so prevalent these days;
The original intent of yoga is far removed from handstands and 'likedy likes' on Instagram! Yoga is a radical path of dualism to be honoured and respected.
I've been studying and practicing intensely on this path of Ashtanga yoga for over 20 years now. During that period, I've chewed my fair share of charred glass in my personal life but I've remained steadfast in my practice and studies. You might ask why?
I put this down to the simple fact that Ashtanga yoga is grounded in tradition and lineage. This is not a blind faith as I've also learned to critique the lineage when necessary. It's not ok to accept something just because it's written in Sanskrit or somebody says so. That would be handing over your power which is the antithesis of the self experiential process of yoga.
To legitimately consider yourself a yogi, you need to have a practice which is ultimately about harnessing the mind. The asana is only one part of this process. It's not an end in itself. That said, it's always important to learn from a teacher who has mastered what they're teaching (including asana) to take you to this point. I don't want to negate the importance of asana but the increasing interest in solely asana is becoming fossilised now. We’re lacking the academic understanding which connects everything on a soul level.
There's a lot of new age hip talk out there in the media about yoking together. I'm a massive advocate of cultivating a healthy and harmonious lifestyle but this is not the grand finale of yoga. In actual fact, it's the complete opposite to yoking together! Yoga is ultimately about un-yoking. The basic 101 of Samkhya yoga philosophy is for consciousness to withdraw from all of this worldly matter, Prakriti and to discover it's own true nature, purusha. This is the highest form of happiness which we all seek, albeit consciously or unconsciously.
Needless to say, no amount of handstands or 'likedy likes' on social media can ever do this for you! It's such a shame that so many people fall away from Ashtanga or jump from teacher to teacher chasing an illusory goal. This hype only serves to take them further away from the original intent of yoga.
I would love to think that one of the benefits of the pandemic will be that more people will be inspired to go deeper in their spiritual practice, sadhana. Let's hope this happens but only time will tell....
On another note, I'm very excited to be back teaching in person this weekend! The class and the September retreat in the west are now fully booked with long waiting lists, so I'll arrange another retreat in the Autumn for those of you that missed out this time around.
Looking forward to seeing you on your mats either in person or online!
Gillian 🙏