Jain Temple in Wayanard District

Tying to perform a pose in beautiful Jain Temple somewhere in Wayanard district. Came across this ancient ruin surrounded by a coffee plantation. The fragrant flowers of the coffee filled the whole temple. It's a shame I only have this one photo as the sculptures were amazing.

Yoga Teachers Training in Kerala, India

Namaste dear friends, I recently returned from India, after a three month trip to study Hatha Yoga in Kerala. I was staying in the beautiful district of Wayanard, which is situated in the foothills of the Western Ghats. The climate here was perfect for studying Yoga. I trained with The Yoga Vasishta Trust, an International School that is based in Calicut. The founder of the school Saji PK was our teacher. He completed his degree at SVYASA University in Bangalore and went on to do his masters at The Bihar School of Yoga, with Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Our teaching was based on the traditional gurukural, which is where you live and study with your teacher. We were a group of around 14,from all over Europe, the US and Canada. Typically our days started at 5.30 a.m. We just had time to shower before class. Then at 6 am we started the day with mantras, pranayama and meditation. Then we practiced and studied Yoga asana. By 9.00am we were ready for our breakfast. After breakfast we performed some Karma Yoga, which is selfless service, essentially helping clean and tidy our rooms and the Ashram. Then before lunch we would practice our Sanskrit Mantras. I loved this part of the course and I still continue every morning chanting before my own practice. It's a way of giving thanks to the masters and teachers of he tradition, but also so much more. Sanskrit is the mother of all languages, the language of the Vedas. Sound and vibration can be used to heal the body, when we chant in Sanskrit we enliven and unlock the inner intelligence within our physiology. Different sounds resonate with different chakras in the body. The chakras are energetic centres located along the spine, and they influence different aspects of the physical, emotional and subtle bodies.

We had delicious vegetarian food at the Ashram and much of the food was grown in the gardens, the coconuts grew all around and the nuns made use of coconut in most of the dishes. Along with drinking the cooling milk, coconut is also wonderful in savory dishes shredded and mixed with other vegetables. Our Milk, butter, cheese and yoghurt all came from our own cows. The sisters also grew coffee, which is grown all over Wayanard. After lunch I rested lying in the shade, then a little walk to the village nearby. This usually meant having some homemade chai or local coffee before we started class again. In the afternoon we studied Yoga theory and Philosophy, our teachers and professors mostly came from the prestigious Calicut University.We learnt and practiced more Yoga asana's in the late afternoon, with emphasis on variations and corrections.This would take us up to 7pm, then we would break for supper. Most days I was in bed by 9.30pm. So you can see the days were full but enjoyable. I looked forward to my sleep so much, as I found the first two weeks of the training quite tiring, but slowly my body became more flexible and my strength and energy increased. I learnt so much in a relatively short space of time. Our teacher Saji was brilliant and an inspiration to me and all the other students. I’ll never forget his kindness and beautiful smile.

I’m so happy to be putting this knowledge into practice. I started last month at The Harmony Centre in Walpole and teach twice a week there. And last week I started an evening class at the Village Hall here in Laxfield. My students are commenting on how much they enjoy the classes, and how much better they feel. Nearly all are now attending twice a week. “Please come and join us, and you'll discover that there is more to Yoga than meets the eye.”

"Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the most valuable inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow."

Swami Satyaananda Saraswati

Tanya is a registered Yoga teacher and a full member of Yoga Alliance UK.