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Our bodies

18/9/2017

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Equilibrium Yoga Blog - Our Bodies
One of the aspects I've always been drawn to in Forrest Yoga is the premise that asana is an expression of the individual in any particular moment in time. It's not about putting the body into shape, but rather shaping the pose around the body, so that the pose can serve the person. Lasting transformation is a movement from the inside outside rather than trying to trim the body, mind or spirit into a certain shape, so they can fit a form we somehow believe is the right one.
 
Outside the yoga room the feeling that our bodies are not perfect or fitting the ideal is definitely prevalent and is causing a lot of harm. We can be swept away so easily with the belief that we are not thin enough, athletic enough, muscular enough, lean enough and that our bellies are not flat enough. It then taints everything we do. In those moments, it's useful to remind ourselves that our body is an expression of who we are and that it's incredibly unhelpful to try and fit it into a shape it should not be. Rather, I'd love for all of us to celebrate our body, mind, psyche and spirit just the way they are and the way they are changing with age, season, moon cycles, etc.
 
Celebrate who you are unashamedly!
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Bring a friend for fREE: January 2015

5/1/2015

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This January we're celebrating Equilibrium Peterborough's 7th birthday. To mark the occasion and thank you for all your support, we have a special celebratory offer for you.
 
Bring a friend for FREE: January 2015
Come to any class at the Peterborough or Huntingdon centre during January 2013 and bring your friends for free! The 'friend for free' offer is open to anyone who hasn't visited the Peterborough centre yet, or who hasn't been to class for more than 6 months.

Visit as many times as you like - the only question now is who you'll bring!
Looking forward to seeing you at class!
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Forrest Yoga

1/4/2014

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We'll have a month packed with Forrest Yoga! Forrest Yoga for me is about allowing ourselves to be seen and becoming vulnerable. This poem sums up what Forrest Yoga intends to do.  
 
Please Hear What I'm Not Saying

              

Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
masks that I'm afraid to take off,
and none of them is me.

Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled,
for God's sake don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled with me, within as well
 as without,
 that confidence is my name and coolness my game,
 that the water's calm and I'm in command
and that I need no one,
but don't believe me.
My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask,
ever-varying and ever-concealing.
Beneath lies no complacence.
Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.
But I hide this.  I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,
a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend,
to shield me from the glance that knows.

But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only hope,
and I know it.
That is, if it's followed by acceptance,
if it's followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself,
from my own self-built prison walls,
from the barriers I so painstakingly erect.
It's the only thing that will assure me
of what I can't assure myself,
that I'm really worth something.
But I don't tell you this.  I don't dare to, I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid your glance will not be followed by acceptance,
will not be followed by love.
I'm afraid you'll think less of me,
that you'll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.
I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing
and that you will see this and reject me.

So I play my game, my desperate pretending game,
with a facade of assurance without
and a trembling child within.
So begins the glittering but empty parade of masks,
and my life becomes a front.
I idly chatter to you in the suave tones of surface talk.
I tell you everything that's really nothing,
and nothing of what's everything,
of what's crying within me.
So when I'm going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I'm saying.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying,
what I'd like to be able to say,
what for survival I need to say,
but what I can't say.

I don't like hiding.
I don't like playing superficial phony games.
I want to stop playing them.
I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me
but you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand
even when that's the last thing I seem to want.
Only you can wipe away from my eyes
the blank stare of the breathing dead.
Only you can call me into aliveness.
Each time you're kind, and gentle, and encouraging,
each time you try to understand because you really care,
my heart begins to grow wings--
very small wings,
very feeble wings,
but wings!

With your power to touch me into feeling
you can breathe life into me.
I want you to know that.
I want you to know how important you are to me,
how you can be a creator--an honest-to-God creator--
of the person that is me
if you choose to.
You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,
you alone can remove my mask,
you alone can release me from my shadow-world of panic,
from my lonely prison,
if you choose to.
Please choose to.

Do not pass me by.
It will not be easy for you.
A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.
The nearer you approach to me
the blinder I may strike back.
 It's irrational, but despite what the books say about man
often I am irrational.
I fight against the very thing I cry out for.
But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls
and in this lies my hope.
Please try to beat down those walls
with firm hands but with gentle hands
for a child is very sensitive.

Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well.
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.
(Charles C. Finn). September 1966 
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In touch with the earth 

3/10/2013

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When you are in standing poses and your legs and hips are shaking, you may wonder what you can gain from these postures, particularly since they are a modern invention and traditional ancient yoga only worked with seated postures. In fact, "asana" is translated as "seat".

Apart from the obvious physical benefits of strengthening the leg and hip muscles, as well as being one of the best ways to open the hips - even better than seated poses - standing poses have an energetic and emotional effect on the body and mind.

One of the most import aspects for me is the ability to ground myself through standing poses. Grounding means to be in touch with the earth and therefore in touch with reality, which helps with seeing things for what they are without distortion and inner dialogue. When in standing poses we can direct our attention into our legs and feet more easily and send the energy downwards - thereby establishing an energetic connection with the earth. When we bring energy down the body, we reduce anxiety and stress, which often manifests as too much energy in chest and head.

Standing poses are a great way to draw our attention into our legs and feet and to run energy down our body, establishing a connection with the floor. When we are more grounded, we are also more rooted in the here and now. So, next time you are in standing poses, enjoy the feeling of being more rooted in reality and let your legs shake!

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  • Home
  • Yoga
    • Yoga classes
    • Yoga Beginners Courses
    • Tips for Beginners
    • Yoga Styles >
      • Forrest Yoga
      • Hatha Yoga
      • Jivamukti Yoga
      • REbalance Yoga
    • Yoga Workshops
    • Teachers & Staff >
      • Apeksha Agarwal
      • Brian Robinson
      • Claire Muxlow
      • Diana Crosby
      • Eleanor Stowe
      • Helen Carter
      • Rosanna Stokes
      • Sadie Wilson
      • Sandra Robinson
      • Torie Forrester
      • Xiaofang Ji
    • Prices
  • Therapies & Treatments
    • Acupuncture
    • Body Psychotherapy
    • Hado Water Therapy
    • Natural Cosmetic Sessions
    • No Hands Massage
  • Training
    • Yoga Mentorship Programme
    • Yoga Teacher Training
  • Gallery
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  • Contact Us
    • Peterborough
    • Huntingdon