Teacher

Chris Nelson

I remember very clearly some years ago wanting to "slow my life down" - thus began my journey into yoga. I spent 4, 5 years at Fausto Dorelli's Innergy Centre in London, which was an incredible grounding for my practice and for teaching. The Sivananda Teacher Training was a natural deepening of my understanding of the form of yoga and its origins.

The real teaching, however, with regard to the essence of yoga comes through my years of satsang and silent retreats with Satyananda. There are never any specific teachings on yoga or any subject for that matter, rather an unswerving reference to what actually is......this present moment. Through the guidance of Satyananda I had the courage to practice and teach what was innately within me rather than that which I thought I ought to teach, perhaps based on what other teachers were teaching. There developed a growing trust for what felt right in the moment. So the form of the yoga has become of significantly lesser importance than my state of awareness whilst practicing and teaching.

My primary interest is Jnana Yoga, or inquriy into the self, and this is the focus on my retreats and the Ashiyana Teacher Training. It is also very much the essence of the centre, since Ashiyana has been the unfolding of my long-held vision to create a spiritual centre for guests and a family of helpers.

It is my experience that teaching a yoga class (and practicing it for that matter) is perhaps better described as "getting out of the way of yourself " and allowing intuition to guide you. The idea of being the teacher then disappears and there is only the teaching that somehow filters through. With this said it is hard to describe my style of yoga teaching as it grows and changes constantly. There is no sequence that is followed and sometimes the sun salutations are by-passed altogether. The initial standing postures are at times relatively dynamic and in contrast many of the floor postures are of a yin nature as they tend to be held for some moments. Most of all there seems to be a pointing towards the inner self, primarily through encouraging awareness of the breath.

My desire for a class that I teach is that it facilitates relaxation and a deep inner connection. I have no preconceptions about how a posture should look and I realize that it is better attained through surrender than effort. I encourage everyone to relax, rest and follow their own intuition. Herein a class becomes an experience of "your body and your yoga". If you accept and surrender to what you experience in this moment then you may observe your thoughts and feelings from afar, yet still within your own private cinema.....your body! This is a beautiful metaphor revealing how you may dispassionately observe the unfolding of the mystery of life.

Retreats/Workshops/Trainings