The Lido???

[Guest guest]

FBL - yeah, I've been doing a lot of my yoga here

for a couple of years. The Lido is situated in

Brockwell Park, Brixton.<br><br>Saturday / Sunday AM is

excellent with a self practice taught by Jen and Sabel,

stalwarts out of Mysore these past years if memory serves.

That's an 09h start for those with experience. They run

an 11h for beginners. I've only recently returned to

the fold and was delighted to see a considerable

increase in the ability of their students (inversely

proportional to my own abilities I have to say).<br><br>Th /

Fri, 10h and the delightful Sue has just returned from

her travels. Th is beginners, Fri is (I think) self-

practice- sorry been out of the loop with work (and

injuries) in the week so not so sure. Sue is very slow,

concentrating on breath and not letting you rush at the

practice.<br><br>Tue 20.15 and Th 18.30 is Nigel, a star with a

background in Physical Education. Nigel has a very strong

bio-mechanical element to his teaching. I think he is very good

for those who might want a more western, sceptical

approach offering as he does very real, physical

explanations of what a posture is seeking to do. I think Myles

is covering whilst Nigel's away in

France.<br><br>Worth adding I rate the Monday (non- ashtanga)classes

run by Claire (and sometimes covered by Ed)18.30 +

20.15, which touch on the teachings of Scaravati,and are

very quiet, almost passive. Especially good for macho

idiots like me who just can't get away from the more is

more mentality.<br><br>You can barely move for yoga in

the Brixton area. Have you come across Gingi at

Battersea Rise? I have little experience but he has a

strong coterie of students. I can never figure out wh yI

don't get me arse over here more often. Also plenty of

Sivananda teaching and even Satayanda over in

Balham.<br><br>Ted

[Guest guest]

Jen and Sabel have been in Mysore? What is the

skinny on them? Do they have permission to teach from

Guruji? I realize that doesn't matter to a lot of people,

but it matters to me. I'm pretty settled with

Ashtanga so chances are slim I would go to those other

classes - even slim to go to non-traditional ashtanga...

but my friends go to classes at the Lido and it is

right around the corner from their house in Brixton. I

think picking a teacher is a very important decision.

Chances are I would go to the Homeopathic Hospital but

the Lido seems like a great place and the pool is

beautiful - plus, they are having a beach party in a few

weeks with vegetarian food. My friends aren't so

serious about Ashtanga and they only practice once or

twice a week. Thanks for the response. You seem to

really like the place. Brixton has really become all

that, hasn't it? I saw Frank Zappa play at that

venue... what's it called... about fifteen years ago.

Also, that movie theatre rocks. <br><br>FBL

[Guest guest]

HI FBL<br><br>Eeeek! U saw Zappa play in Bx 15

years ago. Damn, been here for 14 years so I must have

missed him by T H I S much. . . <br><br>On the Guruji

front I don’t know. I’d say no but I’d give them a try

out, they work together and are certainly on target.

They make for an entertaining team, Sabel has a touch

of that French insouciance we English got all

lathered up about, but it comes with a beautiful spiritual

quality that is so rare. She’ll just chuck some remark

into the class that makes so much sense, taking the

whole practice and tying it to, well, love. Jen is a

Sarf London gel who has embraced the yoga life. She

has a nice touch of humour, perhaps a little more

down to earth then Sabel, but that’s probably because

her background is more familiar. No, I like them both

very much and I’d swear they’re mellowing. They use to

be hard taskmasters. . . <br><br>Hmmm. . . go check

Gingi out. He’s at <br><br>Sangam Yoga

CentreLondon<br>80/A Battersea Rise SW11 1EH<br>Traditional Ashtanga

Vinyasa Yoga<br>Tutor: Gingi Lee<br>E-mail:

gingiyogi <br><br>and is running morning self-practice from

(I understand) 07.30. I think you might need to

contact him first. <br><br>. . . but maybe the

Homeopathic Hospital is going to be right for you. Still it’s

nice to have the opportunity to do a class on your

doorstep and it’d be a shame not to at least check out all

of the above. <br><br>Well Brixton’s changing and

then some. The past five years have seen remarkable

increases in property prices and a new generation of

incomers with more money and less attitude. Shame but then

I’m bound to say that. . . the centre has developed a

very powerful night-time economy aimed at a

twentysomething crowd but I guess now you can eat out there and

get a decent latte: ahh now that is what I think they

call progress. Still having a five screen (near) art

house cinema on your doorstep ain’t too bad.

Recommendations: check out Asmara on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton end

(Ethiopian restaurant with a truly remarkale vegan platter),

the Indian / Thai place opposite (crap name I can’t

recall, but excellent and very fresh). The café upstairs

at The Ritzy is an underused gem. And if you like

English caffs, The Phoenix also on Coldharbour is one of

the best in London (and believe me I’ve tried every

single one of them!). In fact one reason I like the

place is you never have to amble more than two minutes

- yes I mean TWO minutes - to do anything! I s’pose

the area’s development is analogous to the LES in

NYC.<br><br>Damn this insomnia. . . <br><br>Enjoy<br><br>Ted

[Guest guest]

Hi FBL, nice to have a chance to help. I studied

with Nigel at Brixton Lido, he started me with

Astanga, and I can vouch for him, that he has been to

Mysore and studied with PKJ for at least one month. He

was previously an accomplished Tennis coach and

Sivananda style Yoga teacher. I don't know about any other

teachers there though. Given the scarcity of good teachers

I would be wary.<br><br>Kwis

[Guest guest]

i wish people would realize to say someone was a

sivinanda asana teacher in the past is NOT exactly a plus

on this board. Most people who have not completed

the first half of first series could probably teach

sivinanda yoga. Many people who could never hope to

complete first series are awarded teacher

certificates.<br>(taking into consideration that you may have meant it

merely as a matter of fact.)

[Guest guest]

<<he started me with Astanga, and I can

vouch for him, that he has been to Mysore and studied

with PKJ for at least one month>><br><br>Wow, a

whole month? that must make him a swami.<br><br>does he

levitate?<br><br>el senor pinche wey

[Guest guest]

hang on didn't i stop visiting this group because there was too much dogma. .

..<br><br>doh! stupid ted. . .

[Guest guest]

Tshamoya<br><br>There you go again, posting

before thinking. This time you are bashing Sivananda

teachers. Even if you were granted the egregious statements

that you make about asanas and Sivananda teachers

(which, of course are nonsense), the fact would remain

that Sivananda teachers know more about and try harder

to implement the other seven angas that make up

ashtanga yoga than you and you and 90% of the people in

this club. El Senor and Missy Pinky excepted, of

course. <br><br> Most of the 90% are relative newcomers

and shouldn't be expected to know any better. But you

present yourself as being knowledgeable and therefore can

be held to a higher standard of accountability. And,

of course, you fail when held to that higher

standard.<br><br>This is not to get into a 'which-approach-is-better'

debate. It is merely setting the record

straight.<br><br>Omprem

[Guest guest]

I would like to bring up the topic of longevity.

<br>Do not go gentle into that good night. <br>Rage,

rage against the dying of the light.<br>Dylan

Thomas<br><br>Even if he weren't able to accomplish that in the way

of a yogi he knew what it would mean in actual terms

if he could. But for some reason, whenever I think

of someone who seemed to live forever, I think of

Don Ameche and the movie Trading Places. I bet you a

dollar I could be you when I'm 87, and that gives me

hope.

[Guest guest]

Speaking of Don Ameche, the story goes that in

his younger days he had a real problem with

overeating. Fearing that his gluttony was putting his health

and film career in danger, he decided on a simple

solution: he'd eat just 1 meal a day. <br><br>So he did

just that, for something like 40 years.