A beautifully filmed piece with a remarkable woman...... Big thank you to both  Alessandro Sigismondi  for filming and Tanya Gordon Golad for sharing her story.   

Quiet London is a beautiful book full of quiet spots in London-written and photographed by the wonderful artist Siobhan Wall . As a Londoner I love the vibrancy and mix of London-I also love quiet spaces too, and this book offers many "secret spots" I didn't know about. Siobhan is currently writing another Quiet London book and the Yoga Mama studio in Putney has the privilege of being listed in it. I would highly recommend this to both Londoners and visitors to the capital- who need a little "time out" from the hustle and bustle of the city- and those that enjoy beautiful original photographs of places in London, that you wont find in a guide book. Available from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-London-Siobhan-Wall/dp/0711231907/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381671173&sr=8-1&keywords=quiet+London

A snap from inside my fridge this week. The mix of wine, beer and Vita Coca sort of sums up my family really. The ones that drink wine and beer don't go in for the coco water, and the coco water drinker doesn't go in for wine or beer. In summary, none of us need worry about the other nicking all the drinks. :-)

Svadhyaya : means self- study. A teacher can only guide a yoga student. A student must then go and study- expanding the knowledge they have learnt from their teacher, until they have some deeper personal understanding of the subject, being shown to them. Swadhayadisthaddevatasamprayogah YS 2.44 While practicing self study we totally submerse ourselves in the deity that we have chosen. See Sharath Jois- Astanga yoga Anusthana for his interpretation on this. 

Interesting to see Sharath count into the pose, but not in the pose its self-same as Manju Jois did in a resent led class I attended. This is exactly how I was taught this sequence by my teacher Nancy Gilgoff-I notice some teachers ( and students) go into a really deep Utkatasana. Lovely to see the shala in Mysore, sweated it out in that spot a few times myself :-)

How does this pregnancy yoga class differ from a general prenatal yoga class?  Diane King our specialist teacher explains. Yoga for birth preparation classes Diane’s  Yoga for birth preparation classes are tailored for the final stages of pregnancy (From 32 weeks), where what we need most is to quieten the mind, let go of time pressures and constant doing and be in a consciously relaxed state, where we can connect with ourselves, our babies and our inner birthing wisdom. The course runs over four weeks and each week a different topic is discussed at the start of class: Week 1: The natural physiology of birth – What to expect at different stages of the labour process Week 2: Managing fear – Trusting your body and nurturing a sense of empowerment Week 3: Creating a positive intention and guided relaxation – Letting go of the intellect and connecting with intuition and instincts Week 4: Using breath as your anchor in labour – Detailed breath techniques for the differe

I feel really lucky to have practised yoga with the two people I would call the most influential teachers in my yoga practice, Nancy Gilgoff and Sharath Jois, here in London this summer (see previous blog items). Nancy has of course known the Jois family for many, many years and recommended practising ashtanga yoga with Manju, if I got the opportunity. StillPoint yoga London hosted him here in London and I managed to get along to one led ashtanga yoga class. It was a wonderful experience and I can only describe it as a "soft and joyful" practice. It is always interesting to see how the same yoga asanas (more or less), are taught differently by different teachers. Manju counted us into the pose but not once we were in it. I glanced at him in in what seemed to be a very long Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana and saw that he was counting to himself throughout. This really made me smile. The long pranayama and chanting were the best and was indeed the pranayama practice Nancy

Well this is a rare treat indeed-Sharath teaching a short pranayama on youtube and wearing his Brahmin thread. This is the pranayama that he shared here in London on his recent trip.This is the first time I have ever seen a video of him teaching like this.

Interesting title from Richard Freeman (mind you, he is always interesting). Before you jump to conclusions watch the video Yoga ruins your life...  as you once knew it.

What an honour it has been to be part of the ashtanga yoga community sharing a week of yoga with the wonderful Sharath Jois here in London. Meeting new people, seeing familiar faces, and even practising next to my daughter on one occasion. Sharath was truly happy and shiny (which was very contagious)  and even taught a short pranayama at the end of the led primary class on two occasions (which I personally have never experienced with him before). He said that you could use this pranayama if you were stressed or angry... perhaps he thinks us Londoners need it! :-) He laughed a lot. My daughter Cally had her hands apart in virabhadrasana 1 and I could hear him saying "close your hands" and knew he was talking to her. I reached over and pushed them together. He whispered to me "is she yours?" and laughed (he later said he thought we looked very similar). We were two in a very large group. I'm sure everyone in the room has taken a bit of "Sharath sunsh