Cape Men's Yoga

After exploring Kundalini with Duncan last week, we are back to vinyasa yoga this week. Vinyasa is a dynamic style which has emerged from the Pattabhi Jhois tradition of ashtanga yoga - an organised sequence of postures designed to develop flexibility and awareness. Vinyasa is typically sequenced to lead to the full use of the body, usually linked some some accompanying music. Yoga can be fun, it can also be challenging. If you've been looking to get more out of your life, come join us on this journey of sharing and self discovery. For class, you need your own yoga mat, a sweat towel, a water bottle and an open mind. Classes are free, donations are welcome for the cost of the venue. For more information email us on capemensyoga AT gmail.com Beginners are welcome. Classes also involve guided meditation and pranayama yogic breathing. All ages, all body types welcome. 

On Sunday 18 August we had a great session of yin yoga. Yin is a very slow yoga that uses gravity rather than muscular power to take you into the posture. In our reflections, guys noted that yin is about letting go; it is also about accepting yourself. More than other forms of yoga yin is deeply introspective and quiet. Your body does things and does not do other things. You are not trying to take it anywhere, you are journeying with the body and allowing the mind and body to find peace with each other. Next week Sunday 25 August 2013, we have a guest teacher who will be running a Kundalini class. Kundalini is the most esoteric of the yoga traditions - in the sense that the body is only used to get the mind to let go, to move into a different plane of consciousness. Kundalini relies on a series of 'kriya' efforts, a repetitive exercise which challenges the body and the mind. Pushing yourself out of your comfort level until you mind lets go and your intuitive and 'true...

Join us for a special class this week, Sunday 18 August 2013 . We will be having a 2 hour nude men's yin yoga class. Yin is a slow yoga practice that relies on gravity rather muscular strength to reach the expressions of the poses. Yin works with dark energy, with a strong internal focus. Practically, the purpose of yin is to apply consistent and steady pressure on fascia and connective tissue. This stimulates blood entering the connective tissue and is purported to have rejuvenating and immunity boosting benefits. From a more conceptual level, yin is about working in parts of the body and mind we are not used to exploring, the spaces between bones, between joints in the darker less accessible parts of our body memory. Join us for this inspiring and challenging practice. 10 am until noon, this coming Sunday. For more information, send an email to capemensyoga AT gmail.com Namaste

Image of Hanuman, the Monkey God, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India My life or yours? In our Western society, and increasingly in Eastern and traditional societies, we are encouraged to think of our own needs and interests. Sometimes we are even encouraged or tempted to step on other people's opportunities, dignity or identities as a way to 'get ahead'. Selfishness is sometimes held up as a value, as something legitimate that gets results. The yogic way teaches us that such an approach is filled with illusion and eventually leads to great suffering and a sense of anxiety, disconnection and stress. The yogic way is to move to silence, to study the breath, the body, the mind, one's intuition, the flow of time and to recognise that liberation comes not from isolating ourselves but by finding ourselves in the inter-connectedness of the world. It is by opening our heart, feeling our own painful experiences, having compassion for the pain of others, that we discover fund...

Dear yogis, Our next Cape Men's Yoga class is on Sunday 11 August 2013 . For venue details, please contact us on capemensyoga AT gmail DoT com This week's class will work with the water element. Water makes up the bulk of the Earth's surface, and almost 70% of our human composition. Exploring water allows us to understand flow, moving around blockages and hindrances, connecting the droplets of possibility with the Great Ocean, finding cycles of renewal and journeys of the mind and body. Classes involve dynamic vinyasa yoga (most of the time). Beginners are welcome. If you are new, let the instructor know if there are any physical issues you are dealing with - injuries or weaknesses. Classes start at 10h00, 2 hours in duration. They involve guided yogic breathing ( pranayama ), yoga asana and meditation. The classes are for men only, done in the nude, in keeping with the Naga Sadhu tradition of abandoning social customs to return to the naked self, exposed, honest a...

In class today we explored the air meditation. Life on Earth is possible due to our atmosphere. Though we may think we are quite autonomous, the truth is that we are completely dependent on what the Earth and other life forms provide for us. Air comes from plant processes and is managed by the oceans, moved around by the air currents. It is what feeds and nourishes our cells, fills our lungs and makes life possible. At a metaphoric level, air is also about letting go, finding expansiveness, opening the heart, letting go of pain and fears, and opening to a new breath, new possibilities, freshness and serenity. Meditation on air connects us with the heart and our inter-being with the rest of the planet. Yoga with an air focus is light, heart opening, expansive and generous. The class included sun salutations, and the peak postures was Ustrasana, the camel, which is a back bend that allows the heart to open and the chest to fill with air. Godrey provided us with this poem after the...