All programmes cancelled until further notice due to Covid-19. Please revisit our website for the latest information.

Meditation

Weekly Sunday meditation at 10 am -11 am

Open to public, everyone is welcome.

By donation.

Please refer to Upcoming events for exceptions due to other events.

Meditation is an uninterrupted flow of concentration on the infinite, it is often seen as a form of internal worship. The meditation is taught according to the Yogic tradition.

Meditation helps the practitioner bring the senses and mind within, and to stop the mind from wandering. It improves and helps to refine one’s perception and concentration, and to understand how our own mind and senses are the cause of all bondages and attachments.

Meditation helps to control stress and strain, it stops internal conflicts and confusions. Above all, it helps to understand the truth, and takes the practitioner to peace, happiness, and self-knowledge.

No instructions are given in these sessions, you are encouraged to sit and practice during this time. Please join the meditation courses if you wish to learn how to meditate and practice pranayama for meditation.

Please arrive 5 minutes before to start at 10 sharp and leave your shoes in the entrance hall.

Intensive Meditation course

12th January 2020 10:00-12:00 pm

11th April 2020 02:00-04:00 pm CANCELLED

25th October 2020 02:00-04:00 pm CANCELLED

Learn meditation according to the Yogic tradition- philosophy of meditation, pranayama for meditation, how to sit and what to concentrate on.

This course is usually taught over a week, it is now available in one intensive course. Suits all level of ability.

Please wear loose comfortable clothes to make sitting easier.

Adults: £ 108; Under 21: Half price; Under 12: free (a parent must attend)

Satsanga

Open to public, everyone is welcome.

By donation.

Please refer to Upcoming events for monthly Satsanga dates at 10:30 am

Satsangas are spiritual discourses, talks, concerning the nature of the Self or Absolute. They take their inspiration from the Yogic and Vedantic teaching traditions and enable us to hear and ponder upon these truths in a sattvic environment with the opportunity to put questions and get direct personal answers.

Regular attendance at satsangas enables us to deepen our knowledge of our own minds and its responses and to contemplate upon the universal truths contained in the scriptures. The study of these scriptures by reading alone will engender questions, interest and knowledge; but will not necessarily provide direct answers.

Hearing the teaching expounded in satsangas will also provide further insights and knowledge concerning the subject that we may not gain through our own reading and study. Thus, satsangas become a source of encouragement to study the texts and an opportunity to gain more knowledge. This knowledge gained in Satsangas will inspire us to practice Yoga and meditation more regularly; while the practice of Yoga and meditation will encourage us to attend satsangas. Thus, the practice and the study becomes self supporting and encouraging.

On the days with Satsanga, meditation is practised for half an hour from 10 am, followed by Satsanga.

We aim to keep the cost low to make it accessible to all. Please generously donate to keep the services available and affordable for all. By donating according to the value you think the ashram provide to yourself, others and society as a whole and to your ability, this will make it accessible for all the upliftment of all levels of society. It also support the trust in the maintenance of the facilities and keep it open to the public all year round.

Please support the ashram residence with a separate donation left by the seat of the guru, this is usually a dakshina offered to the guru, sanyasi and brahmachari who dedicated their whole lives to practicing, teaching and keeping authentic knowledge alive.

NEW 10 Weeks Hatha Yoga Course (Part 1)

STARTING 13th February 2020

7:30pm - 8:30pm

Location: Camlad House, Forden, Powys, SY21 8NZ, Wales, UK

We are please to offer a new Hatha Yoga course in accordance to our systematic syllabus.

This is suitable for students of all abilities.

Course Fee: £ 80

Please read and understand the contents of this page fully to ensure a better practise.

10 Weeks Hatha Yoga Course (Part 6)

STARTING 2nd February 2020

Sunday 09:00-10:00 am

Location: Camlad House, Forden, Powys, SY21 8NZ, Wales, UK

We are please to offer Hatha Yoga Part 6 of the 4 years Hatha Yoga systematic syllabus, This is only for students who has completed part 5 of the course.

Course Fee: £ 80

We look forward to seeing you.

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga is the science of controlling the body and purifying its internal systems which keep the body fit and healthy. As everything has its purpose, the body too has a purpose other than eating, drinking, and merrymaking. Hatha Yoga is meant to conquer tamoguna (heaviness/dullness) and rajoguna (extrovertness) of the body, thus giving an opportunity for sattvaguna (equiminity) to act freely. A person becomes quiet, happy, and wise, when sattvaguna becomes predominant. The body is certainly a means to help unfold the truth.

The benefits of Hatha Yoga are physical health and mental well-being. The whole body becomes stronger, healthier, more beautiful and supple. It also reduces stress and is a means to bring balance, harmony, peace and happiness to mind and body. Best time to practice Hatha Yoga is in the mornings, this will set the day with peace, harmony and energy.

The Meaning of the Word 'Hatha'

In Sanskrit, the word 'hatha' means by force, by compulsion. The body, being predominantly tamoguna, will not be smart to act, and therefore some people are fond of sleep and are quickly influenced by inertia. They cannot be active because the body itself will not get up. Even when the senses (such as the eyes, nose, and ears) are awake and alert - and even when the mind wants the body to get up - the body may not obey. The body needs to be forced to arise and be active. Taking help from the mind and senses, the body must be forced to act. However, forcing the body without any system may have adverse effects. Therefore, a systematic and scientific method has to be adopted to achieve the union of the mind, senses, and body. This system is called Hatha Yoga.

Exercises

There are many exercises which help the body to be active. People in general, either by necessity or by compulsion, do act and do practise exercises. Why then should there be Hatha Yoga?

Exercises develop the muscles, making them strong, and they check the development of intelligence and subtle perceptions. They may prevent certain illnesses, and produce others, but they do not have a system to bring the mind, senses, and body, into union, nor to cleanse the internal and external parts of the body. Walking, sitting, and moving of arms and legs, are also exercises, and are performed by intuition without any systematic learning. But the regulation of thoughts and deeds cannot be accomplished by these exercises.

Asanas

Asanas (postures) are not a discovery of any person, nor an invention, but an unfoldment of the human constitutional mechanism. The constitution of the body, and of all human beings, is the same.

The naming of asanas after trees, fish, animals, and objects, does not mean that they are derived from these creatures or objects, nor that they resemble them, but that the merit derived from the postures can clearly be seen in those creations after which they have been named. By the practice of asanas, one is able to develop human nature while annihilating animal nature from the body, senses, and mind.

Asanas are not exercises. It is wrong to call asanas exercises, even by mistake or unconsciously. Asanas are to be held, whereas exercises are to be practised with constant motion. Where exercises give a strong body and develop the muscles, Hatha Yoga asanas reduce weight, normalize the appetite, remove pain, and bring equanimity to the mind and body, thoughts and actions. By maintaining the equilibrium of the body and mind, thoughts and actions, we can maintain the best of health and peace.

Hatha Yoga Courses

Our traditional and systematic Hatha Yoga courses follows a strict and systematic syllabus lasting in total about four years, consisting of asanas, mudras, bandhas and pranayama. This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience. Everybody starts at the beginning of the syllabus regardless of previous practice and experience.

The courses are designed to enable you to have the knowledge and confidence to practice at home as well as to join the continuation courses. The Hatha Yoga Teacher will instruct you how to practice and concentrate as well as the names of the postures in Sanskrit. The teachers do not demonstrate in any classes as this will distract from your concentration and prevent corrections being made.

Hatha Yoga Starter courses are open to all individuals above the age of 16 (the exceptions being pregnant women, those who are severely ill). Please notify us of any ailments you suffer from when filling in the form.

Classical Hatha Yoga is practiced in a slow and controlled manner. This will build the strength and flexibility required for all postures and help develop concentration.

We do not teach Hatha Yoga as a therapy or treatment, although we acknowledges its ability not only to prevent but also to cure illness. Students who suffer from any particular illness should not learn Hatha Yoga as a treatment but are advised to approach their doctor.

Please wear loose fitting and natural fibre clothing which cover the whole body, such as a simple white t-shirt and loose comfortable trousers to enable maximum movement and coolness. No tank tops, Lycra, leggings and leotards please.

For the safety of the students, articles such as glasses, watches, jewellery and belts must be removed before the class, preferably left at home or in the car. If any item is taken off in the classroom, please do not forget to take them with you when you leave, as the Hatha Yoga teacher cannot take responsibility for them.

Also, please bring a clean towel not a foam yoga mat.

Shoes should be left in the entrance hall and not worn into the Yoga room.

After completion of the starter course, you have the opportunity to join the subsequent continuation courses as per syllabus.

The subsequent courses are not drop in classes and only open to students who have completed the 10 weeks starter course.

Students who successfully completed the asanas syllabus with practise time will then have the chance to join the Hatha Yoga Teacher Training course subject to qualification, ability and the cultivation of Seva.

Please pay the cost of the course in full before the start of the first class. If students so paid discontinue their course, refunds are not given. Payment does not guarantee a place as we reserve the right to refuse students who did not complete the starter/previous courses and absenteeism from too many classes.

We aim to keep the cost low to make it accessible to all, the yoga fees are insufficient to maintain the building and facilities, please donate generously to keep the teachings available and affordable for all.

The Trust trains Yoga Teachers to a very high standard and none of the teachers teaching at our centres receives any of the income from the classes. All proceeds go to the Trust to finance its programmes and activities.

You should always learn Yoga from a suitably qualified teacher.

If you would like to be informed about the Hatha Yoga courses, please complete the Hatha Yoga Application Form

Or email us on yoga@abhedashram.org

We look forward to seeing you in the class.