VENUE UPDATE Now at 25 Ewing Rd Riverside Whangārei.
Used to be in the Schu Box Room (upstairs via the staircase on your left inside the Old Library).
All are welcome (beginners to the more experienced) at our classes as students work at their own pace and level.
We endeavour to run our general hatha yoga classes at a level that is suitable for all practitioners to gradually familiarize themselves with the techniques and become more adept over time. Hence, you can choose to work more strongly in any pose or - at the other end of the continuum - take it more gently. Lack of flexibility should not be a barrier to starting.
As always in our hatha yoga classes, there are traditional yoga poses (āsana) practiced with breath awareness. Salute to the Sun is the main flow and is included in our sessions for its cardiovascular benefits, with many other benefits also. It does take some time to learn, Most poses in our classes are done individually, with repetition and/or holding.
60 minutes of āsana – sometimes with one specific breathing technique (prānāyāma) included in addition to the breath awareness practiced with poses – then 10-15 minutes of relaxation (yoga nidrā) make up the 75-minute session.
Rishi Iyer is the instructor, being a principal teacher and trustee for Shraddha - Yoga and Meditation, a NZ registered charity. He has a BMus (Hons) in classical singing as well as an RYT-200 Yoga Teacher qualification. He plans to add on another 300-hour qualification in teaching yoga to reach RYT-500.
His approach to teaching yoga is gentle and intuitive, with a Satyananda-base. Hence, there are poses from the Pawanmuktasana series (1, 2 and 3) for joints, gastrointestinal systems and removal of energy blockages, as well as other classical āsana.
For students new to us, there is a 3-class pass for $30, so that makes it only $10 for each when trying the first 3 classes (1/2 of the full casual rate). Then it can remain at that excellent rate on an 11-class concession card with no expiry date. All of our concession cards are also shareable.
See the other concession card options that are available, as well as drop-in casual fees, in the details for each of our 8 x 75-min classes on Facebook.
If a payment plan by instalments is required, that can be arranged by direct messaging us.
Rishi welcomes enquiries on 027 7104 347.
Usually we take a break over the school holidays so offer 4 terms a year, starting after Waitangi day then in line with school terms. No classes on public holidays.
Term 3 starts on 20 July and Term 4 on 12 October. Terms 3 and 4 are 10 weeks each, with a 2-week term break in between.
The sound On (A-U-M) may be repeated out loud 3 times by the instructor to start and finish a session. This Sanskrit mantra (sound) is often used by yoga schools for its positive vibration - whether out loud or whispered or silent -as it has balancing effects for body, mind and spirit. Students in class can either join in or just sit quietly during this minute at beginning and end of class.
For more info on this and our other classes, see the Events on Facebook on our Shraddha Yoga and Meditation page.
You can always just turn up to a class at the Old Library. However, these may start to get full as the rooms for our two classes at the Old Library do have limited space compared to those in the hall at St John’s Church Centre, where our other city evening class is held at 5.15pm on Tuesdays.
We are also starting 4-week blocks of classes to give students 4 x 90 minute sessions so that there is time for a wider range of Satyananda-style practices; these will include yoga poses, breathing, relaxation and meditation. They are planned for morning and evening on a Monday at Riverside. You will see the first evening one of these advertised for a 31 August start, They will be repeated.
