Yoga

“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the Self.”
— Bhagavad Gita

Early Inspiration

A British–Indian, born in Mahatma Gandhi’s hometown, Porbandar, India, I grew up watching my father regularly stand on his head in Shirsasana for what seemed to me like hours. Guided by his guru, the brilliant Sri Aurobindo, my father was an avid yogi who meditated regularly. Though he never taught me directly, simply watching him stand stock still on his head and sit in meditative immersions captivated my imagination as a little girl.

Around the age of twelve, I too started to attempt performing yoga postures. A few years later, I began to meditate, purely guided by my intuition. Explorations in meditation led me to practicing the Vedic style Transcendental Meditation, Vipassana Meditation and other systems. The meditations I practice the most, however, are guided by my higher Self into immersions of deep silence and stillness.

"Hi Smita, Your classes – I really look forward to them and wish you did more of them in the week. You give out so much energy and dedication, which creates an atmosphere that is fun, challenging, and difficult, but I love it. You effortlessly challenge us, and the enjoyment in your classes ensures that every session is both effective and enjoyable. Your disciplined approach, coupled with your intelligence and enthusiasm, pushes us to new heights. With patience and unwavering support, you encourage us to push to our limits and believe that we all can reach our own levels by pushing us to our outer limits, and not staying within our comfort zones – otherwise, what’s the point? I wholeheartedly recommend your classes to anyone seeking to enhance their physical and mental well-being through yoga. Thank you, Smita, for your exceptional teaching and unwavering commitment to us. Rock on, Smita. We could all do with a bit more of these classes."

Sam

I also practice Kriya Yoga as an initiate of the vibrant Yogiraj Siddhanath Gurunath, in the lineage of Mahavatar Babaji, made renown in “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramhansa Yogananda.

In my quest to better understand myself, others and Life itself, I’ve delved deep over the years in learning from Adepts of Yoga, ancient texts of India and Western modern thought leaders of Ontology, Philosophy and Neuroscience.

Putting my life-long learning into action, in my trilogy, Karma & Diamonds, I chart my own journey of Self-discovery that spans continents as well as several lifetimes.

A gripping and inspiring story, I take you with me on my quest as I discover residing deep within the conscious Self — Atman — and to trust being guided by that higher Self to make powerful choices to live a fabulous, fulfilling life.

"Thank you for another beautiful year of grounding, light, love, comfort and challenging my mind, body and soul.  So grateful for you. What you don’t realise is that your yoga class has become my life line and ultimate grounding place - so thank you for showing up this morning. It means so much to me. "

Marisa

My Teachers

On and off, I did yoga for twenty years but it was only when I stumbled into my first Vinyasa Flow training course did my yoga practice begin in earnest.

This was with the pioneering, internationally renowned yoga teacher, Shiva Rea. Her profound knowledge and approach to integrating the different aspects of yoga touched me deeply and inspired by Shiva, I took up teacher training with her.

Other accomplished yoga masters of the Krishnamacharya lineage with whom I’ve studied include David Swenson, Richard Freeman, Ana Forrest, Anna Ashby, Hamish Hendry and Stewart Gilchrist.

Rather than through yoga asanas, my Yoga journey began more with self-enquiry and meditation. These then led me to deepening my practice of physical asanas.

It is in integrating my practice of self-enquiry and meditation with yoga asanas that I experience the true, potent power that is the transformative process of Yoga.

When practiced with the flow of conscious breath, prana flow, yoga asanas not only detoxify and strengthen the body, but they also help to develop a solid mental discipline and fine tune the mind to discern and clearly hear the wisdom of the Self — as higher consciousness — that resides within, beyond the physical body.

"Smita is an amazing yoga teacher. She clearly has deep knowledge of all different asanas and combines this with spirituality in her classes. She is calm and patient with a range of abilities. I thoroughly enjoy my classes with her."

Kiran

Teaching Yoga

Tailored to the varied abilities in my class, I teach breath-focused Prana Vinyasa Flow Yoga, rooted in Ashtanga, as a deep, dynamic and challenging practice that is thoroughly satisfying, where outer movement inspires inner stillness.

The yoga practice I teach rewires you into becoming fluid yet strong, going deeper without trying too hard. I emphasise on the breath being your intelligent guide and healer, leaving you feeling a sense of openness, satisfaction, accomplishment and calm to the core.

Of course, Pranayama and Meditation form a regular part of the Yoga I teach.

Come and practice with me. Join my online class here

I’ve been teaching Yoga regularly since 2009.

"I enjoy Smita’s yoga classes and have been practicing with her for about eight years. She’s an excellent teacher, professional and encouraging. She varies her classes, gives us clear instructions and, despite the class being of very mixed ability, she makes sure that everyone feels included. I always leave the class feeling as though I been challenged mentally and physically. Thanks for today’s class.  "

Eileen

My Guided Meditations

I love teaching meditation.

One of my passions is creating guided meditations that invoke a sublime experience of being connected to your higher Self.

I’ve written and studio-recorded over 30 original visualised meditation tracks that range from helping you to simply unwind, relax and soak in calm, to getting a personal experience of individual chapters in Karma & Diamonds, to clearing difficult karma with a person in your life. And more …

Whether you are looking to unwind and relax, or tame your mind monkey chatter, or connect with your higher Self, or journey into the realms of the Goddess, you will find a guided visualisation to suit you in my meditation catalogue.

"Just an email to say thank you for your wonderful yoga classes, which I really appreciate, and I instantly feel better afterwards. You are a great teacher and much more. You are also supportive, inclusive, knowledgeable, and lovely. I have been with your classes for many and have realised that my knees and backache, which were hurting when I started, are no longer giving me so much pain. Hopefully, I can continue to attend your classes for many years to come. Regards Shashi."

Shashi