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HEALTH & WELLBEING
subtle; it’s, as Eleanor says, “playing with your edges”. Perfect for a Sunday evening wind-down. • knowyogaknowpeace.co.uk
If you can’t make an evening class, perhaps you can squeeze one into your lunch hour?
Workout yoga The opposite to yin is Broga® Yoga. Even the name sounds more masculine; more yang. Broga® was originally developed by ex-footballer and body builder Matt Millar to offer a form of yoga that would be more accessible to men. Though that doesn’t mean it’s not for women. As a fitness-based yoga class, it’s an intense, strong workout that should appeal to those used to hitting the gym. Ashley Miller teaches Broga® at BCY and stresses that it may be strength training, but it’s still yoga – you are still barefoot on your mat, connecting breath and body. The poses are recognisable yoga poses, but where in your usual yoga class there are numerous rest points, here: “There is no rest, and sometimes there are Fancy a bit of Broga Yoga? It was designed to be more reps.” If you go to the accessible to men but is not exclusively so gym regularly and are looking for an introduction to yoga, Broga® is definitely your bag. There are no Sanskrit names to remember, instructions are clear and you’ll learn the poses you find in iyengar and vinyasa flow, and get ripped while you’re doing it. Essentially a hard class with a soft approach to yoga. • bristolcityyoga.co.uk
Lunchtime yoga If you sit at a desk all the day, you might fancy uncurling your spine of a lunchtime. Scaravelli is another slower approach, and will focus your attention on straightening out that computer hunch, based on the teachings from Vanda Scaravelli (author of Awakening the Spine). When I first discovered Kate Fox’s Scaravelli class, it was the first time I’d actually spent time in any one pose; the first time I’d slowed my practice down and learned just how to ‘feel’ each asana instead of worrying what it looked like. Kate’s compassionate class helps break old habits and cultivate new ones, and, while she does hold evening classes, there’s a lovely one at Breathe Bristol that you can squeeze into your lunch hour. • yogawithkaty.co.uk
Yoga for the spirit Yoga is a spiritual practice, originally brought to the West by gurus of the East, and it has a way of getting under your skin if you let it. Yoga Prema was one of the first classes I attended in Bristol which really made me think beyond the physical movements, and Lila Conway’s teaching has a depth and richness that extends far beyond your weekly hour and a half. She’s one of the most humble, yet deeply spiritual yoga teachers I have ever encountered.
❝ “...Yogis often turns to yin as a way of slowing down and restoring their bodies...”
❞ Having spent a number of years fully immersed in the yogic way of life in ashrams in Thailand, India and Canada, Lila brings to Bristol a firm and authentic grounding in Sivananda with iyengar and hatha. Lila’s teaching is intuitive and inspires trust and curiosity. For those looking to learn about yoga in its fullest form, complete with breathing exercises such as kapal bhakti, and chanting this is a good place to start. • yogaprema.org
Eleanor Coates’ yin classes are poetic in tone and each has a theme
Think beyond the physical movements with Yoga Prema
THEBRISTOLMAG.CO.UK
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AUGUST 2016
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THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE 75