When?   Sunday 6th July 2008, 09:45am – 4:00pm

Where?   Lyngford House Conference Centre, Taunton

Cost?   £29.00 members, £34.00 non-members – includes lunch, priority booking to members until the end of June.

We are returning to Lyngford House this year for our Festival because so many people said they liked the venue.   We hope you enjoy the new format which is three sessions plus the plenary,  instead of the usual two sessions - All led by some of the most experienced teachers in our area.  Please note the earlier start time of 09:45 for the Introductory session.

There will be a Market Place for your yoga shopping and a raffle to raise funds for the region.  If you would like to book a table in the Market Place, £10.00 for the day, please call Christine:   01823 331594   christinegranville1@hotmail.co.uk 

Full details about the day are below.  Travel and accommodation details will be provided with your booking confirmation. 

If you have any queries please telephone Christine Granville on 01823 331594 or email christinegranville1@hotmail.co.uk

Programme details:

09:45   Introductory Session

10:00 – 11:15   First morning session

Paul Harvey: Spine, Breath, and Attention in the Practice of Asana.

Paul has been teaching Yoga for over 30 years and training Yoga teachers for over 20 years.  He started practising Yoga in 1972 and went on to learn in India from 1979, starting with a two year stay in South India studying Yoga practice, psychology and therapy within a traditional one to one mentorship.  He returned to India over 20 times to continue his study of Yoga and allied subjects in the fields of psychology and healthcare.  His Yoga work is complemented by five years training as a counsellor in the UK.

A nationally known teacher through seminars, conferences and writings he is involved in the training of teachers and teacher trainers as well as maintaining a personal client practice and being Director of a Yoga Teaching and Therapy Centre in Bristol.

Jane Sleven: Creative Astanga inspired Vinyasa Flow - A woman’s perspective.

One of the gifts of Astanga Yoga is the precise sequencing of body, breath and movement which does not allow for the avoidance of disliked postures, or for staying in the comfort zone of preferred asanas.

The practitioner is thus brought face to face with all their weaknesses and strengths in equal measure.  In this very accessible morning session, Jane will lead a gently flowing class based on the Astanga method - with breath, bandha and awareness at its heart, and playfulness and lightness of body and spirit in its expression.

Jane Sleven took up Yoga 30 years ago, and has found it a true haven through the trials, joys, and tribulations of everyday life ever since.  Jane’s first Astanga Vinyasa teachers (11 years ago) were the very generous and inspired John Scott & Shandor Remete.  Jane’s teaching is the sensitive outcome of what she has experienced and observed over the years, believing: “In my view, it is not useful to think of different styles of Yoga; it is simply Yoga, coming from a vast and ancient source. The only authentic Yoga is one which works for each person according to circumstances and needs; within this range there are limitless possibilities.” Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga.

Wendy Teasdill: Applied Aparigraha in standing postures (Parsvakonasana and Parvritta Parsvakonasana) and Pranayama.

Wendy has a creative yet structured approach to Yoga, in which the
border controls between asana, philosophy, pranayama, mudra, bandha
and dhyana are often absent.  Wendy's practice is based on a strong and long-standing association with the structure and alignment of the Iyengar method, but her approach is integrative and individual.

11:30 – 12:45   Second morning session

Paul Harvey: Body, mind and emotions in the Yoga Sutra.

Jane Sleven: The importance of Drshti in practice.

In simple, everyday terms, and demonstrating through some key postures, Jane will aim to convey a much wider-reaching understanding of Drshti, otherwise referred to as ‘gaze’, or ‘looking place’. It is so much more than gazing at a fixed point. It is a very real and practical tool for harnessing the attention, for gathering together scattered thoughts, and for making each asana a cohesive ‘whole’, unified, held together, by the drshti.

Kay Baxter: Meditation – using the chakras to help us to ground and centre ourselves.   

In these sessions we will explore meditation and some simple practices with the chakras to ground and centre ourselves and so provide valuable tools to help us to live in this increasingly, fast, busy and mechanised world.

Kay has been working in the field of personal growth and development for more than 25 years. She has a background in psychology and therapy and has been exploring, studying and working with meditation and the energy body for more than 12 years.

13:45 – 15:00   Afternoon Session

Audrey Smith: Svaroopa Yoga TM

A unique style that focuses on releasing the spine from the tailbone upwards, for the purpose of health, healing and transformation.  Fifteen years ago whilst working in the surfing business, Audrey suffered a servious back injury.  With little hope of recovery, she was introduced to Svaroopa Yoga and the tensions deep in her spine began to unravel and heal.  She trained as a Svaroopa teacher in 1997 and for the last eight years has been working in North Devon both as a teacher and a therapist specialising in backpain.

Specific postures with precise alignments are used to track the pose into the spine, releasing it from the tail to the top.  The letting go of spinal tensions not only softens and releases an aching back but effortlessly opens a pathway to a deeper part of the self where stillness and ‘Svaroopa’ – the bliss of one’s own being, are experienced. 

Wendy Teasdill: Practical Aparigraha  in forward bends, followed by Pranayama.

Kay Baxter: Meditation – using the chakras to help us to ground and centre ourselves.    

15:00 – 16:00   The Plenary Session – led by Paul Harvey.

Mantra, Mudra and Meditation in the Art of Sound. 

Many thanks to all the teachers who have agreed to lead sessions at the festival and hope that everybody has a wonderful day.