In a yoga class, Surya Namaskar - or Sun Salutation - can evoke sighs of bliss or groans of exhausted despair. Usually the latter if you're a beginner. It seems to combine an impossible dance between up and down, forward and back, inhale and exhale, and as new yogis we can become painfully aware that:

1. The laws of physics don't apply. Suddenly the floor is much further away than before and we've acquired the gravitational pull of a small planet

2. Our working knowledge of left and right evaporates

3. We've forgotten how to breathe. Or smile. Or believe that anything will ever be okay again.

In this 4-week course, we will explore Surya Namaskar A, B & C with humour and compassion, the intention being to find a version that suits the body we have, not the one we wish we had or used to have or feel we "ought" to have. We'll examine each pose in these beautiful (honest!) sequences, deconstructing them and then putting them back together in a way that better reflects our own individual patterns of movement.

When we can get some way to inhabiting these poses so we notice what they feel like, the energetic connection between the parts of the body, the body and the mat, rather imposing them on our body like an ill-fitting suit, then we can get to the good stuff ...

... The breath is the thread that links the poses. Without the breath, we're just making shapes. The breath turns the sequence into a moving meditation allowing us to move away from an obviously external practice to a more subtle, internal one. And the wonderful thing is, the breath will actually help you find and express the poses more fully.

Because believe it or not, all you Sun Salutation dodgers out there, the breath offers us big clues as to what comes next. This fear of "not knowing" can make us become very robotic as we practice. We spend the time anticipating what comes next and lose the connection to the joy of being in the present moment. We'll be looking at how we can drop the thinking mind and let the breath be the guide.

This course is free of charge and is suitable to those who have a little knowledge of yoga, rather than absolute beginners. If you're not sure whether this means you, do get in touch for a chat.

Starts on October 15th, then every Thursday until 5th November.