Types of Yoga
Ashtanga
Ashtanga is the most dynamic form of yoga which synchronizes the breath with a progressive series of postures.
The process produces internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. The result is improved circulation, a light strong body and a calm mind.
The diagram above are all the postures/asanas a student would ultimately experience attending a led Ashtanga class in one form or another! ;).
NB. These diagrams are presented with the intention of providing the shape of a posture, not an expectation of a ‘perfect body’ or ‘shape’. Progress not perfection!
It is a requirement for student attending online Ashtanga classes at TSS that they already have some experience practising Ashtanga. It is not advised to begin ashtanga without face to face tuition.
Both Donald and Maureen encourage their students to approach the challenging practice of Ashtanga with an attitude of kindness, a soft mind, and a kind heart.
Kum Nye
Kum Nye is a mindfulness based meditative yoga practice.
Kum Nye helps to relieve stress, transform negative patterns and promote balance and health.
Kum Nye can be experienced on many levels beginning with simple mindful movements which help nurture the still source within.
Kum Nye includes meditation, mindful movement, chanting and visualisation exercises.
A few words from my teacher John Peacock:
“Here the system of exercise, meditation, visualisation, and chanting is practised, with the aim at centring our being by exposing us to our strategies of evasion,
repression, and resistance. For it is these factors which lead us to the dominant experience of life as being one of ‘dis-ease’ or tension. Once liberated from these
constraining factors we can learn to experience the vividness of our sensory perception, and the meaning that those perceptions contain. This experience is one of easefulness and relaxation rather than tension and
distress”. John Peacock Phd.
Donald focuses on two main aspects when teaching Kum Nye.
The ‘tendency’ of the mind and the ‘nature’ of the mind.
We experience our world in three different ways pleasant unpleasant and neither.
The ‘tendency’ of the mind is to grasp at the pleasant, resist the unpleasant and ignore the neutral or neither.
None of these responses are helpful to us in gaining a happy or contented mind.
Kum Nye helps us work positively with tendencies of mind, not through, resistance, but through acceptance taking us into the nature of the mind, The clarity and stillness that is it’s nature and is always there as our refuge
Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra or yogic sleep is a state of consciousness found between waking and sleeping achieved through a set of guided instruction from teacher to student. Yoga Nidra assists in calming the mind and helps to relieve anxiety and stress. A short yoga nidra practice is included at the end of Donald’s Ashtanga classes during shavasana to deepen relaxation.
Mindfulness Meditation Kum Nye
Kum Nye with Mindfulness and meditation have numerous benefits for your wellbeing. Classes are suitable for all levels, first timers too.
Email Donald with any queries about health conditions, adaptations & benefits of yoga practice