Heart of Yoga

yoga classes meditation retreats chant workshops

A complete approach to health and wholeness – integration of our body, breath (speech) and mind/heart through posture, conscious breath, chant, meditation and study. Through a daily yoga practice, we ignite the life-force flowing within and all around us.  Consequently, we live and act more consciously, more interdependently – for our own benefit and the benefit of others. WE WAKE UP!

This offering of chant is dedicated to those precious ones who teach the truth of interdependent origination and to those who seek to understand that truth. SVAHA  

The whole process of yoga, of spiritual development, is the removal of obstacles to self-realisation (enlightenment). In order to see these obstacles one needs a tremendously calm mind. Quietness of mind does not mean that there are no thoughts. There may be millions of waves on the surface of the ocean, but underneath it is absolutely calm. Can you go down to the depth of the ‘ocean’ within you, the depth of your own consciouness, so that even while the thoughts keep rising and falling on the surface, there is this deep calm and peace? This is yoga.

I am a qualified IYA*, IYTA* and Heart of Yoga Assoc. teacher with over 40 years study and teaching experience. I lived and taught yoga at Sivananda Ashram (Beacon Yoga Centre, Fremantle) for 9 years where I was a student of Swami Venkatesananda and completed the first IYTA training to be offered in WA. Venkatesa worked hard to ensure that all of us, his students, received a complete training in the Eight Limbs of Yoga (astanga).  After Venkatesa’s death, I continued my yoga studies with Sri TKV Desikachar and other senior teachers from the Krishnamacarya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), Chennai India, focussing on the study of vedic chant and yoga cikitsa (yoga therapy). In the mid-90s I met and travelled to India with Mark Whitwell to further my studies again at KYM & subsequently with Mark in Perth, Melbourne & Bali. From 1994 -2017, I received profound meditation and compassion teachings from Tibetan master, Sogyal Rinpoche (Tibetan Book of Living & Dying).  In the course of these studies, I met the remarkable Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and feel so very grateful to now be able to continue my study and practice of the Vajrayana teachings under his guidance.  To recognise the master in this life … an unrepayable gift.

In December 2002, after many requests from students, I released a daily yoga practice CD for those wishing to establish a home practice – Do Your Yoga Bless Your Life.   Tracks from this CD are available for download.

Swami Venkatesananda was a disciple of Sri Swami Sivananda and a Sanskrit scholar and yogi who presented the yoga teachings with insight and a sparkling wit. He emphasised the all-round development of the individual through the practice and study of all 8 limbs of yoga (astanga yoga) so that the heart and mind were encouraged to develop as well as the body. Venkatesananda is well known for his eloquent translations into English of the major eastern scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras and Yoga Vasistha. Although Venkatesa died in 1982, he had the foresight and kindness to introduce many of us,his students, to study with TKV Desikachar at the Krishnamacarya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai India.

TKV Desikachar (son of T Krishnamacarya who was also teacher of Iyengar & Pattabhi Jois) transmits the vast body of knowledge and wisdom handed down to him by his father. His genius lay in his ability to communicate yoga for ‘every body’ – for the able-bodied and the not-so-able. His insightful text, The Heart of Yoga is an essential resource for every yoga student.

Gratitude to Sogyal Rinpoche (The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying) who transmitted so many profound teachings and for introducing me to other wisdom masters – Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul and Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche.  And I also honour Ian Maxwell from whom I first received the healing, heart-opening teachings and practices of bodhicitta in 1995 and following years.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche is an inspirational teacher who transmits the Buddhist Teachings with clarity, warmth and insight. He was born in Bhutan in 1961 and recognised as the main incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (1894- 1959).  He was educated mainly by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and, from a young age, he has been active in preserving the Buddhist teachings, establishing centres of learning and practice, supporting practitioners, publishing books, and teaching all over the world.  In all my lives, may I never be separated from the noble master and may I have the courage and wisdom to live out of the teachings.

A DAILY PRACTICE CD/MP3 set for busy people who can sometimes only spare 15-30 minutes a day – now you don’t have to miss out on the many benefits of a daily yoga practice.

There are practices for:- * morning * evening * stiff body plus * guided relaxation to music and * lovingkindness meditation with om mani padme hum chant.

This CD/MP3 set is interactive and comes complete with an instruction booklet. $35 for CD and Booklet set (includes postage) $22 for MP3 and PDF Download.

The Healing Sounds of Vedic Chant CD/MP3/booklet set provides an ideal tool for yoga teachers and students to learn some simple Vedic chants. All of the chants are rendered in the beautifully musical language of Sanskrit. Most of the chants are drawn from the sacred text of the Upanishads. These sounds are healing in themselves, even if one only listens to them. All of the chants can be learned and followed in the accompanying book.

This offering of chant is dedicated to those precious ones who teach the truth of interdependent origination and to those who seek to understand that truth. SVAHA  

The practice of yoga reduces disturbance of all kinds and restores our inherent wellbeing, peace and clarity. Furthermore, there is a practice for everyone including the fit and agile, the stressed and stiff, and those in need of special care.