Study Zen, Yoga, Taichi and Associated Spiritual Arts in London

Archive for the ‘yoga’ Category

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

We have a fastrack Zenways Yoga Teacher Training Course running from 3rd – 17th April at the Beacon Centre in Devon. There’s more information on the sidebar – “Could You Become a Yoga Teacher.” If you register before February 28th there’s a £300 earlybird discount.

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Former student, Mila Clement-Horton said, “I learned more about how to teach in two weeks than I did in five years university teacher training.” You’ll also take your yoga up to a whole new level and have a lot of time. It’s very intensive and also very transformative. So many students have considered it life-changing.

beaconweb2 There’s an earlybird discount of £300 for students who register before 28th February. If you’re considering taking the plunge, drop me a note at

Warm Wishes

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

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Hope you’re managing to beat this bitter winter. Here are  a couple of firey pictures to help things along. This is Shinzan Roshi conducting a goma, a fire ceremony.

More commonly associated with the esoteric Tendai and Shingon Buddhist schools in Japan, the goma also occurs in Zen.

sunriseAnd this is new year sunrise from Mount Sinai taking on our recent yoga holiday in Egypt.  Keep warm and best wishes  Daizan

What Actually is Zen Yoga?

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Happy New Year! We’re just back from our winter yogabreak in Egypt. Highlights include morning yoga in the sunshine and by candlelight in the evenings. We climbed Mount Sinai in the moonlight and watched the most awe-inspiring new year’s dawn from the peak. And then there was the Indian Ocean snorkling! One of the students compared it to diving into a tropical fishtank. Are we going back next year? You betcha!

With this being the time of new starts, I’ve had a lot of requests for information about Zen Yoga. What actually is it? So here’s a definition. What I teach is primarily based around the yoga I learned during my eighteen or so years of monastery practice. The style emphasises physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and your quality of awareness. Mindfulness of the body is one of the four practices  taught by the Buddha that lead directly to enlightenment. Each pose brings new parts of the body into focus so that we can become aware of any tightness or restriction. As we bring our awareness to these areas of tension they immediately start to shift and release. The great Zen master ‘Hakuin’ taught that Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice.  Zen yoga practice melts away the tightness and resistance that prevents us from enjoying the flow of liberation. If you’d like to experience Zen Yoga practice, click here http://www.zenways.org/?page_id=15   and if you might be interested in teaching Zen yoga, click here http://www.zenways.org/?page_id=223

Hope that makes sense. Wishing you a truly liberating 2010. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Daizan