In our Monday evening format, 60 minute sessions - we will be uncovering and exploring the wheels of energy or vortex's that are often referred to in yoga as cakras, or chakras..
These can be helpful to begin to focus awareness on various elements of the body, such as the pelvic floor and a sense of belonging or rootedness with the feet and pelvic diaphragm.. or indeed in a symbolic way experiencing the effects that a rigid bracing around the thoracic spine can have on the heart space which can require attention to soften this area of the body that can often become so tight and hunched.
In some exercise modalities, energetic and emotional holding that takes place as we move through adulthood does not often get given space to reveal itself. You can be an incredibly strong weightlifter but that can mask a vulnerability and structural imbalance that might need some attention. You can be a flexible as a reed or bamboo shoot but not be able to hold onto anything, perhaps this reveals itself in the classic side-effects of hyper mobility; incredibly soft skin, pain, tendencies to lock in the joints, culminating in joint issues from the lack of support due to over lax and taxed ligaments..
As we gain greater awareness of ourselves we can cultivate the means of creating more balance within the body. This is our yoga. When working towards an embodied sense of the chakras, of which, for the sake of this series, there are 7 vortex's which are accessed via a practice of mindful awareness within yoga asana (postures) or flowing, releasing movements, intentional vocalisations or breath work. This is an 8 week series, the last session will be a journey through the chakras including seed mantras (vocalisations) focused towards at each energetic space.
We will of course work from bottom up, so starting with the root chakra and working all the way up to sahasrara, the crown chakra. These wheels or vortex of energy can be over active or indeed under active and are linked with energetic biomechanics within the body and therefore emotional body.
This series may be better for those with some practice in yoga; asana and breath work that might like to delve a little deeper within the energetic aspects of a yoga practice.
The sessions are based on the writing of psychotherapist and yoga practitioner - Anodea Judith as well as my own long term exploration as a practitioner who first discovered yoga as a child, and practicing regularly since age 14, with my first structured yoga course at a Buddhist Centre at age 18, 17 years on from that and 3 children later, I've been teaching yoga since 2018 and have a 500hr Diploma (3 years) to teach yoga with The British Wheel of Yoga.
My background is in and around the Arts, I have a first class degree (Hons) in Fine Art Painting at Brighton and have ongoing interest and love of reading, of books, music, literature, astrophysics, psychotherapy, neuroscience, foraging, culture, biodiversity.. many realms of interest, which all tend to cross over one another in some form or another. I am a permaculture enthusiast although would say things come more intuitively in the realms of growing.. and love to walk, explore and roam/ramble/wander metaphorically and literally, different landscapes.
Yoga is everything that ties that all together. All is interconnected on an experiential level. Yoga is the means for greater understanding of ourselves, others and all the bits in-between.