Why I Need a Yoga Community
“If you cannot see God in all, you cannot see God at all.”
Killiney Beach, Dublin. December, 2021.
Right now we need our yoga more than ever: we are craving a daily meditative practice that is both physical and internal - one that invites us to watch our breath, see our actions, and be conscious of our environment and the people around us. One that invites us to see the world in a clearer way - there is light and goodness everywhere.
Where are you practicing right now, yogi? At home? Online? In a shala?
And are you craving the company of others to share your practice with, or are you happy to be alone and research your yoga?
I’ve sure noticed my behaviours and habits these past two years and watched how my practice - even with its highs and lows - has maintained its status in my life as ‘important’; a ‘priority’, and even a ‘requirement’ for my wellness. I’ve mostly practiced by myself these past few years, occasionally with my online students and a few times with my teachers David Garrigues and David Miliotis - participating in their online communities during their workshops. My daily yoga goal has been to (and remains going into the New Year):
1), focus on my personal daily practice and
2), offer space for others to join in a yoga community and share with them my love of yoga, with soulful care
I am still doing all I can to support these two goals now. And best part is - now I am both online AND in-studio!
As we go into the second, or is it third? year of the pandemic, I find myself tearing away the layers that I hide behind. I notice…I’m not the only one who is a little rattled by these past few years: we are all vulnerable. We are all standing tall and wearing our bravest faces, yet we need a little help. We all need community. There are two ways to join a yoga community - by joining online or in-studio. My goal is to keep the online community together and supportive while offering a safe environment for daily practice at Little Bird. How can I do both, you may ask, how will this work?
I set up a small computer in the corner of the shala at Little Bird. I use headphones to connect to the online students - giving verbal cues and demonstration. Meanwhile students are practicing their primary, intermediate or third series in the shala and I teach them as well. At the first week mark, I can share it is going well! Try joining in-shala or online and let me know how it goes for you.
The community around you yogi, may be one of the most important parts of a daily yoga practice. This is because the daily practice with its solitary environment can get a little quiet, a little too quiet. Spice it up by practicing next to a yogi with a smooth breath, or someone who you can barely hear breathe at all…or next to someone who is working in a slow methodical way, or someone who is flying through the postures with speed. Communities are strongest when there is diversity. This is one reason why practicing with others is healthy: we see differences amongst the practitioners and this gives us compassion and equanimity (non judgement) to ourselves and others. We stop looking at how others are practicing and begin to work more intelligently in the right way for us.
Most people who practice for a very long time don’t necessarily need to join a community - they are happy with their habitual routines of daily practice in the solitude of their own home: little bit of yoga here and there, reading and studying, carving out a place in their lives for yoga to reside in and traveling to see their teachers when time and space allows. Yet these are few and far between. I’d do anything to get to Kovalum and spend a month with my teacher David Garrigues drinking coconuts on the black sand, or be in Byron with Dena Kingsberg enjoying lush green juices and outrageous coffees. Laughing with like-minded yogis and friends. In those environments there is a community of yoga - practitioners, who all believe in the practice and in each other.
Whether you are alone on your mat or a part of an online or in-studio community - the isolation of the pandemic has warranted more from us yogis - our practices require us to be more curious about our practices and to share them with others. To be curious about our own yoga stories - the story and history of yoga itself! And the philosophy that supports our practices. A healthy yoga community is the place where we get to connect with others, share our yoga stories and learn more about the foundations of yoga. Who else is practicing and why - and the only way to find this out - is when you head into a shala or get online and join a yoga community to share your story of your yoga. How did you start yoga? Why?
ॐ
The Gratitude Corner
I have now lived in Dublin just over two years, and I consider myself still very new to Dublin. We moved here just before the pandemic began - December of 2019. I taught in-person for just two months before the pandemic started. And thanks to Amy Kokoszka - I taught for a few months at her beautiful centre, The Rathmines Collective. It wasn’t only Amy who warmly welcomed me here: I have been welcomed by John and Suzanne Forde, Gillian Mooney, Rionach Flynn, and Martin and Fiona Hynes. I taught for a short while at 360 Yoga thanks to Clare and Paul, and now, I add to my gratitude list, Eileen Fitzgerald at Little Bird, who has invited me to start the Mysore Programme there. Thank you everyone here in Ireland who has helped me along and shared my teachings through word of mouth.
Ireland - oh I still have to learn about you! And since I have been here mostly during the pandemic, I have mostly taught online; because of this most of my online students are all over Europe and I have to admit, I have more students around the world than here in Dublin where I live! Because of this - holding this space and maintaining it for those who aren’t here in Dublin means a lot to me as these students have been practitcing with me online almost the entire time. Thank you, yogis!
Here in Dublin - you can come and practice with me at Little Bird - Sunday-Friday from 7-9 am. You can come online or join the in-shala practice; I am happy to have new students - people who have never practiced Ashtanga Yoga before. You can also practice daily with John and Suzanne Forde at their shala, Ashtanga Yoga Shala Dublin. They even have two practice times - morning and night. Depending on your location and your time and energy - try to blend your practice where you join a community online once in a while and in-shala. Once you find your people, stick with them and support them. The shopping for teachers is over, dear yogis. The pandemic has taught us to stick by your local teachers, support them and they will continue to support you.
So get in there - join your community, get with a teacher and participate in their in-studio classes. There is plenty of space and room, us teachers are wearing masks and doing all we can do stay healthy, promote healthy practices and share yoga with you.
And as difficult as some days can feel, even the smallest bit of yoga - rolling out your mat (just doing two postures even!), makes us all feel a little better. If you think of your yoga practice as a life-long relationship - you can’t also just quit when you have had enough. People do quit the practice and move on to other meditative practices, however I bet even the smallest asana component supports the meditative practice in a large way.
The Mysore Ashtanga Yoga model is a perfect recipe for success in yoga that sets a keen yogi up for a successful meditation and conscious yoga practice later on. This set sequence of postures (Primary Series, Intermediate Series, Advanced A and B Series, etc.) are linked together through the breath on a physical, mental and somatic level. Each series makes the body lean and supple, strong and resilient. On the subtle level one will learn how to breathe with ease which acts as a back-up tool during stress. One learns how to breath amidst pressure, strain and discomfort and this in turn teaches one how to endure.
The years’ one puts into practice becomes an accumulation of āsanas, tricks and masteries that only one has learned from a teacher and from the work they have put into research. Stick with the practice long enough and your āsana language will be full. As the years progress, my friends and peers are less interested in advanced asana and more in the quality of the yoga they do - in whatever shape or form. They are more interested in the craic - talking about yoga and sharing their story of their practice than actually doing it. This is the armchair yogi at his or her finest - just chatting about their practices because it is an old friend, it is a mentor, the practice is a part of their lives.
So we meet on the mat daily - Mysore style. Some people do a little (a little primary, maybe a little intermediate) and some people do a lot (maybe some third or fourth series or beyond! With pranayama..), but each person who shows up to their mat is:
Witnessing their actions past and consciously present - feeling them in their body and breath
Sharing their practice with others - being vulnerable and brave
Admitting their presence
Being amidst others who too are thinking the same way - “I am breathing fully with others who also seek change from the inside and out”
Knowing that being there with others - there is no judgement - everyone had to start somewhere!
Join me at Little Bird for daily practice - in-studio or online. If daily practice isn’t for you and you wish to join a community for the philosophy and the bhakti, join me the first Friday of the month from 8:45-9:30 am for the community yoga discussion. Next one is Friday, 7 January. That’s tomorrow, yogis!
Another great event coming up online is the Piñca Mayurāsana workshop held on the 30th of January from 2-4 pm. You can register for all these below.
Looking forward to seeing you all very soon, and much love and light,
Sarah xo
ॐ
Online Classes Schedule and Booking Details
Online Mysore Monday-Thursday - 7-9 am
Friday Led Class 7-8:30
Saturday Mysore 7-9 am
No class online Sunday
Zoom ID:
583 779 3991
Password Practice
Booking on my website here.
Little Bird location and booking details:
Little Bird:
South Circular Road, Portobello
In-shala Classes
Sun-Thursday 7-9 am Mysore
Friday Led Class 7-8:30 am
Register to Book here
Piñca Mayurasana Workshop
30 January, Sunday 2-4 pm
Book here.
Free Community Yoga Discussion
Friday, 7 January 8:45-9:30 am
Online with Zoom Details
583 779 3991
Password is Practice
