Hatha and Bhakti Yoga in Brighton, England

I'm originally from the UK, and now after living in beautiful BC for some time, I'm back in England. Brighton is on the South Coast, and is well known for it's penchant for 'alternative' lifestyle choices - lots of yoga, holistic therapies, vegan and vegetarian options, and it has that lovely relaxed seaside feeling. Unfortunately, as I write this, it is pouring rain and about 14 degrees outside. Otherwise I'd be at the beach. Sigh! Oh well, that's jolly old England for you.

Nevertheless, I am having a wonderful time being back here. As part of Bhakti Collective Brighton - our Brighton based group of Bhakti Yoga practitioners - I am teaching a weekly hatha yoga class at Unity Yoga - a beautiful studio and bodywork school run by Sevanti. After the yoga class we blend into my very favourite practice of all - kirtan or devotional singing. If you have never experienced a rocking kirtan, you've got to get yourself to one. It is the most blissful experience ever! In Grand Forks we have a wonderful monthly satsanga
where we used to wind down our session with kirtan. Everyone
chose an instrument and away we went.

Traditionally kirtan is performed in a call and response format, with one person - the kirtaniya - leading and the group following. Dancing and clapping encouraged! It's all about celebrating the divine in joyous song - if you've ever heard gospel you know what I mean. In the Gaudiya Vaisnava lineage of which I am a part, we sing songs for our spiritual masters (Gurus) as well as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Radha and Krishna and all their associates and pastime places such as Navadvipa and Vrindavana Dhamas. Many of the songs are in Sanskrit and also Bengali, and some in Hindi. I had never sung Bengali songs before visiting West Bengal this winter and staying in the temple there - and they are wonderful. Listen to Srila Prabhupada devotee Acuytananda Swami singing Gay Gora Madhura Sware here

So every week we invite the community to experience devotional arts - hatha yoga brings us to a sattvic (harmonious) platform from which we can engage in the practices of devotion or bhakti yoga of which kirtan is considered the finest limb. We also share vedic wisdom from our spiritual masters and of course enjoy a delicious vegetarian feast that has been offered to the divinity - known as prasadam. So if you are in Brighton this Summer come and join us!



check out these links for more info:
Bhakti Collective Brighton
Unity Yoga Studio
Bhakti Yoga Philosophy and Practice - Gaudiya Vaisnavaism

Bhakti Yoga Journey Pt 1

Namaste! It's been some months since I've posted here - If you're from Grand Forks you probably know that I left last fall to Central America - Nosara, Costa Rica - to help my friend and fellow Yoga teacher Sasha Dae host a 216 hour yoga teacher training. We had a small group training during the month of October (which is full on rainy season there). What better way to spend a rainy month in the tropics than practicing yoga, reading philosophy, making healthy food and enjoying the beautiful scenery? After the training was completed, it was time to rest for a while...November is still quiet in Nosara, the locals take advantage of the rainy season to rest up before tourists start arriving en masse in December for yoga and surf retreats. Wow - once December came it was full on! Sasha and I both offered bodywork treatments to surfers and tourists with great success, taught some private yoga classes, and even had a go at surfing! Ok, i said had a go! I thought that I would do some traveling in Central and South America - but the Divine had other plans for me. In early January we hosted some devotees - also known as Hare Krisnas - or Bhakti Yogis. Now to be honest, I had only ever seen Hare Krsnas on the street, singing away, and had never stopped to find out what they were all about. I had heard of Bhakti Yoga, but didn't really understand what it was. But here I was, in Costa Rica, and they came to me! We spent 10 days doing kirtan in Nosara, and I had the opportunity to learn a bit more about this ancient devotional practice of yoga. 

Previously, in all my yoga training, the focus was on hatha/raja yoga - working with the body and breath, linking up heart and mind, understanding the connections between physical, emotional and mental stress and discovering tools to facilitate well-being. This all linked in with my healing arts training in reflexology, herbal medicine, nutrition, energy healing etc. I felt that I had a really good toolbox to help myself and others live a more peaceful, creative and positive life. 

However, I had always had wondered about having a Guru - a realised teacher - who could guide me in the higher teachings of my culutre and spiritual practice. I had never been able to decipher the Vedas- the ancient scriptures that describe the philosophy of yoga - I tried to read them but just couldn't relate. 

Then I started talking with the devotees that were our guests in Nosara. Wow! They knew so many verses from the Vedas, and could explain them! And the songs - wow, they were amazing. I was inspired to know more...so what's this bhakti yoga all about then, I asked...According to scripture, bhakti is the highest form of trancendental knowledge - beyond Jnana (impersonal knowledge of the divine) beyond the yoga of meditation, beyond karma yoga, or fruitiva activities - is bhakti - the yoga of devotional service to the divine. Bhaktas relish a personal relationship with the divine in the form of Krsna - who is the Supreme Personality of God as described in sastra. It is through devotional service that we become truly happy, and realise our eternal nature. Wow. For years I had been trying to 'meditate' - you know, watch the mind, calm the mind etc etc, to no avail - and not even asking - what is my goal here? What exactly am I trying to realise? Becoming one with the light? and then what happens? I just disappear? That concept didn't really work for me...I knew there had to be something else, something more...In the Sri Isopanishad it is described that the true face of the Supreme is hidden behind his dazzling effulgence (or light):

hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham

tat tvam pusann aparvrnu satya dharmaya drstaye

O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee.

So this impersonal conception of the Divine - this 'light' is covering something even more wonderful - the mystery unfolds! The more I heard, the more I wanted to hear - I felt that this was what I had been waiting for in my spiritual life...and as always, the Supreme mercifully gifts us with our deepest desires.

So, what was the next step? I was ready for adventure, ready to learn and felt open to whatever opportunities arose...well where else would I go to meet real Sadhus (pure devotees) and learn about Bhakti Yoga...INDIA...

to be continued :-)