Yoga for life

A modern intelligent approach to yoga

yoga classes south london online yoga classes face to face yoga classes

Do you have
a stiff or aching body?

A niggling recurring pain or injury that never fully recovers?

Are you suffering from anxiety, stress, or exhaustion?

Gideon’s yoga classes
can help you become more mobile, strong, pain free; and to rediscover your contented, creative, vibrant, unique true self.

I adopt an individually tailored and empathetic approach that is informed by science and a wealth of experience.

Learn yoga with Gideon

You can choose to attend online yoga classes or face to face yoga classes, in small friendly groups and/or personal coaching sessions.

Online Classes

Mondays 7.00-8.15pm (UK), using Zoom

Individual Tuition

One to one yoga tuition with Gideon

Face to Face classes

In-person Yoga classes in London.

More about Gideon’s Yoga Classes

Reasons why people start practising yoga

You may have become interested in yoga for one of the following reasons:
to stretch out tight muscles or to get physically fit, to deal with aches, injuries, mental stresses, or emotional difficulties.

Also, I know some people go to their very first yoga class when they become pregnant, as it is perceived as a safe way for them to continue to exercise and look after their health at this time in their lives. In the modern western world, possibly fewer practitioners are drawn to it for its spiritual or metaphysical (concerning the nature of reality and being) attributes.

Perhaps you have other reasons for wanting to explore yoga?

Problems with your physical self

We modern humans are less in touch with our physical self than our ancestors were. Many aspects of our world have been engineered to keep us safe, protected, and comfortable.

Our hunter gatherer forbears’ environment had not been engineered to protect them, they faced many more dangers and challenges, and their very existence was dependent on them being very aware of sensory signals from their bodies warning them of discomfort and damage. In addition, in the last few centuries, due to mechanisation and other scientific advances we have become less physically active. We tend to spend a lot of time sitting in chairs and seats and we rarely squat or sit on the ground like they did. Our normal every day activities do not require us to scramble over uneven surfaces nor climb. Not so many of us have physical jobs, and if we do, they are repetitive and wearing, and we have machines and appliances that help us to complete tasks and reduce the physical challenges we face. Consequently, our movements are much less varied. Over time our movements have become habitual and unconscious. Our complex natural ability to move well evolved to enable us to stay healthy and thrive, however because we are not using our abilities we are losing them.

How I can help you resolve your physical problems

My yoga classes work on returning our bodies to normal human function through practising sensing ourselves better. We will improve our joint mobility, balance, agility, strength and remove stiffness and pains.

I will guide you and help you notice your unhelpful habitual ways of moving and holding yourself and then together we can strip those away. You will find physical support and become grounded to lose tension. The movements are smooth, slow and mindful, and we’ll practise breathwork and relaxation. After rediscovering this inherent knowledge you will be able to take this away from the yoga mat and integrate it into your life

Is your sensory nervous system overloaded, or unbalanced?

Most of us don’t live by the rhythm of the seasons, nor get up with the sun rise and go to bed at sunset. Our busy lives with the influence of electric light, digital media and all our modern advances mean that we are often in a state of hyperarousal, we are very ‘switched on.’

This is sometimes described as the fight, flight, freeze and fold mode. Our physiology is primed to deal with tasks and danger. We are more outward facing to meet the challenges of our external world rather than regulating what’s going on inside us. When we are in this state, the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system dominates. Our heartbeat and blood pressure increase, adrenalin flows, we might start to take shallow breaths and our body tends to stiffen and tighten. During this time our bodies are not regenerating cells, nor recuperating and repairing or digesting and nourishing; our immune system is suspended too, eventually we can become depleted and exhausted.

Yoga can help you rebalance your nervous system

Our yoga practice together will ‘turn the volume down’ on the sympathetic part of the nervous system and stimulate the parasympathetic system. You will begin to rest, recuperate, and nourish yourself.

Stiffness, aches, and anxiety will reduce or disappear, and you’ll feel energised and contented. You may even discover more of your youthful vitality. We will practise in a calm, aware, slow, and considered way. The mindful movements, breath work, relaxation, theories, and philosophical aspects will enable us to engage with and empower ourselves on all levels.

We can improve our well-being on mental, emotional, and physiological levels

This will improve our relationships with other people and society, and our life will feel better.

WHY PRACTICE YOGA?

benefits & outcomes

Social

feel valued and connected

A better life

feeling fulfilled

Mind

peaceful and contented

Physical

Healthy body

Relationships

Supportive

Emotion

Feel happier

WHY PRACTICE YOGA?

benefits & outcomes

Social

feel valued and connected

A better life

feeling fulfilled

Mind

peaceful and contented

Physical

Healthy body

Relationships

Supportive

Emotion

Feel happier

About Gideon

Gideon Reeve

I have been teaching since 1990 across a broad spectrum of physical disciplines. Since 2006 I have become a firm advocate of the ‘modern intelligent’ approach, I draw on anatomy, biomechanics, neurology, philosophy, psychology, and traditional practices.

Testimonials

Gideon is an excellent teacher, precise, encouraging, helpful.

Bart, University Lecturer

I took up yoga with Gideon a couple of years ago. Getting out of bed in the morning and walking down stairs to make the tea used to be a bit tricky – my knees and ankles were so stiff, I’d have to hang on to the bannisters. I suddenly noticed a few months ago that all the stiffness in my joints had gone. I’m now absolutely sold on the benefits of yoga … quite good for the head too!

Kathy, Tennis player and dog walker

The beginner’s class is ideal for me as I haven’t done much yoga before. Gideon is a very good teacher. I particularly enjoy the relaxation techniques at the end.

Erica, Environmental Administrator

Gideon’s style of teaching yoga really works; it equips you with all the tools you need to be happy, healthy and full of creative energy. I have been to many yoga teachers over the past 30 years. Gideon has found the essential elements and dropped all the dross.

Lesley, Freelance TV Producer/Director

Gideon has been teaching Yoga to me for over three years and his method of teaching is very constructive and flowing. I am totally hooked on Yoga now!

Keiko

My professional qualifications

  • Yoga Teaching Diploma, The British Wheel of Yoga.

  • Anatomy of Asana certified, Peter Blackaby.

  • Humanistic Teacher Training Certificate, Peter Blackaby.

  • Integrating Yoga Therapy Skills into CBT. The Minded Institute.

  • Yoga Nidra certified. Bihar School of Yoga & Satyananda Yoga Centres, Swami Pragyamurti.
  • Mindfulness study, London Buddhist Centre.
  • Transcendental meditation (TM), The Meditation Trust.
  • Pilates certified, OCR/RSA, MK Pilates.
  • Practitioner, Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).
  • Exercise to music certified, YMCA/RSA.
  • Former member of the Register of Exercise Professionals, Advanced Level 3.
  • Personal trainer training, London Academy of Personal Fitness.
  • Foundation Dance Course, Thamesdown Dance Studios, Swindon.
  • Musical Theatre Diploma, Arts Educational Schools, London.
  • Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, CPCAB.

The History of Yoga

Yoga as a fully formed spiritual tradition bearing the name yoga emerged in India around two thousand six hundred years ago. The word comes from Sanskrit which is an ancient language. Its root yuj is a verb meaning to harness, yoke, prepare, equip, or fasten and the full word yoga has a whole range of meanings including union, team, constellation, and conjunction.

The Vedas are compositions of around five thousand years of age that have been passed down orally, by word of mouth, through the generations, we have very little written evidence of them from that era. They contain evidence of yogic type philosophies and spiritual disciplines but not physical postures. Some Indologists; students of Indian culture, history, language, and literature, believe that the practices of yoga are even older than the Vedas.

Yoga was soteriology which is a doctrine of salvation from suffering. People were trying to make sense of what must have been difficult lives. They were trying to understand life and death and to deal with other challenges such as disease, flood, and famine.

Although, as I already suggested at the beginning of the About the Classes section, you may have ended up here with different aims than these, I ‘d like to suggest that perhaps they are not all that different. Even if all you wanted was a good stretch. You are still trying to improve your well-being on a physical, mental, or emotional level. You are trying to feel better; so, you could say your practice is still a soteriology.

If you’d like to learn more about the history and tradition of yoga you might like to do a course with Daniel Simpson or perhaps purchase a copy of one of these books The Shambala Guide to Yoga – Georg Feuerstein  or A Students Guid to the History and Philosophy of Yoga – Peter Connolly