We often get asked what style of Yoga you teach at Yoga One Bournemouth.  This is a great question and I want to answer it as best as I can at this time.

The truth is we’ve both done many different types of Yoga and over the course of our lives we’ve found different styles and ways of practising have worked for us at different times.  Most styles are based on the same basic poses anyway.  And even if you practise one style in one studio, you can have a very different experience of the same style with another teacher at another studio.

There’s deep, slow Yin Yoga, hot Yoga, Yoga blended with gymnastics and set sequences like Ashtanga, but let’s look at Hatha Yoga, which is actually the foremost kind of Yoga practised in Western countries today.

Any kind of physical Yoga is called Hatha Yoga and this includes a mix of asanas (poses), pranayama (breathing exercises), and meditation, so most types of Yoga including Iyengar, Ashtanga and Bikram are all technically Hatha Yoga.  Although it’s a catch-all term for the physical side of Yoga, a Hatha Yoga class is usually more traditional in nature and geared towards anyone looking for a balanced practice, or those in search of a gentler type of Yoga.

Ashtanga Yoga comes from the same lineage as Iyengar Yoga.  The teachers who developed these styles (BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois) were both taught by Tirumalai Krishnamacharya.  We often think of these two lineages of Hatha Yoga as the two main branches of the metaphoric tree that all the other styles of Yoga come from.  Each new branch is connected to the trunk yet has evolved and continues to grow.

Where does Yoga One Bournemouth fit in?

Yoga One Bournemouth has a range of Yoga styles that have been inspired by many teachers.  

Trained by Jimmy Barkan, Jesse’s teaching style is largely influenced by the feel and culture of Barkan Yoga.  I can let him tell you more another time in his own words. 

As a child, I remember my dad going off to Yoga classes held at a local secondary school.  When he put me to bed at night, he would take me through a guided relaxation, which I now recognise as coming from a classical Yoga Savasana.  During my university years and a few years beyond I started practising Iyengar Yoga.  The style of my initial London based teacher training course with The Life Centre (now Yogacampus) was influenced by a range of teachers both local and international, including Judith Lasater and Richard Freeman.  In the years since I have attended workshops and trainings with senior teachers including Rod Stryker and Shiva Rea, but over the course of my whole Yoga journey, my biggest influence and greatest teacher has been Donna Farhi.  Donna teaches you to listen inwardly during your practice and focuses on how to be in each posture rather than what you should be doing, with enhanced awareness through breathing and movement principles forming the core of your practice.  I try to remember these principles every time I practise or teach.

Other Yoga One Bournemouth teachers are selected by their practice, enthusiasm, and understanding that teaching is about empowering students in how to practise rather than just directing what they are doing.  Moment by moment centred awareness is the Yoga One Bournemouth style of Yoga practice and an effective way to be simultaneously challenged and nurtured.