Tag: yoga teacher

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Worlds oldest Yoga teacher passes away at 101

Tao Porchon-Lynch, the worlds oldest Yoga teacher passed away peacefully on 21st February 2020 aged 101

Tao Porchon-Lynch was a living legend. She was born in August 1918 towards the end of the First World War and lived through some amazing historic times and events. Tai was recognised by the Guinness book of world records as being the Oldest Yoga Teacher in 2012 and was still going strong at age 101. We went to a Yoga retreat with her in Massachusetts which she led at age 100!

Dancing Light by Tao Porchon-Lynch

Tao’s auto-biography is a fascinating historical record of a life fully lived! She was born in the middle of the English Channel two month premature as her mother made her journey from Pondicherry in India to be with her husband who was stationed in England. Tao’s mother died in child birth and she returned to Indian to be brought up by her Uncle in Pondicherry. Tao’s journey from these beginnings to her final home in New York state is truly inspirational.

Tao Porchon Lynch autobiography Dancing Light
Tao’s autobiography Dancing Light

During her life Tao marched with Gandhi, helped the French Resistance in World War 2, preformed cabaret during bombing raids and was a French Couture model. She also marched with Martin Luther King Jr. She moved to America as a model and got some acting work in Hollywood movies. After marrying for the second time, she published a wine appreciation magazine and in her later life took up ball room dancing.

Tao first became aware of Yoga aged 8 in India. She saw some boys practicing on the beach and was told by her Aunt that she could not participate as it was for men only. This was like a red rag to a bull and Tao was determined to join in and did! Her professional journey into yoga came a little later in her life after she was married for the second time. She began teaching after having studied under Sri Aurobindo, Indra Devi, B K S Iyengar, Sri K Pattabhi Jois and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Tao went on to receive many awards and accolades in the field of yoga.

On a Yoga retreat with Tao

Tao Porchon-Lynch with Yogasmiths at Kripalu Retreat Centre
Paul, Steve and Lisa with Tao Porchon-Lynch

We met Tao on a yoga retreat in Massachusetts at Kripalu retreat centre (https://kripalu.org/). The retreat was called The Eternal Energy of Yoga. Tao exuded warmth and friendliness. Her yoga practice at the age of 101 was graceful and effortless. We were lucky enough to have a nice chat with her and she spontaneously began to massage my foot, which was very pleasant by the way! In between yoga sessions Tao could be seen walking around wearing her trademark high heels!

Tao Porchon-Lynch with Yogasmiths at Kripalu Retreat Centre
Tao Porchon-Lynch giving Paul a foot massage!

When we spoke to her she said that she never drink water only tea and wine and that this was her secret to longevity! Along side Yoga and dancing! Tao told us that every morning she would awake and tell herself that today is going to be the best day of her life. She lived and breathed mindfulness and living in the present moment.

Spending time with Tao on the retreat was truly inspirational. She taught us a lovely flowing sequence of movements that we teach to our students in our weekly classes (https://yogasmiths.org/classes/) After we had finished chatting to her, she popped up into a shoulder stand!

Tao Porchon-Lynch in shoulder stand at Kripalu Retreat Centre
Tao Porchon-Lynch age 100 in Shoulder Stand. This is what 100 years old can look like!

Tao loved animals and had a dog called Maharani Roodle Doodle Lovebug Lynch! What a wonderful name!

Tao was a wonderful inspirational teacher who exuded inclusivity and warmth. She lived a wonderful life, the people she met reads like a whose who of the golden era of Hollywood and history in general! She lived her mantra that there is nothing you cannot do!

Thank you Tao for your inspiration and teachings.

You can purchase Tao’s autobiography here http://thetaoexperience.com/ and visit her official website here https://www.taoporchonlynch.net/

You can also follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/taoporchonlynch100/

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Photographs from Museum of the Moon Event at Birkenhead Town Hall on 13th November 2019

Hi Everyone, we have received some wonderful photographs taken by the official photographer at the Museum of the Moon event where we taught a yoga session under the moon in Birkenhead Town Hall. The session took place on Wednesday 13th November 2019 and was hosted by Wirral Borough Council.

Mark McNulty Photographer

My old friend Mark McNulty was wonderful photographer. I DJed with Mark for many years over in Liverpool at Liquidation / Uptight in Le Bateau. It was a nice surprise to run into him. You can check out his website and social media channels at;
http://www.markmcnulty.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/markmcnulty/
https://twitter.com/markmcnulty

Thank you for coming to the Museum of the Moon event!

Thank you to everyone who came to the event, it was such a great experience to teach under the Museum of the Moon and a real once in a lifetime opportunity. Also a big thank you to the Culture Team at Wirral Council and Imagine Wirral.

Check out the picture below and let us know what you think!

Our Wirral Yoga Classes

If you enjoyed the session and would like to join one of our classes, check out the detail of where we teach and when here: https://pauls93.sg-host.com/classes/

Thanks Paul & Steve x

  • Museum of the Moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga YogasmithsMuseum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Another Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Dragon flying low Yin Yoga pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Ardha Chandrasana / Half Moon pose under the moon
  • pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Ardha Chandrasana / Half Moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose under the moon
  • pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Paul & Steve Yogasmiths introducing the theme for the session
  • pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Chandra bhedana / Moon piercing breath under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Chandra bhedana / Moon piercing breath under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Thoracic opening and mobilisation under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Vrksasana / Tree pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Vrksasana / Tree pose under the moon
Pictures from the Museum of the Moon pop-up yoga session

 

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The British Wheel of Yoga Diploma journey

This weekend marked the last day of our British Wheel of Yoga diploma course up in Troon in Scotland with Carol Price. It also marked 3 years since we first met our wonderful tutor Carol Price and began training with her.

A serious end of course pitcure
Slightly less serious exuberance

Our first Yoga Teacher Training qualification

Our first teacher training course which we started in February 2016 with Yoga Alliance as the awarding body left us feeling unprepared to teach yoga. I am sure that there are some very good courses out there with Yoga Alliance as the awarding body. In fact I have been on some myself, however our first Yoga teacher training course certainly wasn’t one of them.

British Wheel of Yoga Certificate in Teaching Yoga

Feeling quite despondent, we were recommended to look at the British Wheel of Yoga. We found a certificate course running in Salford with Paul Fox (then BWY chair) and Carol Price. I had a chat with Paul and we decided that we would embark on another teacher training course that would actually teach us to teach yoga! The British Wheel of Yoga Level 4 Certificate course has BWY Qualifications as its awarding body which is regulated by OFQUAL. This was more like it! A qualification that we could be proud of. There was a lot of hard work, learning and academic essays to complete. We were also assessed teaching a real 90 minute class with real students. The final day of the course was very emotional and we felt very proud of our certificate. This was a world apart from our previous experience!

British Wheel of Yoga Diploma in Teaching Yoga

We then became aware that Carol Price had a British Wheel of Yoga diploma course which was part way through. It was possible we could tag on to the course and upgrade our qualification to the highest level of OFQUAL regulated Yoga Teacher Training available, the BWY Level 4 Diploma. We gave this serious consideration. The course was running in Troon in Scotland and obviously entailed a further significant financial and time investment. Both of us wanted to continue our learning with Carol and felt it was absolutely the right thing to do.

The British Wheel of Yoga diploma top up has been a fantastic experience. It covers 3 modules on Hatha Yoga & Pranayama, the teaching & philosophy of meditation and progression in yoga.

On the course we dived deep into the ancient texts and looked at how we could make them relevant for our classes and create rich layered lessons. The formal essay writing was the part that I found particularly enjoyable. It really encouraged me to read around the topics and to draw together references and importantly allowed me to work out my own opinions. There was also a further assessment of us teaching one of our real weekly 90 minute classes, and those who come to our classes may remember Carol sitting in the corner! Despite having been teaching for 3 years at the point of being assessed it was still a very nerve wrecking experience. I felt supported and buoyed by the lovely yoga students who attend our class.

Carol Price – Celtic Yoga

Let me just say a few words about Carol Price our Diploma Course Tutor. Carol has been a wonderful guide to us on our diploma course. She never fails to come up with either a wonderful pearl of wisdom, a lovely new mobilisation exercise or an intelligent imaginative sequence. Carol always provided constructive and helpful feedback. One of her catch phrases being “what could make you even better would be….”. She has been an extremely important teacher to us. We can’t thank her enough, we will always affectionately refer to her as our Yoga Mama!

British Wheel of Yoga Diploma Yogasmiths
Yoga Mama Carol Price with her two boys!

Here is a link to Carol’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Celtic-Yoga-264932390858722/

Continuous Professional Development

As an already qualified yoga teacher (at least twice over) when embarking on the Diploma top up I was keen to get as much out of it as possible. When deciding to do further training / CPD I want to gain extra knowledge that is going to make me a better teacher. This is certainly what we got in bucket loads from the diploma course with Carol. It has also been a greatly enriching personal journey studying in depth the ancient yogic texts and pulling together formal assignments.

We are both very proud to be British Wheel of Yoga teachers. With an OFQUAL regulated awarding body, you know that you are going to get excellent quality training and rigorous assessment. It may feel like a lot of hard work as you progress through the BWY training but this is exactly why it is worth it. You come out the other end of the training prepared and ready to teach yoga to all ability classes. The staged approach to teaching that the BWY train you in is all inclusive. We have in our classes students who are retired yoga teachers and others who are completely new to yoga. Both are able to practice side by side.

Choose Wisely

There are so many different yoga teacher training courses out there, I even saw one that was a correspondence course! Choose wisely. How long does it really take to learn a profession such as teaching yoga? In an unregulated arena go for regulated courses. Do your homework. Speak to previous trainees. Spend your money and time wisely and you won’t regret it.

Check out our bio’s for further details of all the training we have undertaken: https://yogasmiths.org/about/

British Wheel of Yoga Diploma Yogasmiths
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Congratulations to our Duke Of Edinburgh Award Yoga Students!

We have been delighted to have been able to introduce yoga to a group of young women completing the Duke of Edinburgh award via our weekly yoga classes.

Faith, Katie and Maisie have been regular attendees at our weekly classes to fulfil the requirements of the Duke of Edinburgh for physical activity / sport.

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They have been and continue to be regular attendees along with their friend Esme. We have been very pleased with their commitment to their yoga practice and their progression within yoga. It was with great pleasure that we were able to sign off part of their Duke of Edinburgh award as assessors and wish them good luck in completing the rest of their award.

If you are completing the Duke of Edinburgh award why not consider attending yoga classes to satisfy the Sports / physical activity requirements!

As they are all under 16 they attend with a parent / guardian and we are pleased to have 2 of their parents as regular attendees to our classes now as well! If you are interested in attending our yoga classes with somebody under the age of 16 please see the student resources tab on our website for details of consent forms that need to be completed.

Namaste

Paul & Steve

The Duke of Edinburgh Award

Please see below for information about the Duke of Edinburgh award, taken from their website;

Since its creation in 1956 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the DofE has gone from strength to strength. Guided by the same set of principles and by young people themselves, it’s as relevant today as it was then. The DofE Award was based on Kurt Hahn’s Moray Badge, run by him while Headmaster at Gordonstoun School.

A flexible programme that helps to develop young people for life and work, the numbers speak for themselves: 93% of participants feel that DofE has helped them to work in a team and 84% feel that they have become a more responsible person.   From 1,000 DofE Awards achieved in year one to 142,961 last year, we have both a rich history and a bright future. Why not let our timeline and our young people tell you more?

The DofE has a positive impact on young people’s lives, in terms of their personal development and employability, and on wider society, from charities gaining active and engaged volunteers to businesses hiring work-ready recruits.

Demand remains high. With increasing numbers of young people wanting to take part in the world’s leading youth achievement award, it’s our ambition to give another one million 14 to 24-year-olds in the UK this life-changing opportunity by 2021.

Thanks to our fantastic team of employees and volunteers and the generous donations made by our supporters, we look forward to doing just that.

Find out more here;

https://www.dofe.org

Read our other blogs here: Blog

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Mental Health Awareness Week – Mindfulness taster session for UK Bike and Go / Merseyrail – West Kirby

Thank you to all the lovely cyclists that came to our morning Mindfulness taster session. This was held on the cliffs at Cubbins Green in West Kirby. The event was organised by Merseyrail (@Merseyrail) and the UK Bike and Go (@UKBikeandgo) scheme where you can hire bicycles from train stations across the UK.

You can find further details and information on UK Bike and Go here;

https://www.bikeandgo.co.uk

We were pleased to take part in this event to highlight Mental Health Awareness week which runs from 14th -20th May 2018.  The focus this year is on stress and how we cope with it.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week

Exercise such as cycling (and yoga!) and a mindful purposeful relaxation meditation practice are great tools in tackling stress and its effects.

Mindfulness of breathing and yoga breathing exercises can help reduce the stress response in the body and help us to find a calmer experience of the present moment.

Research has shown that two thirds of people experience a mental health problem in their lifetime and that stress is a key factor. Finding practices to help reduce stress and to   deal with stressful situations is a helpful way of trying to find a calmer more peaceful experience.

Cubbins Green provided the perfect setting for the guided Mindfulness relaxation session with lots of beautiful birdsong and sunshine!

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