Iyengar Yoga UK celebrations for International Yoga Day. Photo Geoffrey Fielding
This week we met for a board meeting and something significant happened, we realised we were all Yoga practitioners! And of course so was my father Lewis Jones who was instrumental in Salamanda Tandem’s vision of space inside the body to house the world. Then too, in listing our talented and wonderful associate artists, who essentially are my family I noticed that 80% of those practice or teach yoga. Then I realised that 50% of our artist team are disabled people; sensory experts with a unique perception of things.
To quote an audience member’s comment on experiencing one of our latest performance works:
“A deeply spiritual experience, A ‘mystery’ in the true and ancient meaning of the word”
Something is going on…. something is going right…
For some 12 years now Iyengar Yoga, a very special form of rigorous yoga practice, has formed one of the foundation stones of our mental and physical development.
Back in 2002 when I became qualified as an Iyengar yoga teacher we realised that Yoga could help support the physical and mental health of everyone, so we instituted it as a free weekly class for all our associate artists, admin staff, photographers, musicians, dancers etc. We took it on tour with us, and then began to spread outwards into our local community. We now have a small studio at Salamanda Tandem’s base, soon expanding next door, and we teach around 55 students a week in 4 weekly classes, run monthly workshops just round the corner, and lead retreats in the beautiful landscapes of Snowdonia and South Derbyshire for students from all over the country.
Yoga Practice, Creativity, Art, Nature and Humanity are all one.
Yoga can also be very misunderstood too, it’s as old as the hills but in the west we tend to think of it as some new exercise trend. This week on radio 4 we heard a report on posture; on on the release of chemicals that support feelings of positivity when we stand up straight, then conversely what happens when we collapse. Today we have the science to tell us all this is true, yesterday our ancestors just had their own somatic experience.
Visit our dedicated yoga website and blog if you are interested in joining us for a class, workshop, retreat or just want to read and know a bit more
