Dear Friends, Family, Fellow Yogis,
Welcome to our Newsletter, a brief update on what we're up to and a few thoughts and quotes that might inspire you and your journey.
Events & Classes
Wellness Holiday Portugal: 7-13 October 2024
After an amazing week at Quinta da Conceicao near Lisbon, Portugal, we've booked the same week for next year. We had some a great experiences, which included exploring the 'five frolicking animals' from Qi Gong, awakening our senses, igniting our inner fire, connecting with the earth and nature and enjoying great food and chat. As we bring together influences from different traditions and cultures, we now refer to this as a 'Wellness Week'. "Wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, you’re thriving." If you'd like to join us next year, or for more details, give us a call or visit the website.
NEW Studio Classes!
We've added more daytime classes at the home studio in Chatham, as well as some new styles.
Eastern Flow with Declan, taking influences from different styles of Yoga as well as Tai Chi and Qi Gong, this practice will include breath and movement sequences as well as music and sound. There will be more standing, dynamic yet soft flow-based posture work.
Meditative Movement with Kerry, Breathing techniques and slow, grounding, tension releasing movements, Emotional Freedom inspired techniques based on Chinese acupressure and modern psychology which can calm the nervous system.
Strength in Asana with Kerry, an energising breathing practice and strength building Hatha Asana.
Please check the schedule, for details and booking click here.
Rest, Recuperate - Friday 10 November, 7pm.
Treat yourself to a lovely chill out session, a lying down practice with extra long relaxation, and stay for a chat afterwards, we'll have the wood burner on in the studio and an open fire afterwards. For details click here
Gong Bath - Saturday 17 December 2023
We are pleased to be hosing another gong bath at The House of Santosha with Dipika Jinabhai. Open for booking, for detailsclick here.
Bespoke Yoga Packages
Host your own private event at our studio and private dining room. For details click here
Membership Plans, Classes, Home Studio
A reminder that we have new membership packages and updated the block booking system to make things a little easier. We are still on zoom as well, so hope we can create a package that works for you. For more details click here.
Don't forget that existing zoom members also receive discounts on home classes, remember to use the coupon when booking, it's on your members page. For zoom classes click here.
Please make sure your membership is working for you and contact us if you want to cancel, change it or put it on hold.
Food & Environment
The 20th annual recycle week
We've been doing lots more research and have a few 'top picks' for you from the world of recycling. TerraCycle® who 'recycle the unrecyclable' all those things you are not sure of from razor blades to lightbulbs, here's a few examples:
Pringles - despite receiving an 'award' for the most difficult to recycle packing a few years ago, Pringles are still around, and the tubes (minus the plastic lids) have special drop off points, the good news (if you eat them) is that there are 5 in medway! For the locations click here
Toothpaste tubes - and electric toothbrush heads and lots more - unsure what to do with these? If you don't want to contribute to the 300 million toothpaste tubes that go into landfill each year then, Colgate and Philips run schemes with TerraCycle. The Holy Trinity Church in Twdyal is one place that accepts them, for details click here.
Did you know that you can register as a drop-off point for certain items? If you want to browse the other 100+ collection categories or just visit the website, click here.
YOGA
The Three R's
No, not reading, writing and arithmetic, but the three R's of Receipt, Reaction, Response. Here are some ramblings based loosely around the teachings of Vedanta (A. Parthasarathy).
The countless transactions that happen every second of our day between us and our surroundings since the day we arrived in this world (or even before). We receive information from our surroundings through our organs of perception. A reaction takes place with our mind, personality, intellect, and a response is created through our organs of action. This can all happen very quickly, most of the time it is ‘automated’. Sometimes this is useful, for example, when crossing the road, we see a bus coming and respond, but we’re not aware of the reaction, we don’t pause and think about it, we respond quickly, which is sensible and useful.
The trouble with that, is much of our behaviour, reactions and responses become automated and we forget that we can make rational decisions and choices.
We all react differently to the same stimulus, whatever it might be, we see, hear, feel, smell and taste the same things in a different way. This is due to our different experiences (vasanas/ samskaras), culture, personalities and how we identify ourselves and varying ratios of our emotional and intellectual make up. Add to that our current state which can range from Tamasic (lethargic) to Rajastic (hyperactive) or Satvic (content).
The stimulus often doesn’t carry or hold an emotion or feeling. The rain isn’t depressed, chocolate isn’t happy, a big house isn’t content, an untidy house isn’t anxious, litter isn’t angry, olives aren’t disgusting, though we often say, this makes me happy, that makes me anxious etc. We can get annoyed at the wind, but it’s not trying to be annoying. We’d love the wind if we had a wind turbine providing us with electricity to power our home. Words are just sounds, though they might be fuelled with emotion, but have no meaning to someone who doesn’t understand that language. And as we know, one person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure.
"pleasure or pain, joy or sorrow are not inherent in the objects of beings of the world, they are in you"
A. Parthasarathy
Do we get annoyed/ anxious/ depressed/ stressed/ afraid at the same things/ people/ situations all the time, react in the same way we have always done, and never thought about it or questioned it? Are these feelings/ actions rational, appropriate, sensible, logical, useful? Do we have a choice in how we react? Do we say “I can’t help it, it’s just the way I am, it’s in my nature, my genetics, my culture, my age, my star sign dictates my personality, the way I behave…” Can we instead, take a moment or two to decide, create some space between the receipt, the reaction, the response.
Declan often gives the simple example of litter, which used to drive him mad, seeing litter on the street, in the park. But the litter will never stop, so should he committ himself to getting annoyed, angry frustrated every time he went out, for the rest of his life? Is that sensible or beneficial for his wellbeing? He started seeing the litter as gifts, free training on his yoga journey and saying thank you. He even incorporated them into his jog around the park, bending down and sprinting between bins was a great addition to the run!
“Once we manage to remove our unnecessary responses to life, we discover that we have choices in the way we respond”
Pete Blackaby
Of course some environments / relationships are far more challenging/ complicated than others, though we can still chose how we respond. In recent footage of a hostage release in the conflict in Gaza / Israel, the hostage shook her captors hand and said shalom, which literally translates as peace. Link to BBC video
As well as integrating it into our everyday (as the majority of our yoga is off the mat), can we take it on the mat? How do we react to our surroundings in our practice? Does Sanskrit or anatomical terminology strike fear into us or just go over our head? Have we associated certain postures with pain or discomfort, fear or anxiety? Does the chatting outside the studio door, the weights dropping on the ceiling above, the late arrivals coming in whilst we are settling drive us mad? Receipt – SPACE – Reaction – SPACE – Response.
Yoga is the harmonious relationship with have with our surroundings, a union between the individual and the universal. The foundation of this relationship is based on the three R’s, which if we get right, we become less negatively affected, and also have less of a negative impact on the world around us.
“Not agitating the world or by it agitated, they stand above the sway of elation, competition and fear”
Bhagavad Gita 12:15 (Easwaran)
We look forward to hearing from you with regards to any of the above and seeing you soon.
OM Shanti Namaste