Go a little deeper with yoga, meditation and self-exploration
Once a week is great. But sometimes an hour of yoga isn’t quite enough.
My monthly Saturday afternoon workshops in Stockport give us more time to slow down, explore a particular theme and go a little deeper into the practice.
Each workshop brings together Movement, Mind and Meaning – the three ideas at the heart of what I teach through Bendyoga.
There’s yoga and meditation, but there’s also space to explore some of the bigger questions about how we live, how we feel and what really matters.
Movement. Mind. Meaning.
For me, yoga isn’t simply about becoming more flexible or being able to perform increasingly complicated postures.
It’s about the relationship between the body, the mind and the way we experience life.
Movement
We begin with the body.
Depending on the theme, this might involve Hatha yoga, yin yoga postures, gentle movement, mobility, stretching, strengthening, breathwork or simply bringing greater awareness to the body.
The physical practice gives us a way to arrive, settle down and become present.
If you’re interested in exploring the physical side of yoga, you can also join my Thursday morning Hatha yoga class in Stockport.
Mind
Once the body has settled, we can begin to work with the mind.
Meditation, pranayama, relaxation and awareness practices give us an opportunity to step back from the constant stream of thoughts, plans, worries and distractions.
You don’t have to empty your mind. That’s probably an unrealistic ambition for most of us.
Instead, we learn to notice what’s happening and create a little more space around it.
You can explore some of these ideas further in mindfulness and meditation articles on the Bendyoga blog.
Meaning
And then there’s the really interesting stuff.
Why are we here?
What actually makes us happy?
Why do we spend so much time worrying about things we can’t control?
What does it mean to live a good life?
What happens when we stop trying quite so hard to work everything out?
The workshops provide space to explore some of these questions through yoga, meditation, philosophy, conversation and other practices.
You don’t have to have any particular spiritual beliefs.
You don’t need to be a lifelong yogi.
You certainly don’t need to take any of it too seriously.
I’m interested in exploring these things with curiosity rather than pretending to have all the answers.
What happens at a workshop?
Every workshop is different, because each one has a different theme.
But you’ll usually find some combination of:
- Yoga and mindful movement
- Breathwork and pranayama
- Meditation
- Deep relaxation
- Yoga philosophy
- Reflection and self-exploration
- Conversation and sharing
- And, where appropriate, practices such as cacao ceremony or shamanic journeying
The intention isn’t to cram as much as possible into an afternoon.
It’s to create some space.
Space to move.
Space to breathe.
Space to think.
And perhaps, most importantly, space to simply be.
Monthly Saturday afternoon workshops in Stockport
The workshops usually take place on a Saturday afternoon in Stockport, giving you a few hours away from the usual demands of work, family, phones and everything else that fills our days.
They’re suitable for both people who are relatively new to yoga and those who have been practising for years.
You don’t need to be particularly flexible.
You don’t need previous meditation experience.
And you don’t need to consider yourself “spiritual”.
Just come with an open mind and a willingness to explore.
See the next upcoming yoga workshop and book your place.
A different theme every month
Each workshop explores a different idea or theme.
That might be something directly related to yoga, such as yoga philosophy, the eight limbs of yoga, the paradigm of the gunas, meditation, stillness or working with the breath.
It might be more experiential, exploring intention setting, relaxation, awareness or finding more joy in everyday life.
And sometimes we’ll explore areas that sit slightly further outside traditional yoga, including shamanic journeying, ancestral healing or cacao.
The common thread is curiosity.
I’m interested in what happens when we take some of these ideas off the page and actually experience them.
Previous workshops
Over the years, workshops have explored themes including:
Setting Intentions from the Heart
A workshop exploring intention, awareness and what we really want to bring into our lives.
Read the Setting Intentions from the Heart article
Stillness and Calm
Using yoga, breath, meditation and relaxation to explore what happens when we stop constantly doing and allow ourselves to become still.
Experiencing the Joy of Spring
A lighter, more playful workshop bringing together yoga, cacao, laughter yoga, pranayama, relaxation and meditation.
Read the Joy of Spring article.
Ancestral Healing
Bringing together yoga, meditation, cacao and shamanic journeying to explore our relationship with those who came before us.
Read the Ancestral Healing article
Future workshops will continue to explore different aspects of Movement, Mind and Meaning, so there’s always something new to discover.
You don’t need to take yoga too seriously
I’ve been practising yoga and meditation for over 25 years and teaching for over 15 years.
I’ve read a fair amount of yoga philosophy, religious texts and self-help books along the way, and I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to work out what it’s all about.
My conclusion?
The main thing is to live a relaxed life and be at ease.
That’s not particularly complicated.
And although we might explore some pretty big ideas in the workshops, I don’t think yoga needs to be precious or overly serious.
People often tell me that the sessions are fun.
I take the practice seriously.
I just don’t think we need to take ourselves quite so seriously.
Are the workshops suitable for beginners?
Yes.
You don’t need to have been practising yoga for years to come along.
If you’ve never done yoga before, you’re welcome.
If you’ve been practising for twenty years, you’re welcome too.
The physical practices can be adapted to suit different bodies and levels of experience, and much of what we explore doesn’t depend on being physically flexible at all.
If you’re completely new to yoga, you might also find New to Yoga? section on the Bendyoga homepage useful.
What might you get from a workshop?
That’s difficult to predict, because every person and every workshop is different.
You might simply enjoy a few hours away from your normal routine.
You might feel physically more relaxed.
You might discover a new meditation practice.
You might learn something about yoga philosophy that changes the way you look at something in your life.
You might have a useful realisation.
Or you might spend three hours stretching, breathing, drinking cacao and laughing with some interesting people.
All are perfectly respectable outcomes.
The important thing is creating the space for something to happen.
From Thursday yoga to Saturday workshops
If you enjoy the weekly Thursday class, the monthly workshops offer an opportunity to explore the practice in more depth.
The Thursday class gives you a regular opportunity to work with Movement and Mind.
The Saturday workshops give us more time to explore Movement, Mind and Meaning.
And if you’d like to explore the ideas beyond the yoga mat, Greg Horner and I have a podcast called Stop Taking The Peace, where we talk about spirituality, meditation, inner peace, awareness, meaning and the general business of being human.
So there are a few ways into the same territory:
Practise yoga on Thursday.
Go deeper at a Saturday workshop.
Explore the ideas through Stop Taking The Peace.
Find out what’s coming up
The next workshop is:
Workshop title: An Afternoon of Yoga, Relaxation and Deep Restoration
Date and time: Saturday 14th November from 2pm
Location – 4NT Yoga Studio, The Loft, Swallow Mill, Swallow Street, Stockport, SK1 3HJ
Spaces are intentionally limited so that the workshops remain relaxed, personal and interactive.
If you’ve been thinking about coming along, I’d love to see you there.
And if you’re not quite sure whether a workshop is for you, Get in touch and have a chat with me.
David
Bendyoga
BendYoga – Movement, Mind & Meaning