Sudaka - Account of how my yoga teaching and practice are aligned to core yoga and Buddhist principles

ACCOUNT OF HOW MY TEACHING IS ALIGNED WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF SATYA, AHIMSA AND SVADHYAYA, I.E. HOW IT IS SAFE, GROUNDED IN MY PRACTICE AND MY STUDENTS’ PRACTICE, AND HOW IT IS TRUTHFUL. 

At the centre of the mandala of my practice of yoga and teaching yoga practice and work is awareness. Awareness conjoined with an ethical sensibility, that of not causing harm, (ahimsa). Awareness is in its utter simplicity is subtlety and profoundly transformative. At the heart of my practice and teaching I endeavour to engage my own and my students energies to become more conscious of the ever-changing flow of experience, to become aware of themselves. My primary tools in teaching are hatha yoga posture practice and sitting meditation. Movement and stillness in the context of a loving, kindly, clear and lucid awareness. This for me is the essential defining feature of yoga asana when compared to other forms of physical discipline.

The secret to a safe and satisfying approach to yoga is through the awakening of ever greater degrees of consciousness. This can be cultivated or perhaps we could say revealed through the application of a genuine, honest and heartfelt enquiry into the process of practice that is yoga (savadhaya).  Through a sensitive, enquiring attitude (satya) during our yoga practice the body and mind naturally become quieter and clearer and the possibility of opening to a richer, more complete sense of being is revealed.

In terms of the technique and practicalities of my method I follow a traditional classical hatha yoga posture practice along with tried and tested meditation approaches drawn from the ancient Buddhist tradition. I note the surprising similarities with Buddhist teachings within the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in terms of working with the mind. 

In my teaching I emphasize the importance of developing an honest open attitude to what we find happening in the body and mind in any given moment (satya). This is grounded in the practices of mindfulness of the four foundations, (body, hedonic-tone, heart, mind), mindfulness of the breath, and the development of lovingkindness (metta bhavana).