Proper Northern Yoga

VALENTINES...
Well what can I say? A lot probably.
Am not going to make any judgement either way on today... unusual for PNY I know.
... This post is for people who totally and utterly love valentines, do the meal, write the cards, buy house sized teddy bears and hire an accapella band to go their beloved's workplace.
This post is for those who scorn such activities, hide away and think that the world should have never commercialised expressing your love.
This is for all of you in a relationship, out of a relationship, wanting a relationship and wanting a relationship to end.
This is for the people who love others, who are trying to love others more, for those just trying to find a little self love and those who have self love in abundance.
Whatever this day is or isnt to you just remember, singularly or together we can achieve incredible things with our sense of compassion towards ourselves and others, with firmly finding the ground beneath our feet and the ways in which we can soar above it, filled with joy.
If you feel lonely or loved today or any other day just remember how temporary these states are and revel in the fluctutations.
When I was younger the excitement of recieving something today was always tempered by the fear or disappointment of not. Do you know what? I'm truly glad I experienced both.
I forget how lucky I have been so far in this world. How loved and accepted despite the things my head likes to tell me. When I do remember I forget how lonely and isolated a place my head can be.
Wherever you are on that journey just be in the place you are knowing that it is a place that is fluid and in motion.
So happy valentines.
There is a wider world out there, giving you love and support and ready to recive the love and support you can share in return.
This place for me is often PNY and the plodders who raised an incredible £270 running, practising yoga and meditating daily for a full month in Jan. We will be meeting with The Rawthey Project to meet first hand the guys behind it all, the people they support and to hand them over our little contribution to a wonderful cause soon. We will keep you posted. You can however find out more about them here:
https://www.rawthey.org/the-project
Pic: the plodders final and well deserved brunch.
Join us 7.30-8.15am tuesdays and thursdays £5. Social runs are free and by invitation upon attending the group.
www.propernorthernyoga.com
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FINALLY, WHY STRETCHING REALLY DOES SUCK!
"As for performance, there’s solid evidence that holding a stretch for a minute or more temporarily decreases strength and speed for up to an hour, likely due to changes in the neuromuscular signaling from brain to muscle."
I may be talking myself out of a job here, but for a while now I've been shouting about how static stretching really doesn't do much and this article really beautifully and succinctly sums it up. Am actually gonn...
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WE ALL START SOMEWHERE
Often in my classes a beginner will look with fear and trepidation at some of my movements and be like "i dont think my body will do that".
I've told myself the narrative over many years "I just have no rhythm".
... It's all nonsense. You just need to take the first step.
This January I gave myself the gift of trying something new and it's been bloody brilliant. Thank you Drum Nation I've loved every second
So whether you are thinking... I'll try that when I am fitter, have more time, after my holiday... whatever the excuse is then stop the excuses and just do it. Try it. Love it. Enjoy it.
Come to yoga, come to drumming, take up belly dance, write a novel.
Do whatever it is that gets your soul going. But jusy enjoy it.
Come along any day anytime to our classes... or if you're inspired to drum then check out Drum Nations upcoming courses.
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THIS GUY CHANGED MY MEDITATION PRACTICE
His messages are so simple and yet so profound.
I'm a cynical bugger. Probably why PNY has become what it is. I dont use fancy language and I am like the yoga equivalent to marmite. I find it very hard to immediately believe a teacher and I am often questioning what they say in my head.
... However strangely I found real practical advice in Lama Yeshes words. Being on retreat with him was a totally different experience that I'll never forget. Probably the first time I've ever actually found that feeling of "giving my brain a holiday".
The Samyeling offer their dharma courses by donation. Accomodation is relatively cheap, includes food and the most peaceful landscapes, gardens. It reminds me of my second home, Nepal. Albeit a lot fresher!
They also run courses on the simply incredible Holy Isle. Set up by Lama Yeshe Rinpoche as a non denominational place of peace and holistic working.
This isn't a post to sell them but to pinpoint a place where I've had the space to really start delving into what meditation practice is.
It's hard to know where to start and who to go to for further learning, so if you've had experience of a great teacher maybe stick a comment on here...
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IT ALWAYS CATCHES ME OFF GUARD...
when someone sends a namaste my way at the end of a class.
I'm like "er hello?"
... I guess it's living half my time (I wish) in Nepal. It just doesn't equate to what you think.
There is a brilliant post by @Christopher Wallis that explains "namaste" thoroughly and succinctly. If you're interested then I've copied it here:
ON THE CORRECT USAGE OF 'NAMASTE'
In the Sanskrit language, 'namaste' simply means "reverence (namas) to you (te)". You can use the word on any occasion when a) you want to say "reverence to you" and b) the context renders it meaningful.
A non-Indian saying 'namaste' (assuming it's not in a mocking tone or anything) is *not* cultural appropriation any more than a non-Latinx person saying "Hola, amigo!" is cultural appropriation. But also it would be weird to say "Hola, amigo" to anyone who doesn't know the meaning of those two words. Likewise with taking 'namaste' out of context.
Now, it *is* technically incorrect in Sanskrit to say 'namaste' to a group because 'te' is a singular you (English speakers don't get this easily because English doesn't have singular vs. plural you, unlike say Spanish). But you can get away with it because Hindi doesn't make such a distinction, and in Hindi 'namaste' just means "greetings". Not as special or as spiritual as "reverence to you" but still, it's legit.
Lastly, new age yoga people say that 'namaste' means "the divine in me honors the divine in you" because that verbal meme stems from the conflation of two true facts from the tradition: 1) 'namas' is constantly used to praise deities/ divinities, and 2) the Tantrik tradition teaches that only God can worship God, so in order to truly and accurately praise the divine, you must realize your identity with That, at least theoretically if not actually. (Note that *only* the Tantrik tradition teaches this, so the verbal meme is implicitly Tantrik.)
So namaste doesn't literally mean "the divine in me honors the divine in you", but it's not a crazy-wrong rendering of the term or anything. Cheesy, but not crazy. ;)
ORIGINAL POST: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fb id=10162956227500615&id=622030614
Maybe next time, just say.... "thanks" :) x
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A gentle and beautiful reminder of a universal gesture from a beloved friend and teacher.
You can catch the wonderful @Sofie Swindlehurst of Jord Yoga at her various classes in Manchester.
Whatever you call it, however you express it...
... There's so much chatter lately about who invented what in yoga. There are movements towards "ownership" of various aspects. There are debates around cultural appropriation. It's such a vast, very grey and murky area.
I didn't grow up with particularly religious parents, although a catholic church seemed to be somewhat involved around christmas and cousins. My parents didn't practice any form of identifiable "yoga". My first ever session in a Kendal school hall was definitely more fitness than anything else. I only began that at 18.
However I've always practised, what I deem to be yoga.
How is that possible?
I found my yoga in early morning frosty runs with my mum. In my youthful anguish at the state of the world and need to understand myself and those around me. I found my yoga in small gestures I did for myself and others. I found it in the words of Margaret Atwood, Lemn Sissay and Raymond Carver. It was there in climbing, it was in music, it was all around me in life. I found it when I wasn't thinking, just enjoying and being in the moment.
Yoga.
Whatever it is, its that thing, feeling, conscious understanding of a wider connection. It allows you to learn and grow and consider what values to keep and what to let go of. It allows you to be open.
Yoga.
It doesn't have a prescribed diet. There are many pathways into it. You dont need to wear specific clothing.
You can just (in the words of nirvana) come as you are.
It doesnt have to be achievable. You dont have to change.
Allow yourself a quiet realisation that you may already be practising in some way, that your capacity has no limits. Your understanding, love and energy will abound. Maybe not everyday, but incrementally.
Just start with one small thing.
Stretch if it makes you happy.
Enjoy your body.
Take your brain on holiday once in a while and let it rest. Meditate.
Drink tea.
Sit queitly.
Listen to the rain.
And love. Love yourself. Love others. Love the things you find hardest.
🙏
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I'VE ALWAYS FELT LIKE AN OUTSIDER
The teacher, the coordinator, an organiser and often a bit of a lonely wolf.
We moved to Kendal halfway through year 4 for me. I went to Dean Gibson primary and joined the recorder group. I made friends like any other kid, but always with a move like that toward the end of primary you're gonna feel like the odd one out, esepcially when you shoot up to teacher height in your final year like some sort of child-zilla towering over all the avera...ge sized people.
We lived outside of town. That didn't help. I love the countryside and it was great to rag around on bikes and in fields and woods but having not gone to the local primary meant that when I attended secondary it was the same story all over again.
This is where the pattern sets.
I always felt on the outside of the clique. Standing there watching but not quite stood in. I could never figure out how you got there.
Often I call myself a rebel without a cause. And I was, still am. I was an angry teen. Intelligent. Somewhat lazy. Hedonistic. Wanted to be one of Evelyn Waughs bright young things. I guess I was always just trying to forge my own path.
Work replicated school, but this time I'd learnt the tricks to distance myself, learnt the ways I could observe, almost join in but not quite commit in case it all went pete tong.
Maybe this makes me prime entrepreneurial material? PNY began to change what community meant. My weirdness was just accepted. Accepted because it was no longer having to be managed, owning my own business let me just be what I am. Chaotic, exuberant, puppy like, tantrum filled, eager, teachery, calm, controlled, sad. It let me express pain. It let me express joy. It let me be creative without boundary. It let me run where I needed to. Stretch my mental legs. It gave me headaches and stress. It gave me so many highs and so many lows. It still does. It offered me the space to move and grow. It meant I could get Dot, the wonder dog. It gave me peace.
Most of all it gave me you guys.
The PNY communtiy. A cohort of womderful teachers, some of the best friends I could ask for. A chance to work with my besties. And the plodders...
Our plodders group has been a place for refuge, a place for acceptance, for trials and fun, for learning, laughing, loving and belonging. They have shown me how to be accpeted... how to make that connection without fear of losing it. They gave me courage to start new things and got me through times that things began looking bleak. And they still do.
Going into 2020 I started a new thing and found another passion. Tried something I looked at and longed to do. Despite fear I joined. Once again I found acceptance. Thankyou to Drum Nation!
The first step it seems is opening yourself up and embracing the terror. Who knows where it will lead you.
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STARTING SOMETHING NEW...
...is so hard.
Which class do you pick? What if you're not flexible? Maybe you've been to a class in the past and been freaked out?
... Well none of that matters at PNY. We have such a diverse range of students and teachers that we really do have a space to suit everyone.
From the chilled out ROOTS, UNWIND & RESTORE. Classes aimed at helping you get back to well just being you!
To the hard-core POWER, FLOW & TONE. Bringing in strength and conditioning to keep you tip top in those chaturangas and squatting like a pro.
We have the inquisitive and instructive HATHA, PROGRESS & GROW.
We even have the dedicated meditative BREATHE.
Not forgetting our very special early morning RUN club. You can even challenge yourself with HIIT and TRAIN.
This is holistic fitness at its best.
The cherry on top? You can try all.of our classes for 30 days for only £30.
Yup. You heard me. Unlimited yoga & fitness for £30 for 1 month.
Try us now--------->
https://app.glofox.com/portal/…
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***FILLING UP ALREADY***
We thought Finlay might be popular but wow! Already the bookings are rolling in.
Finlay is an advocate for building strength and healing your mind, body and soul through the practice of yoga. Overcoming adversity and fostering resilience and strength. Finlay has faced it all.
... In May Finlay will be bringing 2 enticing workshops to deepen your practice, foster strength and discover your potential using the methods of Forrest Yoga.
Therapeutic Backbends will work on the subtleties of back strength and is suitable for all levels. You can book you place here -----> http://bit.ly/BACKBENDWITHFINLAY
Feast For The Soul will be a slightly more challenging flow and requires a hood level of practice. Book now to avoid disappointment -----> http://bit.ly/FEASTWITHFINLAY
Places are limited to 16 and we suspect they are going to go relatively quickly. Should you miss out then please put yourself on the waiting list and we will contact you should any spaces become available.
If you want to sink your teeth into something a little more juicy than your average asana class we have a really great offering of workshops on our website. www.propernorthernyoga.com
Peace, love & light 🙏
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***WHEN THE HILLS ARE PINK***
and life is beautiful.
And you realise how lucky you are.
... Its not a huge realisation, its a small, quiet voice
That simply utters, oh
This is the way it should be.
Nature takes us back to who we are
Unprinted beings
Ready to allow todays canvas to take shape.
Without judgement or predetermined form
A true blank canvas
That quiet oh
A realisation
How lucky you are.
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🎶 Bing BONG..... bing bing bang BOOOOOOONG...... 🎶
If you're a fan of Hannah's use of singing bowls at the end of her yoga classes (sooooo relaxing!) why not learn how to use them in this 6 hour introductory workshop? And you get to take a little bit of the Himalayas home with you - your very own singing bowl! 🌄
More details below, or email info@propernorthernyoga.com if you have any questions. 😊