Peter Levitt on How Mindfulness Is Creativity Scott and Peter talk openly about his life as a writer and a Zen practitioner. Peter shares: From the beginning, you can let students know they are the leaders and you, as their teacher, are the guide. This focus on the practitioner and their own deepening awareness and connection to their own truth and wisdom is at the heart of yogic practice. Nadia Gilani is a writer who teaches yoga (because she loves it). She first discovered the practice as a teenager when her mum took her to a class in the 1990s. Yoga hasn’t always been an easy ride. In fact it’s been really hard at times, but somehow the practice has been a constant source of inspiration in her life over the years. Incredibly inspiring to reflect on our own privileges and on ways to transform how we practice yoga on the 21st century. Yoga’s appropriation by the white wellness industry is a 21st century form of colonialism. Its whitewashing is why I felt so lonely and out of place when I first started teaching. But having taught yoga to refugees and vulnerable teenagers, those in addiction recovery and people with mental health and mobility issues, I’m less interested in yoga being “decolonised” or reclaimed. To move the conversation forward, it’s imperative we understand why yoga has become out of reach for some of those who need it most – and find ways to make it available to more people.

Golspie, United Kingdom Book Of Deer Events | Eventbrite

Focus on the benefits for the asana shapes. Whether someone is practicing a shape on the ground, a chair or standing, the benefit of the asana should be similar. The goal is not physical attainment or standardization of the shape, but presence and peace of mind. Cue in such a way as to bring students into more presence and peace. 11. End With Dharana Viv asked what I was writing. ‘Lots,’ I said. ‘How do I turn it into a book?’ I asked. ‘Do what I do,’ she told me. ‘Write it all in short bits and move it around later.’ It took a while for me to understand what Viv meant, and I didn’t actually write anything for several years, but when I started this book I remembered her advice. The chapters in Viv’s first book Clothes, Music, Boys are exceptionally short. This method had clearly worked for her. So I did the same – wrote a bunch of stories and threaded them together later. A bit like taking a set of yoga poses and linking them with a series of flowing movements (more on that soon). This is what you’ve got in your hands now. In yoga, all actions are sacred. Cleaning and preparing the space is part of your practice. From sweeping the floor to laying out props for your students, every action you do can be one of devotion. 3. Greeting Your Class Share this event Save this event: Kind and Mindful Approach to Living (KAMAL) Residential Highland Retreat IV

A YOGA teacher, writer and influencer will be visiting a Nairn studio as part of her UK tour on Friday. Author Nadia Gilani will be the special guest at the Highland Yoga Collective Yoga Studio, where she will be leading a yoga session before presenting her book, The Yoga Manifesto at The Highland Weigh on the High Street. Share this event Save this event: Quality Beyond ISO 9001: Role of Technology & Continuous Improvement

Yoga Events | Eventbrite - Page 2 Aberdeen, United Kingdom Yoga Events | Eventbrite - Page 2

I have read a lot of yoga books and this is definitely one of the more readable ones. It is a unique mashup of Nadia’s personal yoga journey (which like mine starts in the 1990s), yoga philosophy and history …with a focus on decolonizing modern yoga. Her paragraph on what Om means made me cry. I also think it is written in a very approachable way - there is even a reference section on types of yoga explained in very concise snippets. I really wanted to speak to Waylon about Elephant and how he grew a small local magazine to a worldwide publication that we all recognise. His story of growing up in a spiritual school and being a Buddhist is fascinating. And his sharing of the power of the big social media companies is food for us all. This is a fascinating insight into someone who has shaped part of our modern yoga and wellness culture" In this book there is not only an incredible honesty surrounding her own relationship with yoga, but also a clear & inspiring manifesto of 8 areas where yoga can (& is argued, must) work to revolutionise itself in a new era to overcome the murky waters it has become trapped in.

Integrate yoga's rich history and philosophy into the classes you teach. Author, teacher trainer, and yoga culture advocate Susanna Barkataki provides a simple structure for a non-appropriative yoga class, excerpted from her new book.

Nadia Gilani asks people to think about their relationship with yoga while also giving the reader full-on candour about her relationship with yoga. I love that she didn't preach holier-than-thou pretending she has a perfect relationship with yoga, and instead gave us the down-n-dirty truth of her complicated relationship to yoga. In doing so, I think she manages to allow people to be drawn in by her honesty and be able to relate to her struggles both with yoga and with life (and herself). I mean, I cried in the car as I read the passages about her grandmother dying! What about closing your class with namaste? Remember, traditionally, namaste is said at the beginning of a meeting with another highly respected person, not at the end. My book includes more in-depth exploration of namaste, and the considerations around using it to close a class. I am really grateful for Nadia’s courage to step up and share her truth about Yoga and the wellness industry in general: how flawed, racist and exclusive it is when we are practicing just for the sake of it. About David Swenson David Swenson began his journey of Yoga in 1969 when he and his brother Doug practiced in a small park at the end of their street in Houston, Texas. There were few sources for yoga at that time so they practiced from whatever books they could find.