British Wheel of Yoga: Wales Region

close Strength in Asana
The Mill on the Hill, Holywell, CH8 7PN
Saturday 17th October 2015 | 9.00 am – 3.00 pm
Tutor: Zoe Knott
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £40
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Please bring a packed lunch. Hot drinks - tea, coffee provided.
Remember to bring belts and blocks to the workshop.

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR North-East Wales:  

This CPD day aims to teach -
• the principles and reasons for working with strength in asana
• how this physical practice affects us energetically and is a part of the balance that is HATHA Yoga
• specific techniques to develop strength
• how to move in and out of asana in the safest way
• how participants can relate this to their own teaching

Zoe Knott has practised yoga for 30 years with many different teachers from a variety of traditions. She uses a combination of these styles in her own teaching. However, one of the key areas of her teaching comes from a point of safety and Zoe has developed a style of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress.

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close Surya Namskaram / Sun Salutation
Cathays Methodist Church, Crwys Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4NE
Saturday 24th October 2015 | 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tutor: Colin Dunsmuir
event fee: members £30 | non-members £40

This event is open to non-teachers as well as teachers, but BWY teachers have booking priority. Non-BWY members, and non-teachers who book this day will be placed on a waiting list and will be offered available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR SGlamorgan:  

A practical workshop suitable for yoga practitioners and yoga teachers
In its physical form, surya namskaram/sun salutation, usually starts and finishes standing, with a series of potential different postures in between. Dependent on the approach taken and the purpose, there may be up to 12 or more steps in a sequence, all with movements synchronised with breath and/or sound.

This experiential workshop aims to
- understand the history and background of surya namskara
- break out in detail all of the steps in both simple and more complex surya namskara sequences
- investigate the appropriate positioning of each part of the body for individual evolution
- discover modifications and variations for individual benefit
- refine the technique to move into, stay and come out of each position in a sequence
- experiment with breathing to enhance the effect and experience
- use the sequences to learn how to refine effort and adapt, how to achieve stability and consistency and application in daily life
- understand the layers of the practice, including exploration of practice with sound and surya namskara as a meditational or devotional practice.

Colin Dunsmuir has been a practitioner of yoga for well over 20 years and is an experienced teacher trainer. Earlier in his life he practised the Iyengar method and further to this he practised and completed the first and second series of Astanga Vinyasa directly under the guidance of the late K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath in Mysore, India. In his continued search for coherency in the teachings, he was directed to go as close to the source as possible and focus on the teachings presented by the 'Father of Modern Yoga' - Professor T. Krishnamacharya; this led him to be invited to study directly with the family. The following years consisted of extensive training, guidance and practice in all aspects of yoga presented by Professor T. Krishnamacharya and his son T.K.V. Desikachar. Colin was honoured to be given the role of a Yoga Teacher Trainer and Yoga Therapist by TKV Desikachar. He teaches yoga full time in London, specialising in teaching 1-2-1, yoga therapy and evolving yoga teachers.

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close Exploring how the human body is able to be upright and move
Swansea Vale Resource Centre, Fford Tregof, Swansea, SA7 0AL
Saturday 14th November 2015 | 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tutor: Andrea Newman
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £40
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Packed Lunch. Usual yoga gear, including a blanket.

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR MidWest Glamorgan:  

Stability 1: Exploring how the human body is able to be upright and move

Aims of the morning:
1. To consider anatomical aspects of stability in the body and to explore these in asana practice.
2. To consider the role of bandha in being upright, and the meaning of 'core' stabilisation.
Objectives
1. Explain the need for both stability and instability in the body, and appreciate the effect of intention on core stability through an asana practice.
2. Discuss the role of bandha and why we teach and practise these, considering physical and emotional aspects.

Aims of the Afternoon
1. Consideration of the importance of neurological control of the stabilising muscles and the influence of perception on stability.
2. Exploring what we mean by 'core' and 'feeling centred'.
Objectives:
1. Describe tonic and phasic muscle function and explain the importance of timing in core stability.
2. Appreciate the link between stability in our physical embodied reality and in our inner world of thoughts and emotions (pancha kosha).

Outline plan for the day
10.00 INTRODUCTION - names and sharing of ideas around the meaning of stability.
Lecture and discussion on the need for both stability and instability in the body to allow movement while remaining upright.
10.45 Asana session exploring ways of approaching asana to develop core stability while maintaining adaptability, softness and graceful movement.
12.45 Discussion of bandha.
1.00 LUNCH
2.00 Revision of concepts covered in the morning, with questions.
Lecture on neurological control of local muscles.
Movement session - exploring perceptual aspects of stability.
3.00 Discussion of philosophical aspects of stability - security in insecurity, emotional stability, finding your centre, engaging the core.
Meditation practice.
Summary of the day (handouts).
EVALUATION
4.00 CLOSE

Andrea Newman has been teaching yoga since 1994 and is an experienced DCT. She qualified as a Rolfing Structural Integration bodyworker in 2008, after nearly 3 years of training at the European Rolfing Association in Munich, and also has a diploma in Stress Management Training. Andrea's practice and teaching has been inspired by yogis and teachers from many different traditions, including the Satyananda, Iyengar, Sivananda, Viniyoga, Kripalu and Scaravelli schools. She is on the teaching faculty of the South West Yoga Academy.

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close Strength in Asana
Small World Centre (Canolfan Byd Bychan), Bath House Road, Cardigan, SA43 1JY
Saturday 21st November 2015 | 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tutor: Zoe Knott
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £45
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Do be sure to bring belts and blocks to the workshop

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR Ceredigion:  

My session is called Strength in Asana and I would like to tell you a little about what the day will encompass and why I teach and work in this way.
We will look at three areas:
1. The principles of working with strength in asana (ie why do we even consider this?)
2. Specific techniques to develop core strength
3. How to move in and out of postures in the safest way.

The key aspect of my teaching comes from a point of safety and I have developed a technique of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress. In my experience, yoga teachers and seasoned practitioners are already incredibly flexible but sometimes not so strong. Yet we need to have the necessary strength to support the joints.

The IST Day will include specific techniques to strengthen these areas. We will also analyze how we move in and out of postures and how to do this in the safest way. Usually in yoga we spend time in postures, adjusting this and that, moving this way and that way. We move into the postures thinking often of the breath but not of which muscles can take us safely into the postures. And more importantly, particularly in the standing postures, which muscles should take us out of postures when gravity is against us. We must consider the muscles that we need to engage to move us into and out of postures. The beauty of using strength in this way is that it allows us to be even safer in postures.

Zoe Knott has practised yoga for 30 years with many different teachers from a variety of traditions. She uses a combination of these styles in her own teaching. However, one of the key areas of her teaching comes from a point of safety and Zoe has developed a style of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress.

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close Journey into Backbending
Trefeglwys Village Hall, Trefeglwys, Caersws, Powys, SY17 5PH
Sunday 22nd November 2015 | 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tutor: Zoe Knott
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £30.75
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Bring lunch; refreshments provided. Bring belts and blocks.

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR Powys:  

10.00 INTRODUCTION and Icebreakers
10.15 Preparatory work including spine mobilization, neck work, shoulder work, lunges, Warrior I
11.20 Back strengthening including Sphinx, Cobra, Salabhasana Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Ustrasana
12.30 Easing
12.40 Relaxation

1.00 LUNCH

2.00 Q&A, Discussion
2.30 Hips (will be supine as after lunch)
3.00 Stages of King Pidgeon

0R

2.30 Prone Shoulder stretches
3.00 Stages of Chakrasana
3.30 Twists easing
3.45 Quiet
3.55 EVALUATION
4.00 CLOSE

Zoe Knott has practised yoga for 30 years with many different teachers from a variety of traditions. She uses a combination of these styles in her own teaching. However, one of the key areas of her teaching comes from a point of safety and Zoe has developed a style of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress.

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close BWY Foundation Course - Level 1
Beechwood House, Beechwood Park, Christchurch Road, Newport, NP19 8AJ
5th December 2015 - 29th October 2016
Tutor: Audrey Blow

For more information, contact

Starting with an Induction day on 5th December 2015, and then meeting once a month on a Saturday for 10 full days until the 29th October 2016.

Aims of the Course:
• To widen and deepen practical and philosophical experience of yoga and encourage personal development.
• To offer a basic grounding for those who wish to prepare for teacher training.

The course is open to students who have a love of yoga and been practising regularly for 2 years or more. It is an opportunity to gain practical skills, develop your own practice and find an insightful, relevant understanding of the philosophy that underpins yoga. There will be in-depth study of the Eight Limbs and the Classical Yoga book The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This includes asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breathing techniques), relaxation techniques, meditation and working with mudra (hand gestures) and mantra (sound yoga). Home practice is expected and encouraged. We will also look at the history of yoga and how it has developed over the years. This is an ideal opportunity for self-development through insightful practice and integration of yoga philosophy into everyday life. It is also an excellent grounding if you would like to enrol on a teacher training course afterwards.

The cost of the course is £500. There is also a registration fee of £60 payable to the British Wheel of Yoga, in addition to the BWY membership fee of £36.

Audrey Blow is a BWY teacher and Diploma Course Tutor, and is currently fulfilling the role as Gwent County rep. Her approach to teaching is described as methodical with attention to detail. She endeavours to make each yoga practice an experience and an opportunity to bring about a deep understanding of what it is to be human physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. She is keen to use all yoga traditions, including the more traditional and those that have been more recently forged, in her teaching.

Audrey began her yoga journey as a teenager in the Iyengar tradition in Cape Town. This inspired a love for the practice and the lessons learned on the mat slowly crept into her daily life. In the United Kingdom, Audrey continued her exploration of yoga with Iyengar teachers. In 2005 she completed the BWY teaching diploma with Fay Beddowes and has been offering weekly classes and weekend retreats ever since. She has continued her yoga studies through the BWY meditation module with Kay Baxter, Pranayama course with Phillip Xerri and yoga retreats with Billy Doyle and other insightful teachers in the UK and in South Africa.

Audrey undertook Diploma Course Tutor training with Terri Hilder and Zoe Knott in 2011-13 and describes this as one of the most intensive and rewarding experiences of her yoga journey. She is currently co-tutoring with Lynne Jones, guiding their first group of students through their Diploma in Teaching. More recently she has attended courses at the Mandala Yoga Ashram in Wales and found Swami Nishchalananda's kind and pragmatic wisdom inspiring.

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close Yoga for a healthy back and a radiant heart
Caerleon Town Hall, Church Street, Caerleon, Newport, NP18 1AW
Sunday 6th December 2015 | 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Tutor: Cathy Genevie and Susan Baynham-Evans
event fee: members £10 | non-members £10

This is a FREE event for BWY Wales members, but you must book a place and send a cheque for £10 as a deposit. Your cheque will be returned to you if you attend the event.

Bring your usual yoga equipment

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR Gwent:  

The session will explore how to manage lower back pain and offer you simple, effective exercises to strengthen the back. This would be useful for students, teachers or anyone wishing to manage intermittent lower back pain. This session will also offer a flowing routine with the focus on the Heart Centre, which can be incorporated into your personal yoga practice and self-care; handouts will be given.

There will be a break during the morning where you can enjoy a warm drink and the company of fellow yogis. The session will finish with a guided relaxation.

Susan Baynham-Evans and Cathy Genevie have both completed the Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs course with Alison Trewehla. Cathy's teaching is inspired by Kripalu Yoga. Susan is a BWY teacher who is inspired by Dru yoga amongst other traditions.

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close BWY Foundation Course - Level 2
Little Shop of Calm, 1 Wesgate, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, CF71 7AQ
January to September 2016
Tutor: Danielle Nicholls

For more information, contact

The course will run from January to September 2016 on one Sunday per month plus a weekend retreat at St Non's, Pembrokeshire from April 15-17th. The course will continue from Level 1, including more study of the sutras of Patanjali, Pranayama and Meditation techniques, chanting, kriyas, mudra, bandha and asana. Students should have completed BWY Foundation Course level 1 and have a love of yoga.

Having qualified with The British Wheel of Yoga in 2004, Danielle continues to blend a variety of Hatha Yoga styles into her teaching, combining an early Iyengar and Ashtanga influence with previous contemporary dance training and the still, strong holding poses in the Taoist yoga tradition, then Yin and Yang or Soft and Strong Yoga is primarily the focus.

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close Stabilisation of the lumbar spine and shoulder joints
Swansea Vale Resource Centre, Fford Tregof, Swansea, SA7 0AL
Saturday 19th March 2016 | 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tutor: Andrea Newman
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £40
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Packed lunch and usual yoga gear, including a blanket.

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR MidWest Glamorgan:  

Stability 2: Stabilisation of the lumbar spine and shoulder joints

Aims of the Morning
1. Anatomy of the lumbar spine and supporting structures. Perceptual aspects of stabilisation.
2. Looking at how yoga can improve an unstable lumbar spine - or make it worse.
Objectives
1. Identify the structures involves in supporting the lumbar spine and explain how it is stabilised during movement, and how this can be affected by perception and intention.
2. Discuss how our yoga teaching can aid back care and how we can best help students with lower back pain, in terms of choices in class planning and guidance given.

Aims of the Afternoon
1. Anatomy of the shoulder girdle and supporting structures, and consideration of the different functions the shoulders are asked to perform.
2. Perception and self-image in integrity of the shoulder joint. Exploring how our use of language and imagery in yoga teaching can help bring healing and poise.
Objectives
1. Identify the joints of the shoulder girdle, describe the function of the rotator cuff muscles and identify different uses of the shoulder joint within a range of asana.
2. Appreciate how our use of language in yoga, alongside exercise, can help students with shoulder pain and tension.

Outline plan for the day
10.00 INTRODUCTION - names and sharing of ideas around the meaning of stability.
Lecture on the anatomy of the lumbar spine and how it is stabilised.
11.00 Asana session exploring the body’s relationship with gravity to initiate appropriate core stabilisation of the lumbar spine.
Relaxation exercise, exploring patterns of holding.
Considering some common movement patterns which often lead to lower back pain, and how we can work towards more integrated movement patterns.
1.00 LUNCH
2.00 Pair work - exploring pushing and reaching.
Lecture on the anatomy of the shoulder girdle and how it is stabilised.
3.00 Asana/movement session focusing on movements of the shoulder joints.
Summary of the day (handouts).
EVALUATION
4.00 CLOSE

Andrea Newman has been teaching yoga since 1994 and is an experienced DCT. She qualified as a Rolfing Structural Integration bodyworker in 2008, after nearly 3 years of training at the European Rolfing Association in Munich, and also has a diploma in Stress Management Training. Andrea's practice and teaching has been inspired by yogis and teachers from many different traditions, including the Satyananda, Iyengar, Sivananda, Viniyoga, Kripalu and Scaravelli schools. She is on the teaching faculty of the South West Yoga Academy.

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close Exploring Arm Balances
Little Mill Village Hall, Berthon Road, Little Mill, Pontypool, NP4 0HE
Saturday 30th April 2016 | 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tutor: Zoe Knott
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £40
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Be sure to bring two firm blocks, belts and good humour to the workshop.

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR Gwent:  

Aims of the Morning
To teach:
1. How to approach arm balances in the safest way.
2. Areas that need to be strong; areas that need to be flexible.
3. How to incorporate relevant preparatory techniques into general class teaching.
4. A safe and accessible approach to Scorpion to give stages for teaching safely.

Objectives
Those attending will:
1. Practise approaches to arm balances in the safest way.
2. Understand areas that need to be strong; areas that need to be flexible.
3. Learn how to incorporate relevant preparatory techniques into their general class teaching.
4. Prepare a safe and accessible approach to Scorpion to give stages for teaching safely.

Aims of the Afternoon
To teach:
1. Why we should consider working in and teaching arm balances physically and esoterically while considering contraindications.
2. A safe and accessible approach to Firefly and give stages for teachers to give to their students.
Objectives
Those attending will:
1. Understand when we should consider working in and teaching arm balances physically and esoterically while considering contraindications.
2. Learn a safe and accessible approach to Firefly and give stages for own teaching

Outline plan for the day
10.00 INTRODUCTION
10.15 Preparatory work including Spine Mobilization, in Cat, Forearm Cat, Dog, Forearm Dog
11.15 Shoulder Stretches
11.45 Arm, Abdominal Strengthening
12.15 Arm Placement in Scorpion
12.30 Work with Wall in Forearm Dog Variations
12.45 Scorpion Pairwork with Wall
12.55 Scorpion Pairwork no Wall
1.05 Easing, Twists
1.15 Relaxation

1.30 LUNCH

2.30 Q&A, Discussion, Benefits, Contraindications, View of Experts
2.50 Ham string stretching
3.00 Hip work
3.15 Standing wide leg forward bends with hip opening.
3.30 Low Lizard (lunge variation)
3.20 Choice of stages of Firefly
3.30 Easing, Twists

Zoe Knott has practised yoga for 30 years with many different teachers from a variety of traditions. She uses a combination of these styles in her own teaching. However, one of the key areas of her teaching comes from a point of safety and Zoe has developed a style of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress.

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close Journey into Back Bending
The Bowling Club, St. Peter's Street, Carmarthen, SA31 1QP
Sunday 1st May 2016 | 9.30 am – 3.30 pm
Tutor: Zoe Knott
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £40
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

You will need 2 x firm blocks and a yoga strap. Please bring your own lunch. Teas and coffee are provided.
Please note this event is a 9.30 am start

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR Dyfed:  

Aims of the Morning
To teach:
• Kinesiology (body movement, agonists, antagonists)
• Precautions
• Resources
• Principles
• How to approach in the safest way
• Specific stages
• Why we teach Back Bends
Objectives
Students will:
• Study the kinesiology
• Revise precautions
• Develop a knowledge as to why, when and how to use resources
• Appreciate the principles of Back Bending
• Learn how to approach Back Bending in the safest way
• Practise specific stages to enable them to teach these to their students
• Understand why we work in Back Bends (physical and esoteric)

Aims of the Afternoon
To teach as above focusing on a specific back bending
Objectives
Students will gain skill, knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the principles and practice involved in a specific back bending asana.

During the Workshop we will look at three areas:
1. Why we work in these poses.
2. Stages to allow all abilities to progress safely.
3. How to move in and out of postures in the safest way.
We will prepare for asana with specific techniques to stretch or strengthen relevant muscles. The postures will be broken down and considered stage by stage. This will enable us to give each of our students a stage they can work with and a path on which they can progress forward on their Journey Into Back Bending.

Outline plan for the day
10.00 INTRODUCTION and Icebreakers
10.15 Preparatory work including spine mobilization, neck work, shoulder work, lunges, Warrior I
11.20 Back strengthening including Sphinx, Cobra, Salabhasana Urdhva, Mukha Svanasana, Ustrasana
12.30 Easing
12.40 Relaxation
1.00 LUNCH
2.00 Q&A, Discussion
2.30 Hips [will be supine as after lunch]
3.00 Stages of King Pidgeon
OR
2.30 Prone Shoulder stretches
3.00 Stages of Chakrasana
3.30 Twists easing
3.45 Quiet
3.55 EVALUATION
4.00 CLOSE

Zoe Knott has practised yoga for 30 years with many different teachers from a variety of traditions. She uses a combination of these styles in her own teaching. However, one of the key areas of her teaching comes from a point of safety and Zoe has developed a style of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress.

close

close Strength in Asana
Swansea Vale Resource Centre, Fford Tregof, Swansea, SA7 0AL
Sunday 13th November 2016 | 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tutor: Zoe Knott
Event fee: BWY members £30 | non-members £40
NB: This event is open to ALL BWY members - but teachers have booking priority. Non-teachers will be offered any available places 2 weeks before the event date.

Do be sure to bring belts and blocks to the Workshop. Bring a packed lunch.

Make your cheque payable to 'BWY Wales'
Remember to postdate your cheque to match the date of the event.
Send booking form and cheque to CR MidWest Glamorgan:  

To teach:
1. The principles and reasons for working with strength in asana.
2. How this physical practice affects us energetically and is very much a part of the balance that is HA THA Yoga.
3. Specific techniques to develop strength.
4. How to move in and out of asana in the safest way.
5. To explain how they can relate this to their own teaching.

We will look at three areas:
1. The principles of working with strength in asana
(ie why do we even consider this?)
2. Specific techniques to develop core strength
3. How to move in and out of postures in the safest way.

The key aspect of my teaching comes from a point of safety and I have developed a technique of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress. In my experience, Yoga Teachers and seasoned practitioners are already incredibly flexible but sometimes not so strong. Yet we need to have the necessary strength to support the joints.

The IST Day will include specific techniques to strengthen these areas. We will also analyse how we move in and out of postures and how to do this in the safest way. Usually in yoga we spend time in postures, adjusting this and that, moving this way and that way. We move into the postures thinking often of the breath but not of which muscles can take us safely into the postures. And more importantly, particularly in the standing postures, which muscles should take us out of postures when gravity is against us.
We must consider the muscles that we need to engage to move us into and out of postures. The beauty of using strength in this way is that it allows us to be even safer in postures.

Outline plan for the day
10.00am INTRODUCTION Techniques to develop strength focusing on:
10.10 Pelvic Floor
10.30 Feet
11.00 Upper Legs
11.30 Arms/Upper Body
12.00 Abdomen
12.30 Easing. Twists
12.45 Relaxation
1.00pm LUNCH
2.00 Q&A, Discussion, Benefits, Views of Experts
2.30 Moving in and out of asana using strength
3.30 Easing. Twists
3.45 Quiet
3.55 EVALUATION
4.00 CLOSE

Zoe Knott has practised yoga for 30 years with many different teachers from a variety of traditions. She uses a combination of these styles in her own teaching. However, one of the key areas of her teaching comes from a point of safety and Zoe has developed a style of working with strength in asana to protect the body from stress.

close