Roz Robinson Yoga Teacher and Psychotherapeutic Counsellor

Spring is upon us and I am suddenly aware that I have not yet posted anything about the Monday evening drop-in classes… I wanted to take time to consider them seriously and with a sense of balance and my feeling now is that I will not be continuing them for the time being.

I have recently been facilitating my Yoga & the Mind weekends where I have had the opportunity to work directly with students; allowing them to experience the potential of yoga and the understanding it affords, emotionally and physically, as well as to integrate this with some of the knowledge I have gained through my Counselling training and practice. For example; the weekends began and ended with a brief individual session with each participant where we could safely discuss their hopes and concerns. Over the rest of the weekend I ran group yoga and meditation classes, silence and silent walks. We had talks and discussions focusing on the parallels between the yogic approaches and those of contemporary psychology. I feel that this enabled people to appreciate more how we are as human beings and also gave them practical methods through which they could develop in their own lives.

Looking back, I am struck by how effective the retreats are for people who wish to move forward physically, emotionally and spiritually. A weekend of concentration allows the space and time to enquire, experiment and contemplate which simply cannot be achieved through one-hour sessions once a week and it is for this reason that I have decided to focus on the retreats rather than on the Monday drop-in classes.

My thanks again to those of you who attended and have been so supportive of the classes; I hope that you find, or have found, somewhere else that suits your needs.

I am facilitating several retreats over this year which are open to anyone with any level of  experience – you would be very welcome and if you are interested please visit the Course Diary on our Retreat to Gayles website here.

Of course, it is important for us all to stop and reflect from time to time; to take a step back and look at what we are doing with our lives and why. I recently ran a weekend workshop, on Yoga & the Mind, and this was an enormous step forward for me and one which I found enjoyable and fulfilling – it was a privilege and pleasure to be able to share my knowledge and understanding with a very open and enthusiastic group and I feel that this is very much where my future lies. So I have decided to focus more of my energy on teaching and  facilitating weekend retreats and to let the Monday evening yoga classes go for the moment. That’s not to say that I may not feel drawn to start them again at some point but for now, at least, I am finding that the demands involved in the weekends, along with working as a psychotherapeutic counsellor for the NHS, is as much as I feel able to give. Thank you to you who have been coming regularly; I hope that you have taken something useful away for yourselves and that you will continue to enjoy  and benefit from your own practice.

We live our lives in temperature controlled houses, cars, trains, offices, immersed in and distracted by flickering screens and constant demands so it is no wonder if we feel disconnected from the natural world around us. I am writing this because it struck me how suddenly now the nights seem to be drawing in and the temperature dropping and I am sure that somewhere deep inside myself there is an instinctive urge telling me it’s time to hibernate! One of the aspects of yoga that I really enjoy is the way that it allows us to reconnect not only with ourselves but also with the world at large; to feel a part of it all and to be nourished in the process. So, refreshed from my late summer holiday, I am looking forward to our monday classes again as well as making a little time each day to clear my mind and appreciate what’s around me – I believe so strongly that we would all be happier if we could allow ourselves that time for us and I hope that you too can be kind enough to allow – to give – yourself some space to practice and reflect.