Any tips for students new to yoga or those apprehensive
about trying it
Establish a daily practice. Don’t listen to your ego mind, start
practicing from where you are now.Any tips for incorporating yoga into ordinary or mundane
day-to-day activities
Yoga is not separate from your day-to-day activities, yoga is a
counter-balance to modern stress. For instance, if you suffer from RSI
in the hands and arms try interlocking your fingers behind your back
and pull your arms down and together keeping your collarbones up.What do you do when you’re not doing yoga
I enjoy comedy, philosophy, opera, swimming, bungee jumping. I am
going up in a hot air balloon on Sunday. The thing is I am always
doing yoga.What are your yoga plans going forward or other
career/life plans
When teaching asanas, to place greater emphasis on the other
seven limbs of yoga. Learning to let go. Taking more yoga retreats- there is nothing more heavenly than teaching yoga to an
enthusiastic class on a Greek island or in a quiet country mansion.
All levels of ability are very welcome and catered for on my retreats,
from beginners to teachers in training.
Anything else
It’s great to follow your bliss – it’s taken me a while to realise
this.For more information on Ruth White please visit:
yogawithruthwhite.comHow did you first get into yoga
In my teens I had severe back problems and was due to go into
hospital to have my back immobilised in a plaster cast for six weeks.
Yoga master BKS Iyengar was holding small classes in London
and I decided to get a second opinion before going into hospital.
Knowing nothing about yoga I went along, and I fell at the feet of
a master. It was there that he showed me how to be free of pain.
So inspired was I by his teaching that I followed him to India. After
training with him in Pune, I returned to England to set up my first
yoga centre. I have continued to visit India over the years both to
teach and to study.
What inspired you in those early days
I feel so fortunate to have had such an inspiring teacher on all levels.
BKS would not give talks but while he was teaching asanas, pearls
of wisdom would be given to us, so you actually experienced what
he was saying. We were not to make notes in a class (I made them
straight after) but feel in the body how the position was affecting
our mind.
How would you describe your own teaching style
Being able to meet the ever changing needs of the students.
Yoga career highs so far
Those moments when the whole class falls quiet and peace reigns,
or in a talk when the audience and I are at one.
Any advice for new yoga teachers just starting out
Give your students your complete attention and love. Be diligent
about your personal practice, but if you are finding it difficult to get
down to this then practice with a friend or with one of the DVDs in
my collection that are available on my website.
How have you seen the yoga ‘industry’ change over
recent decades
As I put in my book, Presence – The Truth Of Yoga, fifty years ago
one could barely talk openly about enlightenment, meditation and
spiritual awareness, but now the picture is quite different. People are
ready to move on to a wider level of awareness. We are waking up.
What do know now that you wish you’d known when you
started out as a teacher
It’s not about the body, it’s about changing your attitude.
What changes do you see coming in the years ahead
Unity and strength are growing.
om body