Edward, London

I attended Yogi Ashokananda's Pranakriya class for the first time recently, having had some experience with Iyengar yoga.  Invited by a member of my family, I went to the class uncertain as to what to expect. To begin with, the class seemed disarmingly simple: the regulation of simple movements and breath: quite easily followed, it seemed.  The instructions were lucid and encouraging. Gradually, imperceptibly, the nature of the class altered.  A reorientation took place, looking at something I had hardly considered before: the use of breath relative to movement.  The way the guide subtly took the class into more complex attention was absorbing: sometimes his manner was playful - imitating the panting of a dog, for instance - but the purpose became clear in practice, and you were absorbed into larger and more difficult patterns that distanced you from your surroundings, and became consuming. Yogi Ashokananda is beguiling and authoritative, an expert teacher.  Deep into the class, feeling and thought changed, as you were taken quietly somewhere different, led to feel differently. I would recommend following this guide very much: the end of the class impressed strongly, in physical and emotional terms, and beyond that. Even in a short period, you felt you had learnt a lot, and were enlivened, and could imagine something of how much further you might go. _{Edward London}