ॐ July Newsletter

Hello yoga student and friend!

THIS week I hope you join me Wednesday through Friday (July 9-11) for the Mysore-Intensive held BOTH online and in-person in Dublin. This is the last in-person event here in Dublin till September!

Also I have my BIG Swim 12 July. Busy week with lovely events to look forward to. I’ll admit, I am a bit jittery to swim all the way around Bushy island in Lough Derg, may my brave stroke and powerful kick keep me afloat.

Have a read about my recent climbing trip the Burren in Co Clare, what is karstic limestone, anyway? Read a practice discussion on the pros and cons of practicing Mysore-style ashtanga yoga and test your knowledge of the five pillars of ashtanga yoga, which just may kick-start you back to practicing with more clarity.

Enjoy the read and thank you for getting in touch!

Kindly,

Sarah and the boys

ॐ My BIG SWIM for Cancer Charity is 12 July!

ॐ Climbing Stories from the Burren, Co Clare

In County Clare, the landscape is the largest concentration of karstic limestone in Ireland. This means everywhere you look there is grey, grooved rock that looks like it has been seasoned, weathered and worn. If you look closely you will see sea-shells - proper fossils called Brachiopods called Crinoids - stamped into the rock, a perfect imprint of what was alive long ago. The land ends abruptly and the edge of the earth gives away to sheer vertical walls where bombastic waves beat at it. The work of the sea has created a cliff of jagged cracks, and pocked hole-like surfaces called paleokarst.

I finally made it to Ailladie in the Burren last week and climbed a few routes. It isn’t an easy task due to the wild Atlantic nature: the blustering winds, the sea in his belching waves crashing; one needs to be mindful of the sea tide, know when to actually attempt to get on the wall due to the tides and know how to abseil into the base of the crag so that they don’t get sprayed by the crashing waves. When at the Burren, the sea is the lord, the climbers are the servants.

My climbing partner and I followed the tide: high tide one day was at twelve noon, so we decided as it pulled back around two o’clock we would begin our abseil to the base of the cliff. We decided to do a few routes, eventually landing at the base of Pis Fliuch, a classic route where the sea waves crash at the base and the climbing is a classic open book, perfectly imperfect rock with gorgeous climbing to offer.

Playing the game of adventure and carving out time in my life to add it in has been a choice which keeps me more balanced. People tell me, “Oh I saw that picture of you at the belay, you looked so happy!” and I tell them, yes that is right. Often a photo says it all. It’s the skill of climbing that I love tapping into, the thoughtfulness required and the physical skilfulness that allows one to put it all together. And don’t forget the landscape! Being in the company of unusual rock formations with breath-taking views invite us all to ponder our relationship to the world around us and think deeply about where and how we fit into it.

If you ever make it to the Burren, may you too witness the waves crashing, see the depth of the sea wearing away the karstic limestone and also revel as I have been and continue to, how beautiful and full of life this world truly is.

For a further read about the Burren, look to “Exploring the limestone landscapes of the Burren and the Gort Lowlands. A guide for walkers, cyclists and motorists” by Mike Simms, (www.burrenbeo.com)

ॐ Why attend a Mysore-style ashtanga yoga class

I have been here in Dublin for almost six years. Since then I have made friends in small places: during yoga classes, at the end of a pool, on a sea cliff and at my kids’ school drop-off.

When my non-practicing yoga friends ask me about yoga, often they are curious and not sure. These are some of the questions they ask me:

How does someone learn ‘Mysore style ashtanga yoga’ if they have never done any yoga before?

What is Mysore? Isn’t that a place in India?

Don’t you have to be really good at yoga to go to a Mysore class?

Isn’t it more beneficial to receive instruction in a led class?

After twenty-five years of practice, I have an idea what works and what doesn’t work. Here are a few of my ideas I’d like to share with you:

First of all, Mysore style of ashtanga yoga is unique because each individual practices at their own pace in a room full of other practitioners. Some of whom know what they are doing, others, not so much. The teacher (and often their assistant if there are more than fifteen people), walk arounds and offers specific instruction to each individual. Often this involves verbal instruction, hands-on-adjustments and demonstration.

Patience is required from the student; they often have to wait until the teacher returns back to them to learn more. Some students grow weary from waiting so they repeat what they have learned often 3-5 times. The beauty of this is that as we all know, practicing something with curiosity and devoted repetition creates a pattern and a habit. We want to repeat healthy habits and repeating postures (āsanas) is a healthy habit! Soon the student memorises what they have been taught and it becomes theirs forever.

The sounds in the room are usually muted - the breathing style of ujjayi (victorious breathing) of each individual creates a quiet musical ambiance, and the voices of the teacher and their assistant are also soft. There is usually no music, which to those who are used to Vinyasa classes, this sounds a bit all-too-quiet.

A practitioner hears others’ breathing, feels their movements nearby and this takes off any pressure to perform or do anything that doesn’t feel appropriate. The yogis are focused on specific looking points (drishtis), which also prevents them from looking around and comparing themselves to other people’s practices. It isn’t uncommon to walk by someone and see them looking at the tip of their nose in deep concentration.

This personalised instruction, the ambience of the studio, the open space for those who are seasoned and those who are new to all learn - these are mega positives! The best of the best of Mysore style is the instruction one receives from the teacher - personalised, specific, it isn’t uncommon for a teacher after many years of study with them - to know their students very well and to put a massive amount of effort into their practice. This is indeed a special relationship worth growing.

Now what doesn’t work well within the Mysore class is when students are pushed to practice postures outside of their means, or feel like they need to perform for their teacher. There is a potential abuse of power that could take shape: the teacher appears to be the know-all and the student listens and follows. This could create an imbalanced relationship where the student feels like the teacher is above them and the student is required to do what they say.

Keeping a balance in the Mysore room is key: this is why sometimes the teacher doesn’t adjust you or doesn’t tell you one more bit of detail about a posture. Often a student may feel the teacher is ignoring them, however giving the student the space to explore what they are learning is important! There is a trial and error element to it which is healthy: the teacher can only give so much instruction and information to the student. There is a time and place where the student needs the space to figure out what works right and wrong.

Like a dancer or a climber training their skill - not every individual will do the same move the same way as someone else, just like no two snowflakes are alike. An example of this is how in the ashtanga yoga method, some teachers believe to do ‘Kapotasana’ one has to catch their heels in the air! This may be the most ridiculous rule on the planet: most people are happy to even approach this posture, there are only a very small few who can actually accomplish this acrobatic feat.

Instead of applying too many rules on what is right or wrong, the teacher instead offers instruction that is appropriate for each student. So for Kapotasana, yes some people may catch their heels in the air, but for most, that is a far-fetched feat that may never be achieved so the teacher offers a student a practical way to do the posture safely for them.

When practicing yoga, remember to follow your breath, follow your intuition, and seek the balance of knowing when to go further into a posture and when to back off, and always tell the teacher to leave you alone or give you more support. Be attentive and alert about what you are doing on the mat and how you are practicing your yoga!

Join me for mindful Mysore class, and I’ll do all I can to keep the relationship of teacher and student balance just right.

Join me for the upcoming 9-11 July Mysore Intensive both online and in person. Booking links are below!

6:30am-9 am
Held at the Rathmines Studio at 302 Lower Rathmines Road

This is the last workshop here in Dublin until September. I’ll be away to the US visiting my family for part of July and August.

ॐ Yoga Retreat to SPAIN: 9-14 September - with Annette Harwig ॐ

Join us for this glorious intimate small-group setting retreat. To learn more - click below!

ॐ Autumn Online Yoga Sutra Sanskrit Chanting Class ॐ

Join me for six-week of Yoga Sūtra study: Thursday evenings:

August 14, 21, 28
September 4, 11, 18

Live and recorded six-week introductory chanting course on the philosophy, meaning and application of chanting - learn "how" to chant the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In this course we will chant specific sutras from all four chapters.

Thursday Evenings:

6:30-7:30 pm GMT (Dublin time).

August 14, 21, 28

September 4, 11, 18

Please have any Yoga Sutras book with you; doesn't have to have the transliteration or the Sanskrit text; we will be going over both the translation and the Sanskrit. Booking Link Below:

ॐ 5 Pillars of Ashtanga Yoga

I recommend all practitioners know the five pillars of ashtanga vinyasa yoga! Here are the five pillars and their respective definitions. This is the relaxed definition of each - I urge you to describe them in your own words; this will help you learn about how you practice and why you want to integrate them into your daily practice routine.

Some of these are easier than others, let me know which one is your favourite. Can you guess which one is my favourite?

Happy Practice to you, yogi!

vinyasa
movement breath system how you link your breath with movement

bandha
internal locks - respectively mula, uddiyana, jalandhara and maha

pranayama
breathing, in the ujjayi form making a quiet and rich sound from the back of the throat with the mouth closed

drishti
gazing points - where you are looking

dhyana
meditation