Community

Picnic :  Student's Journey  View this email in your browser

COMMUNITY The sun is shining and  it’s Picnic Time Picnic    The Tree Of Yoga Community have been enjoying our annual picnic for about 10 years and this is the first time, I have been unable to set a date. With so many messages asking when, I woke to the sun shinning and a date in mind , Friday 5th August  12:30 Under the trees by the new Playground area Wanstead Park off the High Street.  Food to share, babies, children, students across the ages,laughter, community and LOVE. A Students Journey My Yoga Journey I feel as though yoga has been part of my life forever! I’ve been practising on and off for about 30 years and, of course, each class you do with a different teacher has a specific feel to it and seems to fulfil a different need relevant to that time.  It also takes time to find a class – the teacher and their style just have to feel right. I recall doing a lovely pregnancy class in South London way back in the early 90s  - I was practising at home when my waters broke! I had a natural birth at home and I’m sure it went so well because I was able to put into practice yogic breathing and because my body had been helped to prepare for giving birth during my yoga class.  I continued to practice with several different yoga teachers once my son was born, changing teachers as I moved from south to east London in the late 90s. After years working in the corporate world I began re-training as a Counsellor and Psychotherapist in 2009, qualifying in 2013. I love my job but it involves helping people who are in a lot of pain and listening to some very distressing stories. My body is hugely important in my work. Therapists are trained to stay attuned to what is happening in their own bodies when they are with their clients. This can be just as important as our emotional or cognitive response to what is being said to us.  After all, everything that has ever happened to us is stored as memories within our physical bodies. With sometimes as many as 13 clients a week, that’s a lot of other people’s ‘stuff’ to hold both psychologically and physically. The more I look after myself. The better I can look after others. Yoga enables me to re-connect with me. How am I feeling? What do I need, what is my body saying to me? I was in my previous yoga class for 8 years and it was wonderfully restorative and relaxing. I found it hard to leave because I had so much respect and fondness for my teacher - but I intuitively knew I needed something different. Maxine’s class was a revelation – I felt like a complete newbie and wondered whether I would be able to ‘do’ all the postures! I hadn’t realised how unconfident I was in my body or how little strength I had. Over the course of the last year working with Maxine, my body feels like it has entered a different phase and actually looks different. I turned 50 last year but feel stronger and more confident in my body than I have in years; I also feel more present and connected with myself and others.  All of this helps both my work and my home life.  I truly can’t imagine my life without yoga! Deb Spraggon Thank you for allowing us to read your journey. We are a community and I would love to hear from others. Its is Summer time A time to play, to take time out , to see the colours around us, to smell,to share and to have energy.  ENJOY

Niyana ; Patanjali sutras

Niyama View this email in your browser

We continue with the Patanjali Sutras  and the second Limb                  Niyamas - The Yogic way of living The foundation limbs of Patanjali’s eight-fold path of yoga, yama and niyama, create a solid foundation and strong container for the yogini to move into the deeper stages of yoga with focus, inner-strength, and success. Practicing the Yamas and Niyamas is a journey and process. Take one step, one Yama or Niyama at a time and proceed with compassion and without worry of perfection. As Swami Sri Kripalvanandaji said, ” When you pick one petal from the garland of yamas and niyamas, the entire garland will follow.” The practice of the five niyamas ask us to embrace cleanliness and contentment, to purify ourselves through heat, to continually study and observe our habits, and to surrender to something greater than ourselves. Shaucha (purification) is a central aim of many yogic techniques, and is the first principle of Patanjali’s five Niyamas. The yogis discovered that impurities in both our external environment and our internal body adversely affect our state of mind, and prevent the attainment of real wisdom and spiritual liberation. The practices of asana, pranayama , kriryas and meditation cleanse and purify the body and mind, as well as strengthening their capacity to maintain a pure state of being. We also consciously work at surrounding ourselves with a pure environment (including food, drink, friends, entertainment, home furnishings and transportation) to not add any external impurities back into our bodies or minds.  Practice Clearing the mind and Focus   : Candle Gazing Samtosha (contentment) is not craving for what we do not have as well as not coveting the possessions of others. The yogis tell us that when we are perfectly content with all that life gives us, then we attain true joy and happiness. It is easy for the mind to become fooled into thinking that we can attain lasting happiness through the possession of objects and goods, but both our personal experience and the teachings of the sages prove that the happiness gained through materialism is only temporary. Practicing contentment frees us from the unnecessary suffering of always wanting things to be different, and instead fills us with gratitude and joy for all of life’s blessings. Letting go of the EGO. Practice : Spring clear out Tapas (asceticism) is a yogic practice of intense self-discipline and attainment of will power. Basically, Tapas is doing something you do not want to do that will have a positive effect on your life. When our will conflicts with the desire of our mind an internal “fire” is created which illuminates and burns up our mental and physical impurities. This inner fire can also be used as a source of spiritual energy; the yogis say the sole practice of Tapas can lead to the release of kundalini and attainment of enlightenment. Tapas transforms and purifies us as well as enables the conscious awareness and control over our unconscious impulses and poor behaviour. Tapas builds the will power and personal strength to help us become more dedicated to our practice of yoga . Practice : Nadi Shodhana balance IDA and PINGALA  connect with your will power Svadhyaya (self-study) is the ability to see our true divine nature through the contemplation of our life’s lessons and through the meditation on the truths revealed by seers and sages.  Life presents an endless opportunity to learn about ourselves; our flaws and weaknesses give us the opportunity to grow and our mistakes allow us to learn. Examining our actions becomes a mirror to see our conscious and unconscious motives, thoughts, and desires more clearly. The yogic practice of Svadhyaya also involves the study of sacred and spiritual texts as a guide to our interior world where our true self resides. Self-study requires both seeing who we are in the moment and seeing beyond our current state to realize our connection with the divine. Practice : Leading to questions “WHO AM I” Ishvara Pranidhana (devotion) is the dedication, devotion, and surrender of the fruits of one’s practice to a higher power. This Niyama fuses two common aspects of yoga within it: the devotion to something greater than the self and the selfless action of karma yoga. Patanjali tells us that to reach the goal of yoga we must dissolve our egocentric nature and let go of our constant identification with ourselves. To do this, our yoga practice and all of the benefits we may receive from our practice must be seen as an offering to something greater than ourselves. Through this simple act of dedication we become reminded of our connection to our higher power, and our yoga practice becomes sacred and filled with grace, inner peace, and abounding love. It is an invitation to stop clinging and therefore to learn to trust ourselves.   Practice : Be in stillness , even if it is just a few minutes a day

Gong Bath

Dear Yogis and Yoginis The Wonderful thing about the Tree Of Yoga is it's growing community , as the community grows , the branches and flowers bloom. The first Gong Bath in June was such a success and brought a new dimension to our practice. This was equally felt at the Retreat.  It is with pleasure that Ben and Clare are returning 4th December 2015  Wanstead United Reformed Church So, what is a gong bath? Quite simply, it's sound therapy. You lie on a mat in a darkened room filled with other 'gong bathers'. The person or people giving the session play the gong, sound bowl, wind chimes and various other instruments for over an hour. The vibrational sound and frequency of the gong takes you into a deep meditative state. Once finished you chant and leave feeling energised and cleansed. If you think that sounds amazing, there's more. The gong bath takes you into such a deep meditative state, strange things start to happen. I felt like I had been blown across the floor by the first crescendo of the gongs. I hadn't, but such is the power of the sound bath. My meditation involved a lot of water. I saw fast flowing water and concentric circles galore. The gongs kept going. I felt trippy, euphoric and like I was taking part in some shamanic ritual. I felt like I wanted to get up and dance. And then we started to come down. The gongs were less frantic, we were brought back into the room. The gongs ended. We sat up and chanted. It was over. Things you need to know if you get the chance to take part in a gong bath: wear warm and comfortable clothing as your body temperature seems to drop considerable when you are in such a deep meditative state (one woman had a duvet with her, I understand why, now). Be prepared to relax, let go and just go wherever it takes you - you won't be disappointed.

Wanstead Gong Bath

The Wonderful thing about the Tree Of Yoga is its growing community ...and as the community grows, the branches and flowers bloom.

Being back in Wanstead since the beginning of the year, I want to share the energy that is around and what energy we will be sharing through our practice and this new blog. Starting with the "Gong Bath" hosted by Clare and Ben. 

Julie and I wanted to experience and to understand what all the fuss was about Gong Bath.

So, what is a gong bath? Quite simply, it's sound therapy. You lie on a mat in a darkened room filled with other 'gong bathers'. The person or people giving the session play the gong, sound bowl, wind chimes and various other instruments for over an hour. The vibrational sound and frequency of the gong takes you into a deep meditative state. Once finished you chant and leave feeling energised and cleansed. 

On paper it sounds SIMPLE

The gong bath takes you into such a deep meditative state. We felt like we had been blown across the floor by the first crescendo of the gongs. Julie’s meditation involved a lot of water.” I saw fast flowing water and concentric circles galore. The gongs kept going. I felt trippy, euphoric and like I was taking part in some shamanic ritual. I felt like I wanted to get up and dance”.

My experience, felt that I had been whisked off in a cyclone over the rainbow, a frenzy of colour, sound and of liberation.

Then we started to come down. The gongs were less frantic; we were brought back into the room. Taking a moment we wanted to collect our thoughts and to sense the energy of the room.

The gongs ended. We sat up and chanted.

It was over. 

What a feeling, We wanted more.

Did the other Bathers feel the same? Yes they did, this is why they come back ,the more you experience the more your surrender.