About Tony

I have been practising Yoga for over 26 years and now entering my twelfth year of teaching. In addition to the Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series my sadhana (personal practice) incorporates many other aspects of yoga including Japa, Mantra, Pranayama and Vipassana Meditation.

My interest in yoga started at an early age, I was strongly attracted to the disciplines and meditative aspects of the Martial Arts, Judo & Aikido. I always felt there was more to life than the obvious, something deeper more meaningful and less tangible. Yoga has allowed this to become apparent. I attended my first Hatha Yoga class in 1984 at the Dance Exchange, Birmingham and have practised ever since.

After many years of attending classes and workshops I trained as a Yoga teacher with The British Wheel, gaining the Teaching Diploma in 2000. I went on to obtain an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Teaching Certificate in Edinburgh, Scotland under the direction of David Swenson and ‘The Art of Adjustment’ Level One with Brian Cooper. In 2002 I attended Nancy GiIgoff’s Adjustment Clinic in Prague. I attended a 5 day intensive practice with Manju Jois. Also attended teachings with several other teachers over the years including Granville Cousins, Anne Pace, Katharina Ireland, Graham & Leonie Northfield, Lino Miele, Richard Freeman, Chuck Miller & Maty Ezraty, David Williams and Michael Gannon.

I have been taught & inspired by some of the best teachers including John & Lucy Crawford Scott, Danny Paradise and David Swenson. I was taught by Jayne Orton, Senior Iyengar teacher for several years and the late Jane Degraaf (Pranayama Lotus & the Rose).

I am happy to say that my introduction to meditation was through my membership of The Birmingham Zen Group in 1997 where I studied the practice of Zen. The meditative practises I use in some of my classes involve simply ‘sitting. ’ Subsequently I attended numerous Vipassana 10 day Meditation retreats in the UK and in June 2005 I travelled to Dhamma Giri, India, the home-land of Goneka, where I embarked upon a 10 day Vipassana retreat. In December of the same year I travelled to Nepal where I stayed at the Kopan Buddhist Monastery, Kathmandu Valley and was introduced to the ‘Lam Rim’, (Stages to Enlightenment).

Also during this time I was blessed to have been able to practise for 2 months under the instruction of Sri K Pattabhi Jois, his grandson Sharath Rangaswamy and daughter Saraswati at the Ashtanga Research Institute, Mysore, India. The rest of time travelling I was attending to my own sadhana while visiting various temples and travelling to some of  India’s famous sites & cities. Amongst others I visited The Satyananda’s Bihar School of Yoga, amazing place, Balaram Temple in Vrindven, Madura, home of Krishna.

Many schools of yoga influence my teaching. In classes I teach we often simply ‘sit’ at the end of class (this in the influence of Zen). Increasingly incorporated in classes are some meditative practices from the Satyananda Yoga tradition. I took an Initiation into this school 2009 and attained the spiritual name Vedanta. Other influences include Iyengar Yoga, Dru Yoga and Lotus & the Rose. Those who know might be able to recognise the different styles in my teaching.

Twenty six years later my presentation as changed and I have developed a workshop around the concept of ‘Bits & Pieces’ &.’Less is more’.

See ‘workshops’. For more info.

Link to more photos.