Hatha Yoga in London

@Yoga Base 

1.00pm - Community Yoga Class with Bethan

I really liked the turquoise/pink/white colour scheme. 

I am in sunny London, ahem, I mean, drizzly, cold, overcast, grey London.  But it's cool. I used to live here back in '06 so I am enjoying it from a different, more grounded perspective.  Staying with a good friend in an area called Angel. What a lovely name!  Just down the road from her is a place called Yoga Base and I decided to go to their Community Class (for free of course) because I wanted to check out the vibe and also ask the teacher on his or her opinion of offering such a class on my return to Australia as a viable means of garnering support.

What a lovely little basement studio. It was all painted white and pristine. Not only did it offer Hatha Yoga, it actually offered a variety of classes including Pilates, Hypnobirthing, Iyengar Yoga, Chi Kung, Kirtan and my personal favourite, wait for it...Gay Men's Yoga! Argh! Amazing! It's on Friday and Sunday nights!  I really want to go. I wonder what would happen if I just turned up?  I actually sometimes think I should be a gay man.  I fit all the stereotypes. I've been doing musical theatre for 5 years, I ride horses, I used to be a flight attendant briefly (Job #54) and I judge people all the time.  Hmmmm...

Check out Iyengar Ropes on the left. 

Teacher:
Bethan was a great teacher who had only been teaching for 7 months or so, so it was nice to be able to relate to someone.  Her style is similar to what I think I will end up doing.  Hatha, fairly straight forward sequence with simple transitions and lots of explanation. S he was also really good at mirroring, which is something I need to practise.  She mirrored heaps of things actually. Go her!  She also had a really nice, soothing English accent which just didn't seem as harsh as any other I've had so far.  She began with a Sivananda version of Sun Salutations which was nice and fairly slow-flowing to begin with, which was great because my body is starting to fatigue. Still overcoming jet lag from the New York to Paris leg and I'm already in London 3 days later doing another yoga class. Lower back is rather sore and arms are starting to give way. Enough about me and my first world problems.

I spoke to Bethan at the end and she definitely said that community classes were a great way to get started, so I think I might do that at my local hall when I get home. She also said it is pretty tough being a full-time yoga teacher but as long as you keep plugging away you'll get there. FInally , she offered to keep in touch if I had any questions about starting out. What a gem!


Sequence:
A couple of tips I will take form her, include in preparation for Virabadrasana II (Warrior 2), she told us to turn our palms to the sky first, then ensure our shoulder were back and down and then simply turn our forearms down. I think I've heard this once or twice over the past few months, but today for some reason it finally stuck. Ooh ooh, and the Downward Dog thing! Thus far, when you go back into Down Dog for the first time and "move" your legs, we've had:

• Australia - "walk the dog"
• United States - "pedal your legs"
• England - "pad your feet" (Cuuuute!)

Note: In Paris, the two classes I went to had American teachers, so no stats for French version!

All different sayings for exactly the same outcome. Amazing.  I wonder what the next few countries will offer...

Coffee: Pistachio and Pickle, right next door. (No soy milk though)