the most significant shift to elevate your yoga practice happens behind the scenes
Which style of Yoga do you practise?
Hatha
Vinyasa
Ashtanga
Iyengar
Rocket
Yin
How styles are often differentiated is through external form…
Sequence & type of postures
Time spent in postures
Type of pranayama, meditation, chants
The above have differing effects on the mindbody
AND yet there is something much richer available that underpins all styles, that determines the quality & potency of your practice
‘Principles of practice’
How you move
How you be in stillness
How you breath
Intent
Cooperation & awareness of the body & mind
Enlisting the energy body, the subtle layers & the ‘not-known’ (Vijnana)
The art of Not-doing
You can apply them to any Yoga system
When I first met Dona Holleman on her 70 birthday, her principles of practice instantly struck a chord
What goes on behind the scenes determines the ‘Yoga’
Over the past 12 years of full-time study with Dona, developing the principles has created the biggest shifts in my practice & life
In our study group there have been practitioners from different systems: Ashtanga, Sivananda, Iyengar (I remember the first time I practised with Dona, Chuck Miller was a fellow student in the room)
How we share Yoga is rooted in similar principles
The way you do it (or dont do) differentiates Yoga from mobility & movement alone
You can apply principles to any practice system. As Dona says it’s like adding a Ferrari engine into your practice!
The principles of practice ask you to enlist the inner limbs, the subtle body, the whole body. Nothing gets left behind
Each is present, fully cooperating
Complete aliveness
Cultivating the awareness to listen to the wisdom of the mindbody through practising with principles has been a game-changer
Our Yoga isn’t underpinned by style it’s by method & approach - this is where the magic happens. It doesn’t matter if you’re intentionally moving through every arm balance b2b or simple sitting
If you’d like to learn about practice principles so you too can develop a new level of awareness to enhance your own practice, let us know as we have something in the pipeline :)