European Yoga Network News Blog
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php
]]>Looking to the future
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry090701-133003
With so much reliance on lineage and tradition, isn't it about time we stopped writing about Yoga as if it was something that could only be done really well thousands of years ago in remote parts of northern India ?
Do we really believe that we can connect to that same source of enlightenment as the ancient sages - but in a modern, networked society ?
If not. why not ?
How is Yoga different today - even over the last fifty years ?
Rather ironically, it seems to me as though the people who have taken it upon themselves to propagate the teaching are possibly doing their utmost to foster a burgeoning self interest and quest for power - whilst inadvertantly damaging all the various tradtions.
Take Yoga teaching in the UK.
We can all see how it has been manipulated and squeezed into a unilateral race for governmental approval via a raft of woefully inappropriate and inadequate teaching standards and certification schemes.
Many of these initiatives seem very reactionary, based on fear, suspicion of others and an overly defensive stance.
They seem intent on controlling the activities of their membership simply by emphasising to their membership how to teach Yoga - even going so far as pointing the finger and saying: look at those teachers over there - that is how NOT to teach Yoga !.
So, this type of approach to Yoga teacher training really just relies on a group of over-ambitious yoga teachers trying to teach other yoga teachers with a heady mix of fear and delusion ?
The role of any professional body in Yoga should be about supporting Yoga teachers so that they can build their own future with their students.
We do not need a centralised authority or umbrella organisation that stumbles around patronising us with a woolly motive of "protecting the public from rogue Yoga teachers".
Good Yoga teachers need to get better - excellent Yoga teachers will want to stay that way and all the mavericks will just fade away when no one shows up at their class.
Simple as that.
It is not anyones role to tell teachers what to do. It is about creating the right supportive environment so that teachers have the confidence to take their practice forward for themselves in their own way. ]]>UK Advertsing Standards Authority instructs British Wheel of Yoga to Stand Up Straight !
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry090618-141828
A recent letter from the UK Advertsing Standards Authority (ASA), (in response to a complaint) tackles head-on the issue of the British Wheel of Yoga (BWY) promoting itself widely as: "The Governing Body for Yoga".
Well, the ASA's response seems to indicate that such a claim just does not appear to be entirely, "standing up straight".
Such a claim by the BWY appears then to have been "misleading" its members, (and everyone else) in the UK Yoga community for years.
Now though, "the game is up" - the ASA say:-
".. the claim BWY is the governing body for Yoga in the UK could misleadingly imply BWY regulates yoga in the UK, monitors and/or co-ordinates UK yoga activities and is a British authority on yoga teaching and/or practice."
The ASA's recommendation seeks to clear up a lot of confusion and will help the UK Yoga community grow stronger, as there is now authoritative advice on how the BWY should promote itself from now on:-
"We (the ASA) have asked them to amend the claim to state BWY is a Sport England recognised national governing body"
This sometimes painful and confusing situation has been with the UK Yoga community for many years now and it is with some relief that (finally) it seems to be very close to being resolved.
We recommend that all Yoga teachers, groups and websites review their active links and all other marketing materials used to comply with the ASA's recommendations as to the correct "wordage" to use when referring to the BWY - in anticipation of the BWY's expected compliance with the ASA's recommendations in the near future.]]>Does Size Really Matter ?
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry090424-111724
We have just finished a small, online awareness campaign about the notion that the British Wheel of Yoga is the largest Yoga organisation in the UK.
This seems like a typically British Conundrum since, in most other European countries the need for a large Yoga organisation is largely ignored !!
Assuming the BWY 's own figures are correct, (which - based on past experience is also quite an assumption) there are 1 million regular participants of Yoga in the UK - and the BWY have about 6,000 members !!
So, it doesn't take a maths genius to work oput that today, the BWY directly influences LESS THAN 1% of all Yoga activity in the UK !!
The fact is that the majority of people practicing Yoga in the UK have no affiliation with The Wheel at all - makes this continued shouting and waving about size very peculiar indeed.
Thankfully, many websites we have contacted have now agreed to either modify or remove that reference - and also the old governing body snippet.
Based on the ASA's own Committee of Advertising Practice Code - claims should be capable of being substantiated:-
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation.
It isn't clear which measures we should really use - and it is still not clear to us...
Benchmarks to use might be members, qualified teachers - or others - more like a company headline figure: turnover ? employees? assets ?
If membership - then many online organisations, social networks and similar groups probably now have as many "members" (mainly because they are free to join), they do not make any demands of anyone and are backed by huge marketing machines like Facebook or MySpace or something ?
If total numbers of students trained - which might be a better yardstick in terms of relevance and quality - then this must be very difficult to quantify at any given time since how many organisations have that data ? - or else will disclose it ?
This is complicated further in that many students actually use more than one provider, (which is something we recommend) - so whose training do we use in these cases ?
So - it seems to me that no one can really know how many students have been "trained" by anyone - and in any case the concept of official "training" is so contentious that this aspect is probably best disregarded altogether ?
Our original concern in that (even if "size matters" - which it probably doesn't) there is no point in making such statments without reliable and up-to-date figures from each organisation - and MOST IMPORTANTLY - which have been independently audited !
The way this has turned out is it seems to have had a bad effect - instead of uniting everyone - it is now seen as a MARKETING WEAPON - and that just polarises people either FOR or AGAINST the British Wheel of Yoga - which is sad and destructive.
But this is not so much of an issue for us - or the Yoga community as it is for the British Wheel of Yoga it seems ?]]>Tricky Times Huh ?
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry090423-234803
USD, a fall in UK retail sales of goods and services and increased competion online from the more competitive style of health / lifestyle fitness brands.
Most have seized the opportunity from the downturn in retail sales to review their internet operations and challenge our lead in Yoga.
Many seem to have spent thousands, either in new e-commerce software or generally in online marketing campaigns about Yoga goods and services.
On the upside - our exports to europe have increased dramatically.
We have increased our investment in various community inititaives and outreach campaigns that are likely to "bear fruit" in the medium to long term.
So, although we expect last years financial performance to be lower than forcast in the 2007 plan we remain very optimistic about our future and are making new plans for the next three years.
One example of some very exciting things we have planned is an event that will coincide with the London Olympics in 2012 where we hope to gain some advantage from national lottery funding.
Our accounts will be made available here in due course here:-
In these extraordinary difficult times it is tempting to go for the cheapest mat you can find on the net - you know those brightly coloured Sticky mats you find everywhere now, on Amazon, in department stores and on Google.
But choosing a mat for its environmental credentials might be doing much more for you than just stem the guilt of filling up landfill sites with plastic waste ?
Full article is here]]>See you on the other side
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry090226-115906
Do you know there are about 50 international trademarks registered for the word Yoga ?
All these seemingly bogus attempts by mostly misguided people to claim their own little piece of Yoga sovereignty has now been superceded by the the world's first Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) - created by India to prevent those living abroad from claiming patent for ancient Sanskrit texts, including the Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali containing at least 1,500 yoga postures.
The Indian government / people seem to have good reason in preventing the practice of Yoga being hijacked by the global health and fitness industry - the worst excesses of which seem to emanate from commerce attempting to cure the growing obesity and related health problems inflicting many Western cultures.
Of course, Hindu fundamentalists believe that real Yoga can only be taught by Hindus - and I can see their point - although (with the risk of starting a similarly contentious debate) certain Buddhist, Sikh and other religions may also be inseparable from the core meditative traditions of Self Realisation - although culturally slightly different from the classical Hindu Yoga traditions.
But I am sure we would all rather Yoga (postures) became culturally protected like this - for posterity - than left in the hands of any (Christian?) liberal democracy that may offer much in the way of wealth, opportunity and personal freedom - but offer no support or encouragment for traditional insight practices or personal moral discipline ?
Other than the obvious physical / therapeutic and stress relief benefits - there is really no opportunity to progress if we do not respect and take the time to learn from the classical, ancient cultural traditions and receive direct guidance from the original teachings and / or masters in the art - and Yoga (in a western sense IS an ART - not a SCIENCE !).
When it comes to protecting POSTURES / FORM then there is some merit in that - but REMEMBER - FORM is only 1/8 of the practice.
Bhakti (devotion) - Ahimsa respect for each other and our planet / kindness - love - silence - if we CAN just stay in touch in our relationships and with our higher conciousness then we realise that IS all we have to really work with - and THAT is YOGA - right there.
It follows then that ultimately, Yoga does NOT get owned by INDIA or by TEACHERS or us CHATTERING CLASSES - it is to be discovered with grace and fortune - in the light spaces between our aggregated sense of self (=IGNORANCE) and Kamma - unknowable truth - beyond science - breathing - life and death.
I am personally indebted to the ancient spiritual teachings - particularly those emanating from India but young men and women today have had all the Indian mystisism they can take from us BEARDIES - what with the 60's and the Beatles - and todays youth can DO YOGA with a Wii FIT or at a YOGA KICKBOXING lesson at the local sports centre - TINY western minds wanting exactly what it says on the tin - OR OUR MONEY BACK !!
How long do you think it will be before we demand YOGI CAKE to go with our YOGI TEA in Europe ?]]>Is the British Wheel of Yoga now stretching things a bit too far ?
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry090105-205911
British Wheel of Yoga (also known in some circles as The Wheel) that it is the National Governing Body for yoga in the UK seems to be gathering momentum - a bit like a Tsunami in the normally quiet, calm and tranquil Teacups of the UK Yoga community.
Who are the British Wheel of Yoga ?
The British Wheel of Yoga was founded out of a Yoga club in Birmingham in the 1960's by Wilfred Clark, who was also involved with The Friends of Yoga Society and the Yoga For Health Foundation, (the latter has since gone into administration).
The original ambition for The Wheel was an organisation that would "act as a unifying force for yoga in the UK" but all of this now seems to be put at risk by a handful of people known, (rather clandestinely) as "the executive council".
So, where are the executive council going with this slogan – do they really know ?
The dubious representation of Yoga in the media and elsewhere, primarily as a cure-all exercise regime and (even more recently) as a celebrity sports therapy is bolstered by their joining forces with such bodies as the Sports Council for Great Britain and Central Council for Physical Recreation.
The Wheel seems to be supporting the widely held and erroneous view that Hatha Yoga is about postures - you know, the kind of Yoga we all see in adverts where “beautiful people” are stretching and contorting into amazing shapes and appear more fulfilled, happy and content than might be considered normal or indeed, “healthy”.
So what are the executive council driving at ?
No one I have spoken too recently really seems to know and predictably, The Wheel do not seem keen to engage with anyone on this apparent dereliction of duty, altogether the main aims of The Wheel now seem to be almost lost on whoever is “driving at The Wheel”:-
-0- To encourage and help all persons to a greater knowledge and understanding of all aspects of Yoga -0- To maintain and improve the standard of teaching of Yoga -0- To co-operate with and support other organisations having similar aims
Is The Wheel politicizing Yoga in the UK ?
Well, they do “bluster” on a bit like a political party or commercial company when they say, The Wheel is "the leading yoga organisation in Britain", (whatever that really means) and they also make various (unsubstantiated) claims such as having “the largest membership”.
Perhaps, more interestingly though is the unfortunate metaphor on The Wheel website which describes its supporters as an "army of karma yogis" which, (when taken in this light) seems to be more of a Freudian Slip since the attributes which any real world army combatant might rightly rely on - such as demonstrating “ultimate force” have no place in Yoga culture at all.
This bold attempt to gain unilateral power by indirectly aligning Yoga with other sports and recreation groups through various national sporting associations has obviously backfired.
These other groups, such as the Boxing Association of England Limited, National Rifle Association, National Small-Bore Rifle Association and the Countryside Alliance (which supports recreational (fox) hunting) are (in most peoples minds) in direct opposition of one of the most important and fundamental principles of Yoga - "non-harming" (Ahimsa) - and so what they are doing with this does not represent Yoga well at all !
How The Wheel chooses to use this slogan to define itself does no more than distract from all the good work they do and alienate them further from the many other worthwhile Yoga organisations and charities that exist in the UK, and that can't be good for Yoga in the UK.
So what will happen to the Yoga we know and love in the UK now ?
Lets just stop for one minute and, (to coin a phrase) breathe in - breathe out – and reflect for a few moments on how the use of this slogan affects everyone with any interest in Yoga in the UK.
Proclaiming yourself as the “national stretch and exercise (I won't say Yoga) Guru for the UK” will never be an easy position to maintain, especially when more contemporary practices like Pilates may well meet that demand more fully.
Yet despite complaints, all this turning into a bit of a Mantra for The Wheel. Rumblings now emerging in the community about all of this nonsense are getting louder and louder, and threaten to disrupt the propagation of the core teachings which are eight-fold and include noble philosophical concepts such as unity and spiritual development - certainly with no emphasis on physical competence.
Thankfully, it is possible for people to practice AND teach Yoga in the UK without belonging to The Wheel, (or any organisation for that matter) - and since the majority of people practicing Yoga in the UK have no affiliation with The Wheel at all the use of this slogan is untenable.
Q: I am a beginner to Yoga, do I have to join The Wheel to be able to practice Yoga in the UK ? NO Q: I am training to be a Yoga teacher, do I have to register with The Wheel to teach Yoga in the UK ? NO Q: Does The Wheel monitor and co-ordinate all Yoga activities within the UK ? NO Q: Does The Wheel regulate Yoga in the UK ? NO Q: Does The Wheel represent the interests of the UK Yoga community ? NO Q: Is The Wheel the UK authority on Yoga teaching and practice ? NO
Does that sound like a National Governing Body for yoga in the UK to you ?
The implications are that the general public will be more confused about Yoga, in fact the use of this slogan may actually be contrary to general advertising standards - which is perhaps a more serious matter for the relevant advertising standards authority to look at ?
The text of this article is provided for free onward distribution / use. You are free to substantially modify the content without any reference to the original article. ]]>Yoga developments and improvements to UK retail and wholesale sites
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry081203-125343
removed from orders to registered EC businesses supplying a valid registration number.
2) Country select feature suggests visitors visit the most suitable website that supports their preferred language from the growing network of franchised online shops we are setting up over the next few years
3) Lower shipping rates to Irish republic - just 12.50GBP for bulk orders up to 30Kg
4) VAT now reduced to 15% for standard rated products
5) Free, guaranteed next working day delivery upgrade on orders weighing over 2Kg
6) Lower shipping rates for all UK bulk orders up to 30Kg - NEXT WORKING DAY DELIVERY FOR JUST £7.00]]>Open Source Yoga Wiki
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry081202-122041
social fragmentation - which can lead to isolation and negativity towards ourselves and others.
It seems only a few of us get new opportunities to share our interests with others on a regular basis and bring positive change forward.
Yoga must always be a personal journey and yet a thorough, intimate understanding of our own practice can only be gained by working with others - including those from different traditions and - even those of differing beliefs entirely - this has never been more important in todays world ?
My feeling is that the answer lies not in the myriad of hierarchical organisational structures, or the celebrities, esoteric renegades and proclaimed gurus that exist in the Yoga world today.
* Individual teachers and facilitators often require additional support from others to be effective and to be sustainable, eg. for promotion, networking etc.
* Charities and similar Trusts usually lack resources and continuity of contributions to meet the needs of all but a relatively small affinity group of members, over time they can become dominated by a few individuals, which reduces the effectiveness and potential of the organisation as a whole
* Small, informal associations and groups lack legal structure and accountability to be sustainable or to progress to larger projects that require financing - their prospects can also weigh too heavily on a few, key individuals
* Commercial companies usually lack clear ethical credentials or lack direction as to social accountability standards to appeal to the ideals of the Yoga community which they have been set up to supply
Even our own official, *Community Interest Company* status has dangers here - in that it could become just another hierarchy, like all the others - with a Chair, a board of directors and members with various rights and privileges.
So, the answer to all of this must be a permanently evolving space where anyone and everyone can take part and contribute ideas, views, knowledge at any time, regardless of their location, position in society or their place within the Yoga community.
What we do from here will be influenced through the changes and extra ideas to our plans, policies and anything else brought to the Wiki.
In short, we are moving from an aspiration to being a grass roots organisation to actually BEING one !
From the mundane - like new products pages, to just getting rid of rubbish links and improving grammar, spelling - posting in depth articles, (or links to them), set up a group page - go on a personal rant about something, changing pictures and graphics - gripes - debates - issues - events - authoritative references and anything you want to place at the core of our organisation can be made, you can even modify the content of others and the entire look of a page - as teh Wiki is in a continual state of flux - just like the practice.
The future of Yoga in Europe is with us - and we all have the power to shape it, and this represents our organisations primary RESOLUTION - and it is a RESOLUTION we believe we need to make to each other.
All that is needed is access to a computer - lets not leave it to others - lets make the future of Yoga in Europe together.
satnam]]>Competition in Yoga - does it really work ?
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry081202-104051
For example, the Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising revenues of some of the biggest online business such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL could well be contributing to a general sense of dis-ease in our community as well known Yoga studios and suppliers are being set up to compete against each other in an inflationary "bidding war".
... and our community is (indirectly) PAYING FOR THE ADS.
Yes, we are all paying for all of this nonsense - especially at the run up to Christmas !
Just to prove our point we have stopped all our online Pay Per Click and adjusted all our prices to account for the savings - this means that an average Yoga mat is now about 3GBP cheaper than before - sometimes even more !! All members of the online Yoga community have the power to change commercial Yoga culture for the better today !
Please help our community grow stronger together - away from the likes of these highly monetised search engines - lets show them we do not need them to sustain us.
If you are an online Yoga supplier yourself why not join us and boycott the whole thing - or at least think twice before you outbid a "competitor" for yoga keywords !!
Lets rely on each other as a community, if you know a good supplier - why not tell your friends, put a link to a good website or writing up good suppliers on a BLOG or FORUM or something - anything you can think of - maybe just making sure you don't click on all those paid for Yoga ads is enough to help ?]]>Online Yoga Business Leaders Group
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry081114-001155
Every Yoga teacher, administrator or entrepreneur enjoys the freedom to run their business the way they want, but many of us struggle with the desire to protect our independence, whilst taking advantage from being affiliated to a larger group or network of some kind.
This is why we set up the European Yoga Network, as an Associate or Partner your Yoga business, association or charity can benefit from:-
Unique, one-off (non-recurring) memberhip subscription Share in profits Contribute to development of Yoga in Europe Huge trade discounts and trade opportunities Leading brands and exclusive products and services all in one place Free, solar powered website Reduced administration overhead Take advantage of our credit card transaction facilities and discounted bulk, express delivery services Increased revenue and much, much more...
Yoga products
If you already sell Yoga equipment online, or to other teachers, groups, centres or just to your students and want to control how you fulfil orders then we can offer very generous trade terms to you
If you do not want to get involved in handling stock and fulfilling orders, and do not want the hassle of packings and posting Yoga products then we can offer a complete fulfilment service at very good rates.]]>Back Office Improvements at Simply Yoga
http://yoga-eu.net/news/blog/index.php?entry=entry081113-224824
We have am changed our shop so that visitors get directed to the most appropriate website.
The priority is language - but we realise that (for example) - just because someone has set up their computer for Swedish it does not mean they live in Sweden !
Also, we cannot cover all european languages so we are focusing on the top eight used for Yoga in europe at the moment.
So - what happens now on our UK site is that a selection box automatically appears on the top right of each page to prompt visitors to visit the best website for their language (as set up in their computer operating system/browser) - but they can still choose any of our other websites as we set them up (eg. germany or ireland etc.) if they prefer to do that - or go to our default European landing page to choose another language (eg. from Czech to Italian) and go from there. Our uk site is:-