Immersing ourselves in silence, presence, breathing and sitting, asana practice takes root. The forms grow from inside the body, down into the earth, up into the sky, through our limbs into the space around us. The perfection of asana becomes a true organic flowering – forms are revealed and unveiled – not forced. The body finds its own center and its own ground, and this understanding is registered in the cells – that part of us which is deeper and nearer to us than our conscious understanding.

Vinyasa – joining poses together – allows us to connect back into our center, to the calm and panoramic awareness that directs our movements. With time we cultivate and learn to trust a deeper and innate intelligence to guide our movement.

Sequences create a space for the mind to rest, expansive. The truth-seeking body moves, life moves with it, mind spills into the contours created by repeated patterns in space, quiet and receptive as a lover’s breath. Sequences allow the mind and body to come together in joy.

Breath aligns our movement from within, with vitality and in the truth and the freshness of the moment. Breath lends mind its brightness, transparency, effortlessness. Practicing this way allows non-separation to become a felt experience.

The approach to asana and pranayama is inspired by the vital tools identified by Dona Holleman and Orit Sen Gupta.
(see their book Dancing the Body of Light)

The 7 vital principles help us to combine physical precision, mental intensity and a direct connection to the space which holds and includes us. These principles are guidelines for yoga practice, and thus also relate to all aspects of our lives:

Relaxation: consciously and with gentleness, we release stored tension, creating space so the body can become stable and quiet.

Empty Mind: we watch ourselves from the inside, with acceptance; allowing our patterns to be as they are while continuing our practice allows the mind to rest, allows the possibility of something new to emerge.

Intent: we are not learning new forms, but uncovering innate ones: with a relaxed body and quiet mind, intent is the invitation.

Rooting: the body can profoundly reconnect to the earth, thus drawing in a new and unlimited source of energy and guidance.

Connecting: the energy drawn up from the earth is here aligned within the body, connecting all parts to its center.

Breathing: this is the true bridge between the physical body and the energy body – with time we learn to direct our physical movements from this light center within us.

Elongation: all principles combine to allow unrestricted, limitless and effortless movement.