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Welcome to our May newsletter.
To lighter days, more sunshine, blooming gardens, and bank holidays! Our horse chestnut tree outside the window is at its most glorious!
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
The Yogin-s understood the human body differently from how we perceive it today. Apart from understanding it as a complex physiological structure, the Yogin-s also realised that we are made up of an intricate subtle body.
An important part of this subtle entity is the major energy centres known as Cakra-s, (note Western spelling with an ‘h’ to help pronunciation of the Sanskrit) which are linked together through subtle channels called the Nāḍī-s. Each of these Cakra-s is associated with vital physiological and emotional functions. Hence the Yogin-s firmly believed that any imbalance in the Cakra-s could result in physiological and emotional illness and vice versa.
Thus they had a deep and profound understanding of the Cakra-s and also developed tools and methods to influence them when they were in a state of disharmony. In fact this understanding of the subtle body was the main basis for evolving the multiple tools of Yoga. For each modern Yoga practitioner it is important to learn the way Yogin-s saw the human body through this understanding of the subtle anatomy and how Yoga’s tools can be utilized to influence the energy centres in the body. When the Cakra-s are properly understood and Yoga’s tools are appropriately administered, they become powerful allies in the path of health and expansion of hidden potential.
The many tools of yoga include postures (Āsana), breath regulation (Prāṇāyāma), meditation (Dhyāna), dietary recommendations (Āhāra-niyama), lifestyle suggestions (Vihāra-niyama), chanting (Mantra), visualisations/affirmations (Bhāvanā), special energetic seals (Mudrā), symbolic gestures (Nyāsa) and guided self-inquiry (Svādhyāya).
Dr Kausthub Desikachar will be in Dorset in June and will offer a 3 day course at the yoga centre on the 10th, 11th and 12th June exploring these energy centres.
In addition, on Friday evening he will offer Vedic Chants for Peace (donations to charity), and on Saturday evening he will give a free lecture on his 3-year yoga therapy course, which he hopes to run again in 2023.
A simple practice to become more aware of each energy centre is to hold your hands over each cakra, either going to sleep at night or in the morning before getting up, or both and noticing any sensations such as heat, coolness, a sense of energy or lack of, or simple take your thoughts to each centre when you have a quiet moment.
As with any aspect of yoga, practice is needed to be become more aware and skilled.
Despite unknown origins, Yoga was documented for the first time in the form of the Yogasutra, authored by the great Yogi Patanjali (we study this text once a month with Sarah Ryan). This text documents the entire philosophical system of yoga, exploring our deep psyche, and helps to facilitate personal and spiritual transformation. Yoga is not just a physical exercise, tying yourself up in knots!
Sutra 1.12: Abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tat-nirodhah
As life ‘seems’ to become ever more bonkers, it seems our meditation practice and detachment is needed more than ever. Detachment doesn’t mean ignoring or being selfish to what is going on around you, but it does mean choosing carefully when to watch news/read newspapers, and choose your sources carefully. News is always biased and always someone else’s opinion.
Remember to feed yourself on all levels with good things: music, books, laughter, pets, nature, exercise and quiet contemplation, life has so many wonderful things on offer….
I have spent the weekend in mid Wales, doing just that. A friend invited me for walking and yoga in the Welsh mountains and it was just what I needed. To be taught rather than teach, to walk rather than sit at a computer, to eat healthy food that someone else made! It doesn’t take much, just two days in my case to come back restored; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, all the many layers that make us whole. To make us feel like we can cope with our everyday commitments and chores. It is worth it! You are worth it.
You may not not be able to find a weekend away but hopefully we have plenty on offer that I hope will feed you too!
A bit of outside yoga: a hip opener as I dried my feet after a very cold paddle in an icy lake:
Happy Easter to you all 🙂
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
~ Judith Hanson Lasater ~
~ Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life ~
Happy March.
We have a wonderful Yoga Sangha at the yoga centre.
Sangha is a Sanskrit word that means company, or community or association. The shared sense of community amongst yoga practitioners has grown worldwide in recent years. This has helped novice yoga practitioners to assimilate more easily into the yoga culture, whilst seasoned yogis are able to share their experience and lifestyle choices with a larger audience. Yoga is fashionable!!! What starts out as a physical exercise for many, is the beginnings of a lifelong practice of turning in, listening to the body, and beginning the steps to concentration and stilling the mind, and answering the questions ‘Who am I?’.
Our own Dorchester Yoga Sangha continues to grow and grow. Our aim has always been to provide classes to suit everyone depending on age, interest and ability no matter where they are in their yoga journey. The yoga centre is coming to the end of its sixth year, and many of our students have been regular, and committed to the centre since the beginning. They give as much to our yoga community as they receive. They offer supportive groups to their fellow yogis through times of need, and I witness that so much throughout the weeks.
One of my recent emails from David one of my chair yogis, had been inspired after we were practising Mountain Pose (Tadasana):
The idea of a vertical line connecting heaven and earth comes from Vedic times. Later this was symbolised as a mountain, with its roots in the earth and its peaks in the heavens. The mountain is aligned along the pull of gravity and should be both stable and relaxed. David was inspired to go home and paint a picture of mountains:
And then proceeded to bring me a framed copy along with a poem by Hokusai. It was so beautiful I had to share it, and I have put it up for all to see in the centre.
Hokusai says look carefully.
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
He says there is no end to seeing
.
He says look forward to getting old.
He says keep changing,
you just get more who you really are.
He says get stuck, accept it, repeat
yourself as long as it is interesting.
He says keep doing what you love.
He says keep praying.
He says every one of us is a child,
every one of us is ancient
,
every one of us has a body.
He says every one of us is frightened.
He says every one of us has to find
a way to live with fear.
He says everything is alive —
shells, buildings, people, fish,
mountains, trees, wood is alive.
Water is alive.
Everything has its own life.
Everything lives inside us.
He says live with the world inside you.
He says it doesn’t matter if you draw,
or write books. It doesn’t matter
if you saw wood, or catch fish.
It doesn’t matter if you sit at home
and stare at the ants on your veranda
or the shadows of the trees
and grasses in your garden.
I
It matters that you care.
It matters that you feel.
It matters that you notice.
It matters that life lives through you.
Contentment is life living through you.
Joy is life living through you.
Satisfaction and strength
is life living through you.
Peace is life living through you.
He says don’t be afraid.
Don’t be afraid.
Love, feel, let life take you by the hand.
Let life live through you.
Sometimes I just have emails that make me burst out laughing, as my student Ann shared a use for her heavy yoga bag propping the door shut in the recent windy weather:
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
The mind can go in a thousand directions,
but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace.
With each step, the wind blows.
With each step, a flower blooms.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~
Happy February to you all.
Although we are all waiting for the first signs of Spring, I thought I would share my lovely Amaryllis that I had for Xmas.
The yoga centre and therapy rooms are busy and there is an air of optimism for more normal times. It feels like we may be heading back to a more ‘normal’ way of life!
A yoga practice is a constant that keeps us calm through uncertain times.
If you haven’t had that through the last few years and feel like it’s time to start, please let us help you find a class or some one-to-one sessions.
January has always been a busy month for us, and it is always good to see everyone coming back with all those good intentions. We still have some classes with spaces.
Check whether a class is full or not by looking at the classes page on the website.
So many of our teachers and therapists are carers, nurses and/or parents, giving constantly to others. Despite all that, they still find time to teach and share their passions, saying that they get so much back from it.
Dorchester and the surrounding area is lucky to have such a great, committed team of people!
Looking to February we have an interesting array of workshops so make sure you find some time for yourself to enjoy some of them.
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
The Qi Gong class with Tim Button has moved to 5:00 – 6:00pm on Tuesdays.
There is a new Intermediate Mat Work Pilates class on Tuesday evenings 7:45 – 8:45pm with Sharon Morgan. Her Mat Work Pilates classes on Tuesdays 8:00 – 9:00 am and 9:15 – 10:15am, and Wednesdays 9:15 – 10.15am are also resuming.
Chrissie Haskett took a short break to look after her elderly parents and is very keen to get back to her teaching. Her Yin Yoga classes are on Monday and Wednesday mornings at 10:30am – 12:00pm.
Welcome to January 2022!
We started the New Year with a wonderful Om Shanti Concert with Magdalena, chanting and drumming, shaking our shakers and relaxing to Magdalena’s beautiful voice; a very special and soulful way to begin the new year in the centre.
We have a new class of Gentle Yoga starting on Thursdays at 1:30 – 3:00pm with Helen Heger. We also have a new IAIM Baby Massage Course starting on Thursday 13th January with Sharon Cox-Button 12:00 – 1:15pm.
Our January workshops are below.
We wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to welcoming you to our centre.
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
Hello and welcome to our December newsletter
We have made it to the end of a precarious year, and like many others we are extremely glad to be still open!
Thank you to all the teachers and therapists who have worked through such difficult times watching their class sizes go up and down, their clients go up and down, not knowing if they will have enough students or clients to cover their rents.
And of course, a big thank you to all our students and clients who have supported us on Zoom and in the studios and therapy rooms.
What a positive and determined group of teachers, students and therapists, working hard to keep the centre going.
The Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre lease came up for renewal throughout lock down and many said I would be stupid to sign another in such uncertain times, but there was no doubt that we have all come to realise what our priorities are, and for many the classes and therapies offered here are things we cannot live without!
For anyone unfortunate enough to have suffered Covid 19 and still has some ongoing symptoms (or if you know someone who has), the article below about Sarah Burt may interest you.
Enjoy spending time with your friends and families this year. Remember it is a time for relaxing, slowing down and resting, and of course eating and drinking in moderation, as is the yogic way.
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
For anyone unfortunate enough to have suffered Covid 19 and still has some ongoing symptoms (or if you know someone who has), this article might be of interest to you:
Sarah Burt has over 20 years experience working as a naturopath, herbalist, homeopath, iridologist, and nutritionist, and is a member of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), and the General Council of Registered Naturopaths (GCRN).
This is what she has to say about her “7 Weeks 2 Wellbeing” course:
Post viral symptoms are no laughing matter. Extreme fatigue, anxiety, memory impairment, digestive changes and inability to sleep are just some of the symptoms people are left with after viral infections such as Covid-19.
In order to return to full health it is vital to repair the organs and systems that have been compromised from having the viral infection, to enable the immune system to restore itself.
The 7 weeks 2 well-being programme is a carefully researched and designed 7 week course of herbal tonics that aims to do just this using NATURES WAY and not chemicals.
The first two weeks of tonics restores the liver function and digestive system as the breaking down and absorption of food will have been compromised.
The next two weeks of tonic include medicinal plants that nourish and mend the nervous system and the adrenals which have been weakened causing lower resistance to stress. If not addressed this can lead to further deterioration of these areas leading to possible mental health issues.
The final three weeks of tonics cleanse and restore all the organs associated with cleansing toxins and waste products from the body, the kidneys, bowels and lymphatic systems. This means that all remaining by products of the virus are successfully removed out of the body leaving all these areas toned and able to effectively detox again.
The 7 week 2 well-being course is made from 100% organic herbal products and the programme is £89 including postage.
This course is extremely good value and if anyone books this in December, Sarah will give them a free copy of her book Getting Healthy in 7 simple steps.
Welcome to our November newsletter
I learnt these amazing facts at the museum in Edinburgh, and marvelled at the Wonders of the Universe, aware that soon Scotland will host COP26 (26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties) to discuss the fact that mankind, instead of marvelling at, respecting and living in harmony with the world, has brought us to the point of irreversible destruction, all for the sake of chasing money.
We are lucky that so many brave, courageous souls will be descending on Glasgow to put pressure on the powerful, to let them know we need a new way, a system change. To feel part of this movement you can join in with many local actions.
On November 6th, the Global Day for Climate Justice, you can be part of the Worldwide movement to call for change.
In Weymouth many local groups will come together for speeches and to march together. Add your support to this Global day and be part of history.
Vishnu as a young man holds the three of his four symbols – a conch shell for creation, a discus for the mind, and a club for strength. Vishnu, the preserver, is one of the three great Hindu Gods, the other two are Brahma the creator and Siva the destroyer. Together they create, look after and destroy the world in an endless cycle. As always a balance is needed; we need to find the balance before it is too late!
There are lots of nurturing workshops to choose from this month, which is just what we all need as we settle into Autumn’s shorter days and dark evenings. Slowing down, turning in, finding peace and balance.
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
Welcome to October 🙂
The Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre opened its doors in November 2015.
From almost the beginning there has been a regular monthly meeting with yoga teacher Sarah Ryan looking at the amazing Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This is probably the most important yoga book ever written. It is written in Sanskrit, and contains four logically written chapters, with 195 aphorisms, or concise statements known as sutras, describing the whole philosophical system of yoga.
We have slowly been working our way through the book and have reached Chapter 3 which talks about the last 3 of the eight ‘limbs’ or branches of yoga; the internal ‘limbs’ of concentration, meditation and complete absorption- samadhi.
Sutra 111.1 “desa-bandhah-cittasya dharana”
Concentration is fixing the mind in one direction. When the mind remains bound to the chosen object without failing, this is concentration, the preliminary condition for reaching the next stages of dhyana and samadhi (meditation and complete absorption).
I am struck by how Autumn seems to throw up an extraordinary amount of beautiful objects or scenes on which to practice one’s concentration. Many flowers in the garden are finding energy to make their last few blooms before the slow dying back of Autumn begins, the colours are changing, the spiders are spinning, the harvests are being brought in and perhaps the last few swims are being enjoyed before the weather changes. As one of my heroines said
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
~~ L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables ~~
Enjoy the wonderful weather and beautiful surroundings. Slow down into Autumn, find time to practise concentration, and come and enjoy some of our workshops 🙂
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre
We welcome Tom Anderson to our team of therapists. Tom is a CBT therapist.
I am really pleased that the Reiki Share is back on our timetable, please see details below.
Our thanks go to Leanne Jones who has been teaching a Jivamukti class once a month on a Friday evening for many years now. She is off to open her own studio in Wimborne, we will miss her and we wish her well with her new venture (… although she’s only in Wimborne so do check out her new studio).
Here is our teacher Sam Stevens enjoying her class:
And lastly big congratulations to our fabulous yoga teacher Kim Mackie who got married last week to Fred; so lovely to see Kim in her beautiful dress as we normally only see each other in yoga leggings!
We have a new weekly Saturday morning Mixed Ability Yoga class starting with Katie Pitney 10.45-11.45am.
Welcome to September. We hope you have found time to escape your normal routine, and have enjoyed some Summer fun, either by relaxing, or being active, being social or finding a quiet space; whichever were your requirements.
My Summer read was “A Lonesome Dove” a Western novel by Larry McMurty, with wise words no matter what the season:
“It may be we’ll meet down the road” July said
“Perhaps… I see you are in a hurry to get someplace. It’s a great mistake to hurry” Mr Sedgewick said.
“Why?”
“Because the grave’s our destination, and those who hurry usually get to it quicker than those who take their time…”
For many, September brings a settling back into routines after the excitement of Summer, although hopefully with many more beautiful days to swim in the sea, and enjoy nature in our gardens and beautiful surrounding countryside.
We welcome back some of our teachers who have had their summer breaks, and settle into our Autumn term. Marj Snape is back with Morning Meditation and a new 5 week course ‘Finding Stillness’. Nancy returns with her Gentle Yoga on Tuesday lunchtime, Sharon Morgan is offering a new class ‘Better Balance Pilates’ and a Tuesday and Wednesday morning Pilates class, and Chrissie Haskett is back with Monday and Wednesday morning Yin Yoga classes. We have a new Tai Chi class starting on Thursday evenings with Tim Button at 6:00 – 7:30pm and of course all our regular classes and workshops.
We have a great mix of workshops to take us into the Autumn; a mixture of dynamic and slower classes depending on your preferences.
As ever, the details are below and in the calendar – please check it!
With best wishes from Sharon and all the teachers and therapists at Dorchester Yoga and Therapy Centre