Open Branches Grow From Strong Roots
- Orla Beaton
- Oct 23, 2020
- 1 min read
A conversation today with a good friend after class reminded me how much my movement practice and teaching has evolved over the past 5 years and particularly this year as I have immersed myself in learning Somatic Movement and Qigong over Zoom. The pandemic has made learning so much easier and accessible for me! Sometimes I wonder how much my classes actually resemble "conventional" Yoga anymore - perhaps I need a new name although I feel that the essence of Yoga (uniting the body & mind through the breath) continues and there is so much overlap. I always like to experiment and be creative with my teaching and have found a home in more gentle movement practices of late partly because of my age. Let's face it none of us are getting any younger despite what society may tell us! This quote from Sifu Matthew Cohen and my Qigong teacher Mimi Kuo Deemer is so wonderful and what I aspire to do now in my practice & class. I am 45 now so I practice for when I am 55. The result is that I have more ease in my body than I have ever had and more inner-strength. I am so grateful that Yoga started me on this journey over 15 years ago and that I am able to continue to learn & grow and express my own authentic way of teaching movement practice, never forgetting the roots.
Namaste, Orla
A lovely post Orla. I’ve enjoyed the new direction your classes have taken over lockdown. The reason I opted to join your yoga class in the first place, over any others on offer, was because I was looking for a gentle practice to counterbalance all of the high-intensity activity I do - both physically and mentally. The fact that it has evolved to an even softer place is something I am a fan of.
Funny, I did find myself thinking a few weeks back during a class - is this yoga anymore? I received a speedy response from my brain reminding me of what yoga stands for which assured me that indeed it is.
Perhaps you have invented Soft Yoga!…