online schedule and registration links
Fill out the form to sign up for daily class reminders (easy-access links for registration, playlists, payment info, and any additional information you might need for the class). If at any point you want to be removed from this list, you can send me a quick e-mail. I do everything manually and will remove you immediately - no problems or fuss. Look forward to seeing you on the mat.
Dear students,
January brought a major personal milestone my way, compelling me to take a necessary respite. This has been a period of acclimation and enriching reflection, profoundly affecting my practice and daily habits. However, I've missed teaching and am now ready to resume on a smaller scale with an online class each week starting April 6th. Plans are in place to expand my offerings in July, aiming to return to a full schedule, both online and in person by September/October.
Below is the schedule for my 75-minute Vinyasa yoga classes from April to June. Please ensure your payment is made before each class. Payments can be processed via bank transfer or PayPal. For those returning, please note my account details have changed. The updated information is as follows: Sort Code: 20-47-34, Account Number: 90943045. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding and patience in updating these details.
And on the subject of 'change: I've updated our classes to 75 minutes with an optional 15-minute meditation (for those who wish to extend to a 90-minute session). This adjustment offers more time for deeper integration and allows me to share more profound insights beyond just asana. Each class will explore a philosophical theme, aiming to extend our practice beyond the mat— a crucial endeavor in today's world that yearns for greater compassion and true practitioners of Yoga. It prompts us to reflect: Can we call ourselves 'Yogis'? It's a question I often ponder, considering whether I am practicing Yoga and aspects of Yoga intermittently or whether my words, actions, and life embody the essence of Yoga and what it means to be a Yogi.
CLASS SCHEDULE
75 minutes series April-June 2024, select Saturdays
Saturday, April 6th, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
Purchase Recording Here
Saturday, April 13th, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
Purchase Recording Here
Saturday, April 27th, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGrqD8rGdwcSYZTVPpq4Ch3NviWd544
Saturday, May 11th, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGrqD8rGdwcSYZTVPpq4Ch3NviWd544
Saturday, June 1st, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGrqD8rGdwcSYZTVPpq4Ch3NviWd544
Saturday, June 8th, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGrqD8rGdwcSYZTVPpq4Ch3NviWd544
Saturday, June 15th, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGrqD8rGdwcSYZTVPpq4Ch3NviWd544
Saturday, June 22nd, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGrqD8rGdwcSYZTVPpq4Ch3NviWd544
Saturday, June 29th, 2024
9:00am-10:15am Open Level Vinyasa, 15 minute optional meditation after
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGrqD8rGdwcSYZTVPpq4Ch3NviWd544
PAYMENT
Please support these online offerings by making a payment before the class.
Suggested payment:
£8-£12 (self-assess)
Community: £5-£7 (for fellow yoga-teachers, NHS workers, or any one who would like to practice yoga but is financially stretched, practice Yoga and self-assess).
Payment methods:
Sort Code: 20-47-34
Account Number: 90943045
For those of you abroad, my PayPal account* is:
moncits@gmail.com.
If you pay via PayPal, please select ‘friend & family’ so further charges are not incurred.
15 MEDITATION / SILENCE POST CLASS
Meditation/Silence
I end each 75 minute session with a 15 minute meditation/silence/pranayama. If you have a technique that you practice regularly, I suggest that you stick to your technique (ideally one that has been thoroughly explained and passed on to you by an experienced meditation teacher). The most powerful things one can do to experience meditation is stay consistent with a technique. Please note that techniques are not the meditation, but ‘set you up’ for the experience of meditation — which often happens spontaneously, and more often than not, in seemingly ordinary moments off the mat. If you do not have a technique, I’ve outline two to explore. Pick one and try to stick with it for some time. Please e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns. At the bottom I’ve also attached a few thoughts on meditation by our beloved sage B.K.S Iyengar.
Simple So Hum Meditation Technique
The simple, yet profound, So Hum Meditation technique is probably one of the most popular Mantra Traditions. So Hum means “I am That” (So: That or Divinity, Hum: I Am). The mantra brings union (yoga) between your individual consciousness and Divine Consciousness. It helps us come back to the deep knowing that The Observer is the Observed.
To practice this technique:
Find a comfortable seat on your meditation pillow/bolster or even sit up tall on a chair. The key thing is that you are able to stay here for your 10-20 minutes, at fair ease.
Elongate your spin, lengthen your neck, and relax your legs and buttocks. If it resonates, place your hands in the Gyan Mudra (Gesture of Knowledge). See image number 1 beneath this text.
Close your eyes and focus your internal gaze at your 3rd eye, Ajna.
Inhale slowly and repeat the sound “soooooo” on the inhale, exhale slowly and repeat the sound “hummmmmm” on the exhale.
Continue for the duration of the meditation.
Try and be still, but if you need to make some adjustments to your seat, make the adjustments, and recommit to stillness and the So Hum technique.
Technique to open Ajna Chakra* — our individual Control Centre.
Some previous pranayama experience recommended.
Find a comfortable seat on your meditation pillow/bolster or even sit up tall on a chair. The key thing is that you are able to stay here for your 10-20 minutes, at fair ease.
Elongate your spin, lengthen your neck, and relax your legs and buttocks. Commit to practicing stillness.
Begin to develop awareness of the breath in the nostrils. When you breathe in, your whole awareness should flow with the breath from the tip of the nose, up to the eyebrow centre. When you breathe out your whole awareness should flow with the breath from the eyebrow centre to the tip of the nose. Become aware of the triangular form of the breath between the nostrils and the eyebrow centre.
Once you are established in this breath awareness, begin to consciously alternate the flow of the breath between the two nostrils: consciously (mentally) inhale through the left nostril into the 3rd eye, and exhale through the right, then inhale through the right into the 3rd eye, and exhale through the left.
The above is one round. Complete 4 rounds.
Now practice one round of ‘prana shuddhi’ — which means breathing in and out of both nostrils simultaneously. Visualise the passage of the breath forming an inverted V-shape.
Continue this way: 4 rounds of alternate nostril breaths (mentally, no hand), then 1 breath through both nostrils, and repeat.
Accuracy in counting is important. If you drop the focus, recommence. The awareness is essential for the development of mind control and also for awakening of Ajna Chakra to conscious accessibility.
*Ajna Chakra and Mooladhara Chakra are closely related, and the awakening of one helps to awaken the other. Ideally Ajna Chakra should be awakened to some extent before Mooladhara Chakra — in order to allow an unaffected perception of the energies manifested by Mooladhara Chakra and the Lower Chakras.
In modern English usage, the word meditation is often used for various forms of stress management and reduction. I will be using the word in its purest yogic sense as the seventh petal on the 8 limb path, which can only be achieved when all other mental and physical weakness has been eliminated.
Technically speaking, true meditation in the yogic sense cannot be done by a person who is under stress or who has a weak body, weak lungs, hard muscles, collapsed spine, fluctuating mind, mental agitation, or timidity. Often people think that sitting quietly is meditation. This is a misunderstanding. True meditation leads us to wisdom (jnana) and awareness (prajna), and this specifically helps the understanding that we are more than our ego. For this one needs the preparations of the postures and the breathing, the withdrawal of the senses and concentration.
The process of relaxing the brain is achieved through asana. We generally think of the mind being in our head. In asana our consciousness spreads throughout the body, eventually diffusing in every cell, creating complete awareness. In this way stressful thought is drained away, and our whole mind focuses on the body, intelligence, and awareness as a whole. - B.K.S Iyengar
Gyan Mudra
In this mudra the index finger represents individual consciousness and the thumb represents universal consciousness. The index finger represents the limited perspective of self and the thumb is the expanded perspective of Self. When the two join, the limited self is connected to the spacious Universal Self.
Siddha Yoni Asana
Accomplished pose for women. Make the spine fully erect and straight as though it were planted solidly in the earth. Ensure that the knees are firmly planted on the ground.
Alternatively, sit on a pillow, block, bolster, chair, or lean up against a wall. Comfort is key. Do not lie down.
Siddhasana
Accomplished pose for men. In the beginning it is recommended that a folded blanket or small cushion be used to raise the buttocks slightly. This will enable you to rest the knees on the ground and achieve a balanced posture.
Alternatively, straddle a bolster, extend the legs while leaning up against a wall, or sit on a chair. Do not lie down.
Ajna Chakra
In the 6th Chakra, we move into out archetypal identity. This identity is gained through the recognition of images and symbols that appear in our lives through dreams, imagination, art, relationships, or situations. Recognising the archetypal significance of these symbols brings us into a larger spiritual framework. We enter a broader context of understanding, and a deeper recognition of who we are and what our purpose is. - Anodea Judith, Eastern Body, Western Mind
It can be helpful to visualise Ajna Chakra when breathing into the third eye, during the 3rd eye opening technique.