Practice makes perfect

After I returned from the privilege of a month of yoga at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune in 2016, I was inspired to set up open practice yoga sessions at Maitri Studio.

One of the many delights in Pune were the daily practice sessions. Each day we congregated in the yoga hall for our personal practice, benefiting in so many ways from this mutual practice. It established a routine, a set time which seemed hard to avoid (although you could - no-one was keeping track of attendance). You could be inspired by the practice of others around you, their (apparent) determination or their use of props, or sequences or whatever else. Occasionally you could talk quietly and practice with someone else in pairs, or compare notes and ideas. Your ego (!) wants to shine a little so you practice more intensively than you might at home with no 'audience'. Whatever the pros and cons of these reasons, the outcome is that you did practice. And day on day that changes you, becomes transformative.

We have been offering this at Maitri Studio since then but we're just updating the times. From Tuesday 8th January there are two open studio sessions per week. These are not taught, but a studio room will be made available with props for practice. There will be a tin for anonymous donations, gratefully received as contributions towards the use of the studio but not compulsory. I will be there practising myself, and on occasions when I am away I will ensure another Maitri keyholder is present. Please share with your yoga friends and let's see how it goes. You can come along for as much or as little of the session as you wish, drop-in and no need to book.

Tuesday 7.30-9.30am & Thursday 3.30-5.30pm

I look forward to seeing you on the mat.

Claire