Body, Mind & Beyond 
Good health begins in our minds, we are what we focus on

Focus on something for long enough and it has an affect on your health and how you feel. That's fantastic if your thoughts are predominantly positive. Their impact on our immune system is very powerful. Staying present to what you do is the key. The more aware you are of each moment the better able you are to change a thought from one that's potentially harmful, to one that's good for you. Mindful breathing can initiate subtle but desirable changes in our health and wellbeing.  

We spend our entire lifetime breathing but are rarely aware of it. The modern sedentary lifestyle in many ways inhibits a fully functioning breath so our lungs are not used to their capacity. Watch what happens automatically when you're at a beach, high on a hill or in a forest. You'll find yourself taking deep inhalations as the body naturally wants to take in as much unspoiled air as possible. It's no coincidence we sleep better after some time spent in these places. Proper breathing, especially out in the elements away from cities, gives vital nourishment to the nervous system. Developing a habit and practice of conscious yoga breath will not only improve health in countless ways but also helps us become more present to whatever activity we are at and has the potential to distance us from persistent, often overwhelming, internal dialogue.

Many of us think about exercise, in particular Yoga, being only for those who are fit and fully mobile and there are certain teachings which help promote that impression. However, classical Yoga, taught with consideration for the individual, can be practiced by the majority of us, including those with limited mobility.

Work in the community

After many years working alongside a variety of community health organisations in Auckland and London, with a Diploma in Yoga and a background in music, I facilitate a series of exercises for sensory wakefulness. The aim being to stimulate the senses where reduced mobility, illness, disability or medication may have interupted. These gentle relaxation and breath awareness movements are combined with music and are designed to accomodate all levels of mobility so that even those in a bed, chair or wheelchair can take part. 

Yoga   has the potential to restore and maintain health and well-being. "I work from a belief that health is critically linked to the emotions".

Donna Dean -Svastha Yoga Teacher

Hoping to keep up my flexibility, I started practicing first Hatha and then Asthanga yoga in London in 1999. After several months of regular pratice I felt more energised, I slept better, noticed normal daily stresses were much easier to cope with and I felt generally brighter in myself. Ten years on I studied to teach with the Svastha School of Yoga in Auckland, NZ, a branch of the Svastha School in Chennai, India run by A.G and Indra Mohan. I graduated in 2010. Svastha yoga teaches a personal approach where the focus is on an appropriate practice for the individual. A personalised practice with focus on the connection between body, breath and mind has the potential to help develop inner quiet while nourishing the nervous system and improving immune function.  

* A class situation is not suited to everyone so a private practice session is available by appointment for those who prefer it.