Yoga Philosophy

Andrea Kwiatkowski

Wake up and start the day with a positive mindset from the Jivamukti method. How you start your day colours your entire day. This short morning session includes affirmations and gratitude practices to start the best way. Featuring Sanskrit chants to put us in a positive frame of mind, the class then talks us through some gratitude journaling. It’s helpful to have a notebook or journal for this class.

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Zephyr Wildman

This vinyasa yoga class weaves around yoga philosophy and the elements; this class works with the element of Space. Space, in Sanskrit is Akasha, the intergalactic medium that is said to be the container of all elements. It is the original element, likened to the Mother of all elements that everything came from and everything will return back to. Hatha Yogis figured out that if you create a lot of activity, you gain access to stillness in Space - that you create physical, energetic and mental effort and can abide in effortlessness on those levels. In practice we actively stretch this space and fill it with consciousness, light and awareness of awaking to the fullness of presence that is supporting us and carrying us.

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Zephyr Wildman

A vinyasa yoga class weaved around yoga philosophy and the elements; this class works with the element of Fire. Fire, Agni in Sanskrit, is one of the most powerful of the elements. When we tap into its energy, we bring alive a transformation within ourselves as we build and direct the heat to the attachments you want to burn through that don’t serve you any longer. Identify what your soul longs for, that burning heart’s desires and the vision of your future you want to create. Let’s build and direct this fire to give this practice more meaning and purpose.

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Zephyr Wildman

A vinyasa yoga class weaved around yoga philosophy and the elements; this class works with the element of water. This mindful flow class will use a variety of standing poses to connect to the water element within you. Connecting to the many rivers and streams within the body carrying with it Prana – this light of intelligence that is healing, inspiring and transformative. We will flow like water, following the flow of breath in as we feel the swell of the body rise like a wave, and then the flow of the breath roll out like a wave returning to the vast ocean.

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Zephyr Wildman

A vinyasa yoga class weaved around yoga philosophy and the elements; this class works with the element of Earth. With this practice, we will stay close to the ground, strengthening, stabilising and calming the body. This is a strong practice building structural integrity through repetitive core work to target the pelvis and shoulders. Working with Hasta (hand) Mudras, Bija (seed) Mantras and imagery of this weeks topic Earth, to inspire a practice that will leave you feeling like a majestic mountain.

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Ava Riby-Williams

During this intermediate vinyasa yoga class, you choose how dynamic or restful you wish the sequence to be for you. The main focus of the class making decisions based on how you genuinely feel; you can decide how you want to move your body and what is right for you in this moment. Class starts with a talk on what yoga is as a practice of empowerment and revolution, and how this relates to events in the world. How is our yoga related to the freedom we are seeking for ourselves and for others? Ava shares her thoughts on how yoga can be lived on and off the mat before moving into a sequence which includes inversions, such as headstand. Without fear, take this class, adopt the pose which is right for you and take your practice off the mat into real life. This class is trauma-informed.

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Vidya Heisel

In this yoga philosophy class, we explore the concept of Samadhi. Samadhi is the eighth and final limb of Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga, and it means enlightenment. This can be quite a challenging concept for us to grasp, but it is often thought of as freedom from the limited sense of self.

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Vidya Heisel

The seventh limb of yoga is Dhyana, or meditation. The eight limbs of yoga represent the path of meditation, which is considered to be the greatest tool in our yoga practice to help us experience Samadhi by understanding and mastering the mind to experience equanimity and balance.

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Mimi Kuo-Deemer

This yoga class focuses on the third aspect of the Buddha's teachings to awaken the heart, Mudita. Mudita means finding joy in the happiness and success of others. It is the third of four boundless states, or brahmavihārās. This well-rounded class has a particular focus on the hips and the hamstrings, two areas where many of us are tight due to either a sedantary lifestyle, or strengthening workouts. Being happy for others when they are happy are we are not, or they achieve things that we haven’t not the easiest practice. Indeed, ours is a world where comparison, judgement, envy and aggression are rife. Learning to be happy for someone when they are truly happy and shining usually requires a deliberate effort. When we can summon sympathetic joy, the rewards are magnificent and freeing. Through a cultivation of mudita, we can pull out the weeds of pettiness, envy and comparison. We become less selfish and self-centred, and grow into more tolerant, generous and compassionate individuals. Our actions can then create a chain-reaction, where a joyful and charitable heart ripples out into the world. You will just need a mat.

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Vidya Heisel

Patanjali's sixth limb of yoga is Dharana, which means concentration. This limb is all about refining your ability to focus and concentrate, so your mind doesn't wander and resist the practice.

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Vidya Heisel

The fifth limb of yoga is Pratyahara which means withdrawal of the senses or turning inwards. This refers to the first step of meditation after laying the groundwork with the practices in the previous limbs. Withdraw from external stimulus by turning off your phone or retreating to a quiet room for a time and take your attention inwards.

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Mimi Kuo-Deemer

This yoga class focuses on cultivating a strong and resilient heart that awakens karuna, or compassion. It is the second of four boundless states, or brahmavihārās. Compassion means to be with another’s suffering. It is the opposite of cruelty. It can be conflated with pity, which it is not. Compassion is born out of a selfless desire to stand in solidarity with those who experience misfortune. Misfortune does not have to be starvation, physical pain and loss; it can be as simple as wanting something to be other than it is, which the Buddha described as creating clinging as well as a pushing away of experience. When we begin to cultivate compassion, we start with extending compassion towards ourselves. By forging self-compassion, we create a springboard for extending compassion towards others and all beings in the world. This well-rounded yoga class focuses on heart opening and brings in qigong movements.

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Vidya Heisel

The fourth limb of Patanjali's path is Pranayama which means life force energy. It is thought that the more of this life force energy we can cultivate, the more healthy, awake, alive and aware we will be, and the greater our longevity. Learn about some of the different types of breath work used to practice pranayama.

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Vidya Heisel

Patanjali's third limb of yoga is Asana, or the physical practice of yoga. Despite there being very little mention of yoga postures in the Sutras, asana traditional refers to the practicing of sitting for meditation, which then evolved to encompass the yoga poses we know today.

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Mimi Kuo-Deemer

This is a practice centred around metta, which means goodwill, care, or loving-kindness. It is the first of four boundless states, known as the brahmavihārās. The brahmavihārās are the Buddha’s primary teachings on how we cultivate an awakened heart. In this yoga class, we’ll do some heart-focused practices and gentle movements (including some inspired by Qi Gong) to explore metta, which is the wish for true happiness that you can direct to yourself and towards others. In Buddhist teachings, metta is the foundations to our heart’s love and strength as it is what guided the Buddha along his path to care for a world that was in so much pain. As we learn to cultivate metta, we can learn to support our capacity to extend care to ourselves and the world, and send wishes for true happiness to all.

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Vidya Heisel

The fifth and final Niyama is Isvara Pranidhana, or surrender to the absolute. This Niyama is all about how we respond to occurances beyond our control; are we a victim living in fear or can we see and embrace the beauty in the unknown?

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Vidya Heisel

The third Niyama is Tapas, which means self-discipline. It also translates as 'burning' which can be looked at in a few different ways, including a burning passion for leading a spiritual yogic life.

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Vidya Heisel

The second Niyama is Santosha, which means contentment. We can look at this Niyama in a couple of ways; to practice contentment with who we are and what we have, and to practice the Yama of Aparigraha, or freedom from greed.

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