Saturday’s retreat at West Lexham was built around one idea: that Hatha yoga is the yoga of the sun and the moon, and that working with both energies, rather than favouring one, is where the practice really opens up. Twenty of us spent the day with that idea, on the mat, at the lunch table and in the river. Nine of the twenty were joining us for the first time.
If you’ve been wondering what one of our retreat days is actually like, here is the honest account, from the opening circle to the closing one.
The real meaning of Hatha
After our opening circle and introductions in the Orangery, James gave a talk on the polarity of energy in yoga.
Here’s the plain-English version. Ha is Sanskrit for the sun and Tha for the moon, so Hatha is, quite literally, the yoga of the sun and the moon: solar and lunar energy. James spoke about the relationship between the two, how closely they mirror the yin and yang of the Chinese systems, and how working on the polar aspects at each chakra brings so many benefits.
For many people in the room, the penny dropped. And it gave the practice that followed a real charge.
Lunar side first, then solar
In my morning Hatha session we put the idea straight into the body. We took classic asanas such as Trikonasana (Triangle pose) and practised each one first on the lunar side, then on the solar. A pose you know well feels quite different once you know which energy you’re working with.
We finished with Nadi Shodhana Pranayama, a balancing practice, followed by a thorough Savasana.
Lunch, and plenty to talk about
Lunch was fantastic, made with homemade ingredients, and the table was full of conversation that the morning’s talk had woken up. I always love hearing a teaching carried on over lunch. It tells me it has landed.
A swim at twenty degrees
The afternoon was a wonderful, sunny twenty degrees, which for late September felt like a gift. We swam in the pool and in the river.
Rooted, then radiant
This is where the day got its name.
- To root: James introduced a technique called Samavritti Pranayama, and we practised it for 20 minutes.
- To create radiance: we followed it with 20 minutes of meditation in Vishuddha, the throat chakra.
The heart: receiving and giving
My afternoon session gave us another chance to work with the two sides of our energy, the receptive and the emissive, this time particularly with Anahata, the heart chakra. We closed, as in the morning, with a guided final relaxation.
The closing circle
We ended with a closing circle, a chance for everyone to share. What is said in the circle stays there, so that is all I’ll say about it here.
Taking it off the mat
Something new this time: for the first time, everyone went home with comprehensive notes on the teachings from the day. A retreat is one day, and what matters is what you take into the days after it. The notes are there so you can put the ideas to work off the mat, in your ordinary week.
The next retreat
Registration for the next retreat will open in November (after an announcement in a few weeks), and it’s likely to be in the spring. Rooted and Radiant was full, so if you’d like to come to the next one, the best way to hear first is to join the waiting list. And if you’d like to know more before then, drop me a line. I’m always happy to talk it through.
Thank you to everyone who came, and to West Lexham for another beautiful day.
