Om Yoga Show Manchester 2015 | Overview

OM YOGA SHOW MANCHESTER 2015 Overview

 

So this year brought the promise of a bigger and better show with a new venue and a whole extra day full of things to explore, did it disappoint? Absolutely not…

The calmness greets you as you enter the venue along with a sense of inquisitive energy. Yoga newcomers, intermediates and advanced are all here nestled under one roof with one common interest, the beauty of the union that is yoga.

The really great thing about the Om Yoga Show is the diversity it has to offer; from scheduled workshops with a small fee to free open plan sessions where you can choose to take part or leisurely take it all in from the side lines.

Sadly we couldn’t attend all 3 days however the links below are offered as a flavour of the diversity on offer, so click away and enjoy.

SATURDAY 16.05.15

Open Session          
Sun Power Yoga with Anne-Marie Newland

Open Session          
Cam Yoga presents Yin Yoga with Rosalind Southward 

Demonstration        
Acro Yoga with Eugene Butcher & Pip Elysium

Open Session          
KYTA Kundalini Yoga to Open Your Heart 

Workshop                 
Uplift the Body & Prana with Yogi Ashokonanda

Open Session          
Chau Gong Meditation with Annette Ainsworth

Open Session
Santosha Studio presents Release Your Feet & Free Your Lower Back with Claire Murphy 

SUNDAY 17.05.15

Workshop               
Shamanic Yoga with Leah Bracknell

Open Session         
Thai Yoga Massage with Katrin Heuser

Open Session         
Forrest Yoga with Rosalind Southward

Open Session
Hanna Somatics with David Fleming & Amanda Franklin

We hope these posts give you a taste of the show & we really do recommend you go!

If you would like to experience the Om Yoga Show first hand you will have to wait until next year for Manchester (2016) or get yourself to London this October (2015) further details here; www.omyogashow.com/london

Om Namaste

Peace Yoga | Wellness within

Om Yoga Show Manchester 2015 | Yin Yoga

Cam Yoga presents Yin Yoga 

with Rosalind Southward

           

Rosalind Southward tuning in to teach Yin Yoga @ Om Yoga Show Manchester 2015

Rosalind is a graceful teacher, gentle and very human in approach. Her calming manner and carefully chosen dialect leads each yogi through the practice of Yin Yoga. She encourages you to focus on your bodies needs, step back from the edge of discomfort and hold each pose for 3 minutes. Whilst holding the pose she explains the importance of ‘noticing’ what is happening rather than ‘reacting’, be it an itchy foot, an uncomfortable emotion or the desire to come out of a pose (unless of course you are actually experiencing pain). Holding with awareness encourages acceptance of yourself and your bodies needs.

Yin Yoga could be mistakenly seen as a gentler form of Yoga, yet it is tougher in many ways as it guides you to pause, turn inward and acknowledge yourself, to notice your thoughts and emotions as you work deeper into the fascia of that wonderful 3d network of tissue holding us together. Yin works on releasing blockages within you improving your energy flow (chi) calming the central nervous system and grounding you in the present moment.

www.anjalienergy.com
www.camyoga.co.uk
www.yinyoga.com

www.twitter.com/anjalienergy

www.twitter.com/camyogastudio

Om Yoga Show | Workshop 'Mindfulness ABC - Simple Steps for Busy People with Louise Palmer'

Day 1 Workshop 1 | Mindfulness
 
Mindfulness ABC Simple Steps for Busy People with Louise Palmer, Founder of Camyoga

 breathe > notice > be

This was the perfect way to start the day. Louise Palmer had a life of various roles with Yoga in the background and then as she grew Yoga took over becoming her main focus. She founded Camyoga and works with Transformational Breathing, Yoga Barre and  Mindfulness.

Mindfulness is born from Buddhist tradition, it is the art of being present, accepting, none judgment and none attachment. John Kabbatt Zinn is referenced as the person who transformed this Buddhist practice into understandable digestible chunks for all to ingest in our modern world. Louise explained how we get stuck in a groove in our life and the longer we continue in that groove the further we become entrenched, we need intervention we need mindfulness to help us get out, we need to; 

stop > observe > proceed 

Otherwise we simply dig ourselves deeper and deeper into that very same groove. Just think about your daily routine, how blinkered are you when you are in this invisible daily groove? For example do you remember washing your face, were you actually present when you ate your breakfast, where was your mind when you were getting dressed, do you think you noticed your journey to work and how much of your day do you consciously experience? Do you often have knee jerk reactions taking everything personally? Mindful intervention can help you learn to pause before responding hastily and therefore you respond from a much calmer place and with interest to what has been said. Consider this situation; if someone says something to you about you that you don't like, rather than offering a knee jerk reaction, don't take it personally but pause and react calmly wondering why they have said that to you. We as a species project ourselves onto others, so what people are saying about you is actually about themselves and it works both ways of course so for example next time you give someone some advice, just notice that the advice you are giving is actually for yourself! Mind blowing isn't it, really makes you consider a new perspective.

Louise went on to highlight how we should set an intention each day, be it for short or long term achievement, it could be something we need to achieve or a behavior we wish to convey for example; today I will be kind in all my actions, I will listen to my bodies needs, I will forgive etc. This intention brings focus and can help reduce our 'should' lists that breed guilt within us and resentment of others. We were reminded that we live in a society where doing right brings praise, we forget it is absolutely fine to make mistakes yet interestingly the most common thread between highly successful people is that they openly admit they don't know everything and are not afraid to make mistakes, we do after all learn from our mistakes.

"You lose if you argue with reality, only 100% of the time"
(Byron Katie)

Being mindful means you are living in the moment, not judging but experiencing the present moment. When we become judgmental we raise our emotions and expectations we enter into 'fight or flight', this is a primal state from our caveman days designed to protect us when feeling threatened/frightened, it gets us ready to flee, our resources become limited, our digestion shuts down and our adrenalin kicks into action as we prepare to defend ourselves or escape. This primal response is proven to be calmed by bringing your attention to your breath. When you are in a stressful situation or indeed know you are going to be entering one remember to breathe...its your saving grace, it is always with you from the moment you are born, it always brings you back to your true self, to calmness. 

The really brilliant thing is that it takes seconds to breath and you can spare a few seconds or even minutes every single day. If you have been breathing shallow for some time taking full breaths can make you a little light headed, do not worry this is normal as your oxygen intake increases and the feeling will soon pass.

Breathing Techniques 
These can be practiced sitting upright, lying or standing. It can help to guide your breath if you rest one hand below your naval and think about breathing in from your tail bone all the way up to your collar bones. Gently letting the breath go as you exhale. Your mind focuses on following the breath and counting the duration of each stage of the breath.
1 Breath Count
Inhale from tailbone upwards for 4 seconds > retain 4 seconds > exhale 4 seconds >  breath 4 second

4 Breaths Counts
Inhale from tailbone upwards for 4 seconds > retain 4 seconds > exhale 4 seconds >  breath 4 seconds
Repeat 4 times

Intervention Toolkit
To get you out of your groove and prevent being triggered into reaction

• single present focus; 1 thing at a time
• pure perception; none judgmental
• beginners mind; treat even repetitive things as if they are brand new
• mindful breath; imagine breathing from your tailbone upwards
• anchor your body in the present; ground through your feet/body with the ground/floor
• following your breath; counting silently as you follow your breath cycle

It's easy to find opportunities and reminders to apply mindful breathing in every day situations

• 1 breath
  When the phone rings, when the traffic lights are on red, before texting, before driving, before a meeting
  
• 4 Breaths
  When the alarm goes off and you hit snooze, before eating, before sleeping

Further info;
Camyoga runs a ‘gold standard’ 8 week Mindfulness course, as developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It has been described as life-transforming by those who undertake it.
http://www.camyoga.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/Camyoga
https://twitter.com/CamYogaStudio
https://www.youtube.com/user/CamyogaStudio

John Kabat-Zinn
Professor and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine. Developer of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Creator of Guided Mindfulness Meditation Practices
http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php
http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/ 
https://twitter.com/JonKabatZinn 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiXin0FNEmFAcl_QEfrPBkA

Byron Katie
Author and speaker who encourages self inquiry through a system she calls 'The Work'.
http://www.thework.com/index.php
http://www.byronkatie.com/
https://twitter.com/ByronKatie
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWorkofBK

Chad-Meng Tan
Author of 'Search Inside Yourself' a book which offers you a whistle stop tour of Mindfulness.
http://www.chademeng.com/meng_bio.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Inside-Yourself-Concentration-Self-Control/dp/0007467168/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399978369&sr=8-2&keywords=book+search+inside+yourself+chade-meng+tan