A letter from Angela in preparation for her "Breath, the Beloved" Zoom Series starting November 25th.
For more info and to register visit: Breath, the Beloved

Dear Friends and Students,

Nearly fifty years ago, I held a Yoga retreat at the beautiful Feathered Pipe Ranch in Montana.  The teaching was about Breathing and based on my personal exploration, having moved away from the classical training of Pranayama or ‘Control of the Breath‘, as it is known in most Schools and Traditions of Yoga.

I had studied with Iyengar in India and during his visits to the UK (as well as on my own, following his recorded classes with a friend in London), and was diligently ‘controlling my breath’ with Metronome and stopwatch early each morning, believing I was on the path to Freedom and Enlightenment!

Then came the ‘break-through' . . . at night on a narrow and winding country lane not far from where my parents lived, a drunken driver came round the corner ahead at full speed, tried to avoid me by mounting the steep bank but smashed into my side of the car and somehow raced off around the next corner leaving me wondering whether I was dead or alive!! No bones were broken but the car was a ‘write-off’ and I hurt all over . . . could do little more than lie on the floor for three days.

THIS was the ‘gift’! Lying there alone, I slowly noticed that by finding ways to release into pain, my breathing slowed down, became deeper and deeper.

Seems so simple now, but then after all the stress of ‘holding my breath’ for longer and longer periods of time watching the clock, suddenly I was there resting in Kumbhaka for two or three times as long . . . and then with no effort at all almost forgetting to check the clock, minutes rolled by on a single inhalation or exhalation. I was not breathing, but instead I was absorbed by and in the breath.

It was both healing and beautiful, so later I began sharing this process in my classes. It needs patience and time, but has radically changed my approach to practice and relationship with breath!

See the Schedule page for more information about this Upcoming Zoom Class Series "Breath, the Beloved".

Looking forward to a gentle but powerful journey into Winter for us in the Northern hemisphere, and Summer for those of you ‘down under’.  We all meet anyway like the roots of the trees deep under-ground!

With love and stillness
Angela