Ayana Yoga.

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all well?

Working around challenges by thinking outside the box is our new normal. So I turned my yoga box upside down, shook it, and what fell out was Ayana Yoga. It’s not so very different. Here’s what it’s is all about:

My inspiration came from needing to adapt while keeping my teaching sincere. I can't find passion for online yoga group classes, and I’ve been scratching my head for a way to bring yoga from the heart.

We can’t meet in the studio, so I wanted to take yoga outside, despite winter coming up. While researching and creatively channeling ‘my inner yogi', I came across the wonderful Sanskrit word “Ayana”, which means "walking the path" in a spiritual context. I love to walk, and the idea of combining yoga with mindful walking feels just right.

Maybe you're not a walker, find it boring or aren’t so fit? Is your yoga about moving into stillness, not making small talk in a group? Worried about the technical specs? I aim to keep Ayana accessible and interesting to everyone.

Restrictions means most of us will be walking alone. The idea is to voice-connect a group of people. We’ll be and feel connected but practice alone.

The sequence will be familiar to Yogi’s: stillness, softening, breath, postures and yoga nidra. And meditators will recognise most of the “inner work” from our meditation training.

We'll start with a 1-hour class during our permitted time frame. Simple yoga happens before we go outside, so don't worry about twisting yourself into a weird shape in full view of the auntie next door. :)

The basics:

Find a quiet, cosy space in your house. I connect everyone to a voice call. You will hear me, and there's a moment to see who's in the class with you, maybe say hello. Then I’ll make it so you can hear my voice but not each other, so not too much chatting, just like a yoga class. It’s yoga and mindfulness on our feet; a shift of consciousness through breath and movement rather than sitting or lying down.

We’ll start with ‘grounding’ and a few postures, before we begin our walk. I will guide the walking movement to create a rhythmic, patterning of body and breath. I’ll keep time and hold a space. Periods of silence means we can also enjoy the inner essence of yoga walking. At the end of the walk we will have returned home for a short guided meditation / yoga nidra.

Walking has many benefits. It calms, creates space in our mind, adds clarity to our thinking and lifts our mood. It boosts the immune system, improves our digestive system, increases stamina and strengthens the body. As a soulful activity, walking connects us to our surroundings and puts our human scale into perspective.

Is Ayana yoga something new?

The history of walking for wellbeing and spirit is not new. It goes back to the beginning of time. For centuries we have walked for spirit, health, charity, awareness, inspiration and many other reasons.

Yoga, meditation & walking are also intimately connected. Walking meditation is part of most formal Zen retreats. Researching“The Wind Walkers of Tibet” and the "Japanese Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei", I learnt that the concept of walking & breath has been used to achieve insight since ancient times.

Yoga is also steeped in walking. Kundalini yoga practices BreathWalk, Sikh Yogi Guru Nanak’s sacred walking meditations became widely known as 'charan jappa' (mantra of the feet).

Other traditions also engage in ‘spirit walking’: Native Americans, Australian indigenous people and the Christian Pilgrims. People still walk the famous Camino de Santiago trail to this day.

What do we need and how will it work?

It's not very difficult to connect in this way, so please don't let the tech get in the way of yoga. You need your cellphone, the latest version of Whatsapp, some head phones and a bit of data. If you're not sure how, and have access to a teenager, I highly recommend you make that call. After struggling for ages, my son sorted it out in under 3 mins. with one hand tied behind his back.

So here's the thing: End of April 2020, Whatsapp increased the amount of people who can connect on a call from 4 to 8 people. But you can only connect to a group of 8 people if you have the latest version of Whatsapp, so you may need to update. Otherwise I won't be able to connect you to the Ayana Yoga group call because we will be more than 4 people.

I'm not a data-fundi, but I've estimated the cost of a Whatsapp voice call, which is the cheapest way to connect. I estimate you will use around 30MB - 50MB of data per 1-hour class. Depending on your contract, it will cost you around R30 per class. Vodacom offers 1GB of data “for today”, which costs R29. Not sure about MTN.

Of course you can choose to walk around your home or garden and remain connected to wi-fi. Then it costs nothing extra. Wherever you walk, try not to walk in low-connectivity areas because you'll lose the signal.

It only remains for me to say thanks for trying it out with me.

Enthusiastically yours,

_/\_ Mxx