Swati Chanchani is on her way!

Swati tells us she has now left Delhi and is on her way to Bristol!

We thought you might like to know in advance that Swati has let us know a few more details about the upcoming weekend. In particular, she has prepared a talk for us on the history of yoga (entitled Strange & Wondrous) which we think will be excellent.

Timetable

The timings for both days will be as follows:

10am–12:15pm  asana & pranayama

– Two hours break –

2:15pm–2:45pm  presentation
STRANGE and WONDROUS:  An Illustrated of History of Yoga from Alexander to Iyengar.

2:45–5pm  asana & pranayama

Don’t miss this weekend…

There are still places available for this event, and we’d love to have a few more of you there. Swati is a brilliant teacher, and whether you are a teacher, an experienced student or more general level practitioner*, Swati will ensure a marvellous weekend for all that attend.

* Two years recommended

Cost

Whole weekend £140, single days £80.
It will be most beneficial to attend both days with Swati if you can.

Note: we are happy for you to use your Yogacard stamps towards this workshop if you wish.

Concession offer

A few of you have told us you’d love to come to the weekend with Swati but feel the cost is prohibitive. It’s true: this is more expensive than some of our weekends, and the reason is – apart from the fact that she is a world-renowned teacher! – that we are flying Swati to Bristol from India especially for this weekend. We think she is worth it (and are sure you will agree).

However, if you can’t afford to come otherwise, we are offering a few places at a concessionary rate of 20% off. This makes the weekend cost £112 and a single day would be £64. Email Jon or call him on 0117 924 3330 to arrange your place at this lower cost.

Booking

Book here or call us on 0117 924 3330 to secure your place.

A word from Zoë

Zoë Reason, who has been teaching at Yogawest over the summer while she’s been in Bristol, is a long term student of Swati’s. We asked her to say a few things about Swati’s teaching:

” I first worked with Swati in 2003 – and I had just one class with her and I remember she taught trikonasana and I can still manifest the feeling of how she adjusted me in it. But it wasn’t till 2007 that I started working regularly with her.

She structures these seemingly incredibly simple classes – and, at the time, they feel straightforward and accessible.  Yes you work hard for her – but it never feels like you’re being overly challenged (until the following day).  And then you come to write your notes and you realise how many layers of teaching she’s introduced you to.  And then you practice a class she’s taught and you realise the layers are in your body and your psyche and at some very deep cellular level.  She teaches principles in asana work – unlike some teachers where there’s a new technique or trick to something – so you come away with an understanding that can be applied across all asanas – from the simple poses to the complicated ones. So she really inspires and feeds one’s personal practice.

She has extraordinarily strong group skills (all those years of teaching school children) and she works fast but profoundly.  I often come away from her classes so impressed with her cleverness – in the way she sequences or gets me to understand the links between one asana and another.  The thing that I have come to appreciate more and more about her is how she weaves really subtle philosophical teaching into the straightforwardness of her asana teaching.

One of the things that I first loved about her is how often she would start a class with a story.  And the stories contextualise the why of doing yoga. In the last year many of her stories have been about BKS Iyengar – she was very young when she first met him and she became a dedicated student very quickly.  And in her stories about him I can hear not just how very very sad she is that he’s not with us anymore, but more importantly how much joy there is in that she had such gifts from him over such an extended amount of time.  In her telling of the stories what I think she does it to connect you to your own story about why it is that you do yoga and what yoga really could be about.  She’s an emotional teacher – not in the sense that she behaves emotionally – but because she sees yoga as being an emotional endeavour.  So her teaching is full of heart. “

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