The Seven Gestures: Sitting Posture
The Sitting Posture both as a meditation in its own right and as a basis for other meditations, for example for - Breathing Meditation.
Seven Gestures - handout
Breath Based Body Scan
A breath based Body Scan. Our purpose is to bring awareness to the body and the breathing - any relaxation we feel while practicing is an added bonus. Lie down, get comfortable and begin…
Recorded in a class situation for use if you wish to supplement your class practice.
Breathing Meditation: The Abdominal Breath
A breath based meditation - with emphasis on abdominal breathing. Starts with settling of the posture and mindful-listening. Moves into breathing edition. Verbally led initially then a period of silence. Chime to finish and instructions to finish.
Recorded in a class situation so by no means perfect (excuse the clunky beginning!) - but useful for self practice if you wish to supplement your class practice.
Being and Body: Walking Meditation
A Taste for Walking
Most of us learn how to walk in the first year or two of life. Yet once the muscles and proprioceptive system learn how to do this peculiar trick of moving as an upright biped, walking becomes a largely unconscious process. In a certain sense, to walk mindfully is to relearn how to walk: how to move the body through space in full awareness.
The key to mindful walking is allowing the attention to rest on the sensations and coordinated rhythm of walking. In the beginning, it’s helpful to practice mindful walking in a structured way. (See Instructions overleaf.)
It can take time to develop a taste for the simple pleasure of mindful walking. Yet once we discover how to walk mindfully, it can become a great support for living, allowing us to set aside the thoughts, concerns and dramas of life. Instead, we can relax into the easy, rhythmic movement of limbs and torso wherever we go.
Being and Body - mindful walking handout
See a walking video exploring texture and different walking surfaces.
1 in 6: advice for teachers on including Hard of Hearing students in your class
11 million people in the UK have a hearing loss. That’s about one in six people in the population.
As teachers we don’t hesitate to modify for people with a physical need in yoga practice, so it’s obvious we should for somebody with an invisible, sensory, need. And it’s fair to say most teachers would willingly do so but all too often they don’t know how.
Don’t worry, mostly it’s common sense. There are some very simple adjustments you can make and things you can remember that will help make communicate flow for everybody - not just the hearing impaired student.
Read the following '1 in 6' article from Spectrum magazine for more information.