We’re Nine Years Old
Autumn is a great time for us. On 11 September, Pathak Yoga officially celebrated its nine-year anniversary!! We set out to make the corporate world of London healtier and happier. Today, we don’t just offer our corporate breathing, meditation and yoga services in offices globally, but I also have an online class subscription platform open to individuals – NeuroVeda Yoga – and are preparing a yoga training programme which will connect the ancient wisdom of yoga philosophy and mythology to the latest scientific discoveries in quantum physics, neuroscience and epigenetics.
Bassanti was recently asked for her thoughts on the sense of proprioception for a recent Guardian article.
The main senses that we’re honing in yoga are interoception (the awareness of processes in the body, e.g. your breath or heartbeat), equilibrioception (your vestibular sense of gravity i.e. your balance) and proprioception, the sense which enables us to feel our body in space, a sense which is of course crucial for alignment and for movement.
As a student of Bassanti’s you will know that the way she teaches (and trains her team to teach) heavily relies on these less talked about senses, with proprioception being taught and honed by letting students close their eyes in postures and even in movements. Much like walking in a straight line on the ground versus walking in a straight line 50 feet above ground with only a small plank under your feet, there is an initial feeling of losing your grounding that an individual may feel. But the more you practise, the easier it becomes and practitioners will find themselves able to tune into their proprioception much easier through closing the eyes and keeping them closed for longer. Neural plasticity – and our constant ability to change the whole body, its chemistry and physiology as well as the architecture of the brain – is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
Rooftop yoga class at Quilters
It was lovely to see some of you in person for our chair yoga, meditation, rooftop yoga and hypnosis sessions at the offices of Quilter in Mansion House. What a view!
I’d known most of you from the real world already, but a few found us through our social channels and it was lovely to see that connections on socials can be more than just a like or comment.
So thank you, everyone! You made the day so special. I’m grateful we had such beautiful sunshine. And I could not have asked for a better crowd or more photogenic people for our photo shoot
Podcast on Yoga and Neuroscience
Bassanti recently appeared on Aanya Wellness’s “We are Listening” podcast, talking about the roots of yoga, the meaning of asana and the latest neuroscientific research on how yoga, including pranayama (breathing) and meditation can help you rewire your brain.
If you have yet to listen, here are the links to the three-part podcast:
The Essence of Yoga with Bassanti Pathak
Navigating Yoga’s Pathways to Enlightenment with Bassanti Pathak
Neuroscience and Yoga with Bassanti Pathak