Courses
Learn the core pranayama-supported meditations
2-part courses (2 X 1.5 hrs)
Learnt practices range from 5-30 minutes
I offer 1 or 2 person zooms or in-person (Brighton & Hove, UK). Live tuition is by far the best way to learn because I find that people differ widely in the nature of their obstacles and in the elements that are readily mastered. Swift success is assured via personal, tailored guidance.
Course Structure
Courses are designed in a linear order, from the fundamental to the transcendental. Each course builds on the previous set of practices. Progress at your own pace, as far as you choose to go.
Series 1. Course 1 : Breath Waves & Inner Currents develops the awareness & the physical, muscle control techniques needed to direct breath-flow.
Course 2 : Elevation & Grounding, establishes the foundational vertical meditation (the central channel) & develops third-eye focus. Supporting breath-flows are guided by two techniques, ujjiya & kapalabhati; and by selective application of directional locks (bhandas).
Course 3 : Balancing & Expansion uses alternate nostril breathing to support a meditation that builds & balances our outgoing (solar) & reflective (lunar) qualities. These are then united to drive a powerful centering & expansion practise.
Series 2 : When stable in Series 1 meditations, there are two more detailed courses that will suit some: a balancing Elemental Activation that can be followed by a Transcendental Elevation technique (kuṇḍalinī raising).
1.Breath Waves & Inner Currents
Breath Control & Extension. This first course establishes the breathing patterns needed to stabilise body and mind. The core techniques slow the breathing in a way that lowers heart rate/blood pressure and rests the metabolism, whilst simultaneously sharpening mental focus. This creates the ideal state for successful meditation.
We start by freeing-up your body and breath with a mix of physical techniques & somatic awareness training. These therapeutic exercises introduce you to the various breath-flows and how they affect you, physically and emotionally. You also begin to learn the skill of inner body visualisation.
We then learn how to move & hold the energies of inhale and exhale to energise or calm. By the end of the first session, you will be able to regulate your energy levels and how you are feeling.
This mastery is, of itself, highly beneficial to physical and mental health. Indeed, the first part of this course is very similar to the BreathWorkShop (Breathe Into Life). But here we are building the basis for a successful seated meditation practice - so we have an additional focus on breath cycle extension, flow re-direction and breath pausing. These are the subjects of the second session.
2.Elevation & Grounding
The Central Channel & Third Eye. This course focuses on the foundational pranayama-driven meditation. It cultivates vertical energy flows. We learn two practices - one slow cycle and one fast cycle. The slow cycle is an elevating and grounding flow using ujjiya breathing that establishes the central channel. This is your core energetic conduit. It comes into clear focus when we learn to track the moving breath-flow by accompanying it with inner sounds & visualisation. This builds the axis of our inner, subtle body.
The grounding technique establishes a stable foundation and the origin point of the central channel. The elevation practice takes us up the central channel to the bridge of the nose, where we stabilise the Third Eye (often simply called “the light in the head”). We view this light-point as the connection between inner & outer world.
The fast-breathing technique is Kapalabhati (Shining Skull). This is a short preliminary practice that creates focus and prepares the mind-body for a slow breath-cycle. Kapalabhati is an elevating up-flow that ignites the light in the head. When practised correctly, it focuses energy at the eyebrow centre with calmness & clarity.
Finally we link the practises into a single sequence, concluding with a pattern of gestures (mudras) in coordination with a slow pranayam that brings energy & awareness into the heart centre.
3.Balance & Expansion
Side Channels & Solar/Lunar Centres. Emission & Re-absorbtion. This is a two-stage practice that can be done separately but is most powerful as a single sequence. The first meditation focuses on channels at either side of the central channel (ida & pingala nadi) & on associated solar & lunar centres in the gut & head. Meditation is supported by a bilateral (left/right) breath-flow channelled by alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana). We add inner sounds to the breath cycle that build internal visualisations of sun and moon. This cultivates the contemplation of growing and balancing our contrasting capacities for reflection and action - our receptive and our outgoing inclinations. This is a deeply nourishing practice of itself.
The second practice starts by switching the breathing pattern to integrate the balanced solar and lunar qualities at the heart centre - an inner merging. This is followed by a switch to another breath pattern which expands our balanced, united energy outward into the external world from the heart centre - an outgoing, expansive merging. We then absorb energy from the external world to expand the heart centre.
We contemplate these multiple energy mergings - the combining of our inner solar/lunar qualities at the heart centre, their emission into the external world & re-absorbtion back into the heart centre. This is a profound practise of deep connection.
4&5.The Elements & Kundalini
This is a second series of two courses. They elaborate on the techniques and views learnt in the first three courses. You need to be stable in the first series before moving onto these.
The first practice is elemental merging. This is a detailed meditation that moves deep within by mapping the elements of the macrocosm: space, wind, fire, water & earth - onto ourselves (the microcosm) along the central channel. This process creates a connecting substrate (the mesocosm) that is called the subtle or astral body.
This installation uses elemental seed mantras and visualisations. It is, in essence, a more detailed version of the Lunar/Solar cultivation and balance we practised in Balancing & Expansion. The supporting breath is the same vertical directional flow used in our Elevation & Grounding practise. The elements are installed in a linear order along the central channel using mantra and visualisation.
This meditation can then form the basis for a transcendental elevation that engages and lifts energy up the central channel and beyond. It is commonly viewed as kuṇḍalinī raising. This is the practise that moves meditation beyond the elemental, material world. It is a more complex process, both in terms of the breath control and in the management of additional mantras and visualisations. However, we do not use a high-intensity, pressure-cooker pranayam (that is, extensive breath-holding with multiple locks). I share a meditative practise that is supported by a less demanding pranayam.
We will inevitably discuss some aspects of these detailed techniques during the first courses, so you will be able to decide whether these practices are for you.
Course Plan
Week 0. (10 mins) Free exploratory call to identify your specific needs, clarify the course offering and see if this is for you.
Week 1. (1.5 hours) A mix of understanding & practise that provides a firm foundation. You will have a working practise by the end of this lesson, which we will build upon next week.
Week 2. (1.5 hours) One week later, whilst the first lesson is still fresh but also allowing time for you to explore self-practise and return with any queries or obstacles, which we will cover before completing the series of techniques. The lesson ends with a run-through of the entire sequence.
Week 3. (15 mins) A follow-up support session to ensure the practise is fully understood & proceeds with ease. You will now have a practise that will serve well for all your life.
There is also a single, on-going monthly support check-In open for all students who have completed the first three courses (series 1). We can cover any subject anyone chooses - queries about practise, scientific news, philosophy, whatever!
Pricing
1-to-1: Course is 2 X £85 (£170), each payable a week in advance.
2 to 3 participants: Course for each person is 2 X £65 (£130), each payable a week in advance. I shall also add 10 mins onto each shared lesson to give some extra time to address any queries.