January's Saturday morning workshop with Mike Lever was extremely well attended and carried a marvellously energetic vibe. Walking into the room I found myself immediately transported by the low level sounds playing in the background - musical, yet somehow suggestive of the soft buzz of bees and gently dripping water - and a sense of real anticipation among those present.
Mike came to yoga from a background of psychotherapy and became increasingly fascinated in his counselling work by the self-sabotaging behaviour of the thinking mind and its tendency to drive so many of us into depression and anxiety. Buddhism and a growing conviction that wise management of the physical body was crucial to the health of the mind brought him to the practice of Raja Yoga in Northern India. He has subsequently established his own school of Real Yoga or "yoga as taught in the Himalayas" in Southampton.
“Using the first 4 sutras as his central theme, Mike treated us to a session dense with information on the guiding ethical principles, the encouragements and the hindrances to practice.”
Patanjali's yoga sutras (approx 2,500 BC old) promise us a settled mind and then proceed to tell us how. Using the first 4 sutras as his central theme, Mike treated us to a session dense with information on the guiding ethical principles, the encouragements and the hindrances to practice.
In between the theory, we practised Tibetan breathing techniques and physical asanas designed to energise the body, covering a wide range of breathwork and physical movement from both Tibetan and Indian yoga, designed to open us up to heightened awareness of the 5 koshas (layers of the body) as our consciousness journeys from the physical outer layer to the innermost and most spiritual layer or "bliss body".
Many of the movements were fun to do, some were quite demanding, but we were encouraged at all times to "meet our edge", and then not overstep it, thus recognising and respecting our individual needs and abilities.
Mike's passion for his subject meant the allotted two hours absolutely flew by and it was a fascinating and engaging workshop."
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