“A human being is part of a whole called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Zoë Reason
Zoë began practising yoga in her twenties.
She loved it. But it was a hobby.
It wasn’t till she went on her first yoga holiday that she understood that regularity and discipline was part of the practice. Its been an every day feature of her life since 1995.
Since 2002 she has studied extensively with Rajiv & Swati Chanchani - who are the first generation of yoga teachers trained by BKS Iyengar. She visits them regularly in their centre in the foothills of the Himalayas, including several extended study trips. She has spent time with them steeped in their poetic, but still rigorous, attention to the subtle movements of the breath in the changing conditions of the embodiment.
She has been privilidged to work with the Iyengar family in Pune on a number of occasions, and spends a month at RIMYI at least bi-ennially.
She started teaching in 2004 and taught busy and committed in classes, first in London, and then in Lewes in Sussex for many years. She moved to Knowle in 2018 - having waited patiently to find somewhere that would provide somewhere beautiful to teach from home.
She’s interested in how, in the practice of yoga, we explore what it truly means for us to be alive. She sees the body as a lens through which we can see those aspects of ourselves which might otherwise remain hidden.
Her teaching is warm and accessible. She is thorough, methodical, challenging. Her classes are non competitive, filled with humour and hard work. She is fascinated by the interaction between body, breath and mind; between the microcosm of the body and the macrocosm of the universe; between the energy in the body and the energy in nature. She hopes she does justice to the amazing teachers she’s been lucky enough to work with.