Sorry yoga cancelled this morning April 1. Am unwell. Have a lovely break. Jo x

Please see below details of a workshop being run by a fellow yoga teacher. Sounds wonderfully relaxing. If you are interested in going along please contact Vicky directly,

Jo x

Relax, Re-focus, Re-energise Retreat

Are you relaxed?

Do you want to reduce stress, depression, insomnia, IBS, anxiety and many other symptoms?

Become mindful and improve your mental and physical wellbeing?

With Vicki Cook & Valerie Cowie, Advanced Yoga Teachers

At Yoga Glasgow, 10 Claremont Terrace G3 7XR

£55.00 - Limited to 15 people

Saturday 16 April 12.00 – 17.00

©Deep Relaxation (Yoga Nidra) ©Yoga/Pilates ©Posture ©Breathing Exercises ©Mindful Eating ©Meditation © Understanding stress and it’s affect on our body, mind and soul

EMAIL: Vicki@golightlycoaching.com, for information www.golightlycoaching.com & www.yogashrink.com

Class Cancelled

Hi All

Sorry for the short notice but I'm afraid I am going to have to cancel class this evening 16 March. See you all next week.

Jo x

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :0)

For those of you who were 'Om'ing in class yesterday. Jx

Mantras, sacred chants, come in all shapes and sizes. They can be composed of sentences, single words, or even single syllables; they can be perfectly intelligible or completely mystifying (at least to the uninitiated).

Single-syllable mantras, known as bija (seed) mantras, are the easiest to remember and recite; they're also the most powerful. It's believed that, just as a tiny seed contains a majestic tree, each bija contains vast amounts of spiritual wisdom and creative force. One of the oldest and most widely known of these seeds is om.

Om is frequently called the pranava, literally "humming," a word that derives from pranu, "to reverberate," and ultimately from the root nu, "to praise or command" but also "to sound or shout." It is the audible expression of the transcendental, attributeless ground of reality.

Om is the "primordial seed" of the universe--this whole world, says one ancient text, "is nothing but om." It is also considered to be the root mantra from which all other mantras emerge and to encapsulate the essence of the many thousands of verses of Hinduism's holiest texts, the Vedas. According to the Katha Upanishad (2.15), om is the "word which all the Vedas rehearse."

As such, om is the meditative seed par excellence. Patanjali--who wrote the Yoga Sutra and is considered to be the father of classical yoga--taught that when we chant this sacred syllable and simultaneously contemplate the meaning of it, our consciousness becomes "one-pointed: and prepared for meditation. In a commentary on the Yoga Sutra, the ancient sage Vyasa noted that through chanting om, "the supreme soul is revealed." In a similar vein, Tibetan scholar Lama Govinda wrote that om expresses and leads to the "experience of the infinite within us." Thus, chanting om may be the easiest way to touch the Divine within your very self.

Yogis often meditate on the four "measures," or parts, of om. Though commonly spelled om, the mantra actually consists of three letters, a, u, and m. (In Sanskrit, whenever an initial a is followed by a u, they coalesce into a long o sound.) Each of these three parts has numerous metaphysical associations, which themselves serve as meditative seeds. For example, a (pronounced "ah") represents our waking state, which is also the subjective consciousness of the outer world; u (pronounced "ooh") is the dreaming state, or the consciousness of our inner world of thoughts, dreams, memories, and so on; and m is the dreamless state of deep sleep and the experience of ultimate unity.

By contemplating the meaning of each of these letters as we chant them, we are led through the three states of our ordinary consciousness to the mantra's fourth part, the anusvara (after-sound): om. The vibration slowly dissolves into silence, symbolic of the transcendent state of consciousness, equated with Brahman (the Absolute). This silence is the crown of the mantra; it is described in the Maitri Upanishad as "tranquil, soundless, fearless, sorrowless, blissful, satisfied, steadfast, immovable, immortal, unshaken, enduring."

Lendrick Lodge Retreat

Dear All

Some of you may remember a group of us went up to Lendrick Lodge last Autumn for a retreat with Julie Hanson and Sue Woodd. A great time was had by all and a few of you were keen to repeat the event. I'm therefore delighted to let you all know that Julie and Sue have decided to run a Spring workshop this coming May. The weekend will run from the evening of Friday 13 to late afternoon of Sunday 15th May. The cost is as follows:

£250 for a room sharing with 3 - 4 people

£270 for a twin room

£290 for a single room

This will include all teachings and food.

There will be an official flyer coming out soon for the retreat but I wanted to let you know a bit in advance. If you are interested in coming along please let me know.

Jo x

Big thanks to Harry for taking class yesterday. It was great to be part of a class again and share all that group energy! I was buzzing all day :0)