Bridget Stacey Luff

Here is my interpretation of why it exists and how it goes.  It’s not always easy to teach, because it requires exposing your baseline belief as well as opening up your heart in song. It is a stripping bare of the soul. The invocation underpins the fundamental teaching of Anusara Yoga and Shiva-Shakti Tantra (the philosophy that Anusara Yoga is based on). The beautiful kirtan singer Nikki Slade once taught me that chanting is the yoga of the heart. So it seems appropriate to chant this text. And it’s in Sanskrit, an ancient sacred language whose rich sounds have deep resonance.

The invocation is a dedication to the innate essence of being,  that which is intrinsically good. Shiva represents this essence found in yourself, your loved ones, nature, the world around you.  Sometimes the goodness is cloaked and harder to see but we Anusara yogis believe that this intrinsic goodness is running through everything. In basic terms, we ‘look for the good’. And the chant goes a little something like this…

Symbolic mythical figure of Shiva

Om Namah Shivaya Gurave (I honour Shiva, the essence of being, the guru, teacher within and without)

Saccidananda Murtaye (Truth, consciousness, bliss)

Nisprapancaya Shantaya (Omnipresent and peaceful)

Niralambaya Tejase (Ultimately free and luminiscent)

Om, Om, Om (universal sound connects us to the essence)

[An aside:  repeating Om Namah Shivaya alone is a powerful seed mantra used alot in yoga meditation.

A very soothing sound and concept to repeat to oneself.  Give it a bash if you dare stepping down the rabbit hole... see you on the other side!]

“Join world-renowned Anusara yoga wizard Chris Chavez for a festive, candle-lit evening of practice and play. With down to earth instruction you’ll build a stronger foundation and with high-energy asana you’ll be inspired to new levels. Chris’s charismatic teaching style reaches out to everyone who practices with him.”

I’m going! Are you? Book here

One of my favourite teachers, Ross Rayburn, is in London for the first weekend of November – quick check out his workshops at Indaba studio in Marylebone.   These tickets are selling fast.  And it’s not surprising – he’s “awesome”.

Note to students: I am in the throes of wedding preparations and will not be teaching until mid- September but have my great friends and colleagues Sarah Slyne, Lally Pearson and Emily Reed covering for me whilst I’m away. Siobhan Davies class kicks off 19 September plus a new class starting in October in Islington on Saturday mornings. Join my mailing list to keep up to date.

Image by AndyB @Lawcol888, 'Broom Army' Clapham Clean Up

A warrior of the heart is soft and strong. A warrior of the heart is sensitive and resilient. The heart is courageous and bold, receptive and kind. The warrior steps up, fueled by passion and is wide open, encompassing all that we don’t know…

I just spent a bliss filled ten days soaking up sun in Turkey.  Staring out at the ocean I found it easy to meditate, contemplate and ponder on the universe. The ocean connects us literally and figuratively. The ocean can also be a metaphor of the universal self: if the universal is the ocean, the individual is a drop of the ocean yet that drop is still the ocean. My little self is merely being a drop in the ocean, but a part of something much bigger. I like that.