YogaKutir

YogaKutir Inspiring yoga practices for mind and body. Classes, courses, workshops, retreats & teacher training. Welcome! UK and International Yoga Retreats. Yoga Therapy.

Welcome to yogakutir...

We teach traditional Hatha Yoga, a holistic science for health and wellbeing. Feel awesome in body and mind through ancient practices for contemporary life. Our Yoga is inspired by our study of classical teachings of Hatha yoga in disciplines that include Iyengar, Sivananda, Satyananda, Krishnamacharya and Dona Holleman's Centered Yoga system. We offer weekly yoga classes, courses and workshops in Clifton - Bristol, the South West & London. Yoga Teacher Training. Holistic Treatments. Private Tuition. Yoga in the workplace.

13/11/2025

Telling someone that the most commonly used Headstand techniques are actually the reason 90% of teachers and students I support struggle… goes down about as well as saying the earth is flat.

When enough people repeat the same method, it becomes truth — until someone breaks the circuit.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years. Not just explaining why these cues misalign, but showing how to build a Headstand that actually works.

One that’s safe.
Without fear or neck pain.
Where your legs float with ease and balance feels effortless.

I don’t have space here to unpack it all, but if you’d like a short video that breaks down the main cues most teachers still use, reply VIDEO and I’ll send it.

Cues like:
“No weight on your head.”
“Arms take the load.”
“Hold opposite elbows for setup.”
“Do dolphin reps for strength.”

Even now, tutorials keep teaching these as if they’re the only way. If you just swapped these 4 for aligned action, you’d have a huge breakthrough.

There’s a quiet movement of teachers and students who see it differently — circuit breakers who go by logic and experience, not habit.

They’re redefining Headstand. Finding effortlessness where they used to find strain. Because when you work with your body’s mechanics, the pose starts to make sense.

Every time I share this approach, something shifts — floating legs, newfound stability, total ease. The shift is always forward.

[SAVE THIS]

Has anyone shown you how vital the ulnar wrist point is in Headstand? Or how much your feet contribute? Or how to use gravity’s rebound through your whole body?

These are some of the missing foundations that make Headstand light, stable, sustainable.

If your practice still feels hard, heavy, or out of reach, it’s not you. It’s the method.

I’ll be teaching the full process live inside Inversion Foundations soon — a step-by-step system to rebuild your inversions from the ground up.
Reply HEAD for details.

Still using your arms to “protect” your neck in Headstand?That’s what I was taught too — until I realised it was holding...
13/11/2025

Still using your arms to “protect” your neck in Headstand?
That’s what I was taught too — until I realised it was holding me back.

These slides share what I discovered after 20 years of practice (and zero injuries).
If Headstand still feels heavy or uncertain, save this post and read to the end.
It’ll change how you see the whole pose.

🧘 Save + share with a teacher friend

12/11/2025

Ever felt like you’ve done everything right in Headstand and it still doesn’t click?

You’ve learnt it in classes or trainings.

You’ve heard the same cues again & again:

▫️ Place little or no weight on your head
▫️ Let your arms take the full load
▫️ Hold opposite elbows to “set up” arms
▫️ Do dolphin reps for strength
▫️ Press hands into the head
▫️ Walk the feet in before lifting

And still… something doesn’t work.
You lift one leg, the other won’t follow, or it just feels heavy, impossible.
The wall feels safer than balance.
You get up, but can’t stay.
Or maybe there’s that fear...

I’ve been there 🙌🏼

I tried more strength work, more drills, more teachers.

Everyone said the same thing: just stack your hips over your shoulders.

Practice more.
This is how it’s supposed to be.
But no matter how much I practised, it still felt off.

Then about 15 years ago, a chance encounter changed everything.
I realised it wasn’t me, it was the method.

The techniques being passed down, even in trainings, are the biggest issue.

Why?
Because they don’t align with the real headstand foundations.

Once I saw that, I rebuilt Headstand from the ground up.
I broke it into four vital phases (most people miss two).
No skipping steps. No mystery strength required.

And the result?

Students who used to fear falling now lift with ease.

Teachers who’d plateaued suddenly balance longer, lighter, more stable, because instead of forcing with arms, they’ve unlocked the true foundational strength.

Because Headstand isn’t simple stacking.

It’s about communication and connection.

When your foundations align, everything else flows naturally.

If you’d like to know why these common cues don’t set you up for Headstand success, I’ll send you a short video that breaks it down.

Just reply VIDEO 👇🏼

If this was taught in school… the divorce rate wouldn’t be 1 in 2.Yoga was never about touching your toes.It’s about tou...
12/11/2025

If this was taught in school… the divorce rate wouldn’t be 1 in 2.

Yoga was never about touching your toes.
It’s about touching truth — learning how to see.

Most relationships don’t fail from a lack of love,
but from a lack of awareness.

Swipe through to explore how yoga shows us:
🌀 why we confuse perception with truth
💫 how our patterns shape relationship
❤️ and what it really means to love consciously

That’s the yoga that happens off the mat.
That’s freedom.

Comment LOVE if you’re ready to bring this into your relationships — something new is coming soon.

11/11/2025

This setup is probably all too familiar

If you went online & searched ‘Headstand tutorial’, I know this cue will be there, even with some really great teachers

From the outside, it seems logical, a simple way to “measure the distance” between your arms

But here’s the thing. When you examine this cue & compare it to the real mechanics of Headstand, there’s misalignment

Here are 3 issues:

1️⃣ Your shoulders won’t ever be level.
Headstand is a symmetrical pose, yet this setup makes the shoulders twist. It doesn’t have to be like this.

2️⃣ One key foundation in Headstand is the outward rotation of the upper arms.
Holding your elbows encourages the opposite, which means you start with the foundations switched off

3️⃣ If your elbows tend to slip, this setup makes it even more likely.
An ideal base means you start on the outside of your elbow bone. Holding elbows means you start on the inside, making slipping more likely

I’ve made a short video that breaks this down in more detail

In it, I also share other common Headstand cues that aren’t as effective as they sound, including:

“Place little to no weight in your head / all weight in arms”

“Do dolphin reps to build strength”

“Clasp your hands behind your head”

These cues are shared with the best intentions, but they don’t set you up for the most effective Headstand

In fact, they often contribute to the struggle

Having been in this space for 25 years, while many advancements have happened in our understanding of asana through science & mechanics, the same Headstand cues continue.

No one questions them, they just get passed on.

Over the past 15 years, 90% of the teachers & students I’ve supported who struggle with Headstand don’t have a physical problem.

They don’t have a strength or flexibility problem

They have a method problem

You see, techniques that align with the real foundations make the most effective inversions

But when the foundations are misdirected, the techniques built on them cannot align

So when techniques don’t align with the foundations, how can you expect the inversion to work at its best?

If you want to watch the video, reply VIDEO & I’ll send it to you 🙌🏼

Patanjali never said you need to fix the woundBecause its not the wound that needs healingMost people spend years trying...
11/11/2025

Patanjali never said you need to fix the wound

Because its not the wound that needs healing

Most people spend years trying to heal their wounds — not realising it’s not the wound that needs healing, but the way they’re seeing it.

👉🏼[Read the slides]

When you shift from fixing the content of your life to expanding the context of your consciousness, everything changes — not because life looks different, but because you do.

Comment VISION for a free video on how to make that shift 🙌🏼

And SAVE THIS as a reminder for the bigger picture x

10/11/2025

Headstand is all about communication

Communication between different parts of the body & the energy, mind & breath

Any relationship falls apart when communication breaks down
It’s the same with asana

Knowing how the body communicates & cooperates is essential

Even more so in inversions like Headstand & Pincha

We often focus on the body in a fragmented way

Our attention jumps from one thing to another & we lose the bigger picture

What really makes the difference is developing peripheral awareness

Than means Being able to sense multiple parts & actions at once

It’s a bit like learning to drive a car
At first you think about each step separately
clutch, gear stick, accelerator
Then one day the actions start to happen together
You don’t think, you just move
That’s embodied communication

What I see all too often in Headstand is a lack of communication, especially between the legs

Maybe you’re just happy getting them up there!
But when you kick or jump, the legs often stop talking to each other
It’s more luck than control

When your legs know how to work together, their actions start to complement each other

That communication becomes a vital part of the foundational engagement of the whole body

I love using therabands in practice for this reason
They join the dots between different body parts
They help the body share intelligence &!awareness

Here I’m using the band to keep the legs talking

They move in opposite directions, & the resistance helps you feel it more clearly (and creates more stability and lightness)

When the body works as a whole unit, actions like floating the legs & balance become more inevitable as the whole structure is communicating

There are many ways I work like this in developing Headstand & all inversions

It builds a practice that is intelligent, connected & stable
Where the legs can float up with ease & control

This kind of embodied communication is what we’ll dive into inside Inversion Foundations LIVE
A guided, group container where you’ll explore all inversions step by step with personal feedback & individual attention

Reply INVERT if you want details or an invite once doors open

When change happens it can go one of two waysResist or let it flowI remember becoming a parent and how that changed my a...
10/11/2025

When change happens it can go one of two ways
Resist or let it flow

I remember becoming a parent and how that changed my attitude towards practice

It showed me how many conditions I’d placed on myself in order to practice
Quiet clean space
Unbroken time
Practicing whenever I wanted

Children change all of that very quickly

At first there was frustration reacting to the disruption
Then came the realisation that a practice meant to create freedom was doing the opposite

When those conditions came crumbling down, something deeper opened
I started to look at what I’d built around control instead of connection

The innocence of a child is one of the best teachers
They expose your shadows and blind spots faster than anything else

When I look at the yoga world today, shiny studios, the clothes, all the conditions... don’t get me wrong, I love a clean tidy space more than a toy-strewn carpet
And yet, it also doesn’t matter

I remember a teacher coming to my class once who had been teaching for over 50 years
I asked her what it was like back then
She said we all just turned up in a room, placed our towels down, put the babies and kids in the corner, and practiced

No conditions
No reaction to the noise
Because the focus was on the practice, not the environment

These days I can practice anywhere, anytime
Developing the capacity to drop inward no matter what’s happening around me has been one of the best gifts
I don’t really use a mat anymore either, just whatever surface is there

Kids have been a blessing in a thousand ways, practice included

I’d love to hear how change has shaped your relationship with practice
Whether through family, injury, or some other shift in life

PS. This photo was around 5 years ago. 2025 is a whole other level of adaptation (and there are two) x

09/11/2025

Ever said you wanted something — in practice, work, life — then watched it quietly slip away?

Not because you didn’t mean it, but because life got in the way.
The mind steps in with excuses, reasons, logic.

And before you know it, your word doesn’t hold the same weight.

When your word has weight, you live differently.
You show up differently.
You create differently.

I’ve seen this in my Headstand journey.
I already practised Headstand most days before I committed to 100 joined-up days.
So why bother if I was already doing it?

Because I gave my word.
I declared it.

And that declaration changes everything.

Over the past 31 days there were moments I could’ve skipped.
I’m a parent, a partner, I run a business.
Plenty of valid reasons.

But I chose to be impeccable with my word.

I show up daily. 5–20 mins headstand practice.
Repetition is the mother of skill.

This is the difference between those who create what they desire and those who don’t.

Even with the right headstand keys and knowing what to avoid — you still have to take action.

Like when a baby learns to walk… they don’t try once a week and hope it sticks.
They get up, fall, try again.
And walking becomes inevitable.

What’s often missing (not just headstand but life) is no one shows us how to be impeccable with our word.

We get the strategies, not the deeper layers where real change happens.

31 days has shown me: when I’m impeccable with my word in one area, it ripples into everything — relationships, parenting, business, practice.

I’m committed.
It’s happening no matter what
because I’ve spoken it.

And I’m here to help you build that same habit — so your inversion practice, and your growth through it, become inevitable.

Those on the list, stand by for doors opening info soon 🚀

(And Reply YES if you want to be added.)

We often label ‘elders’ through time.Years teaching. Years practising. Years alive.But does time alone make someone wise...
09/11/2025

We often label ‘elders’ through time.
Years teaching. Years practising. Years alive.

But does time alone make someone wise?

Many age yet stay caught in their own loops.
Time can give perspective
and it can also pull you deeper into the fog of not seeing.

Everyone ages.
Few truly ripen.

You’ve probably felt it
years on the mat, countless trainings, endless learning…
and yet something still feels unintegrated.

The same emotional patterns resurface.
The same blind spots appear in relationship, leadership, or money.

This is the quiet frustration of many sincere practitioners
the realisation that time and technique alone do not awaken wisdom.

In yoga culture, it’s easy to assume those who’ve been doing it longer have it figured out.
We live in a society that often pushes this narrative

But longevity doesn’t equal clarity.
Some repeat the same cycles for decades,
while others awaken in a moment.

Because wisdom isn’t built from repetition or information.

It’s built through self-study and discernment.

👉🏼 svādhyāya + vairāgya

Facing yourself.
Letting go of what’s not true.
Seeing clearly without judgment.

Not every elder speaks from growth.

Many age within their practice without transforming through it.

To mature through yoga is to live in inquiry.

Let alignment, not time, be your measure of wisdom.

The seed of potential is always there.
Some germinate early, some much later.
Neither is better, only different.

So pause and reflect:
Where are you repeating instead of refining?
Where are you ageing, yet not evolving?

Wisdom is earned through alignment, not time.
Because learning isn’t linear.
And neither is life.

Save this as a reminder: wherever you are, your potential for embodiment is equal to someone with ten more years on the mat.

08/11/2025

If you’ve been practising Headstand for months or even years and still feel like you’re fighting gravity, it’s not that you aren’t capable.

It’s that you were handed the wrong recipe.

When the ingredients don’t match the dish, no matter how many times you practise, you won’t get the result you’re after.
A recipe for chocolate cake won’t make you apple pie.

I see this all the time in asana practice.
Students and teachers repeating the same method, hoping for a different outcome.
Headstand is one of the most common examples.

Most Headstand instructions out there are actually more aligned with Handstand than Headstand.
They focus on building arm strength and keeping weight off the head.
If you keep practising that way, all you build is more of that pattern.

You don’t tap into the real mechanics that make Headstand stable and easeful.

When I finally discovered the right recipe 15 years ago, everything shifted.
I stopped chasing strength and started refining foundations.
That’s when lift and balance stopped being something I had to force.
They just happened.

It’s this approach I’ve been sharing ever since to help teachers and students finally experience effortless stability in Headstand and lift their legs with ease.

If you’d like to know two ways I can help you create the most effective and efficient Headstand practice where your legs float with ease and your balance feels rock solid, reply HEAD and I’ll send you the details. 🙌🏼

07/11/2025

When you pay attention to the whole process, that’s when breakthroughs happen.

Too often in asana we fixate on the peak shape of the pose.
We chase the still point

The balance in handstand
The deepest forward bend or backbend

But when you give as much attention to the way you arrive and the way you leave, everything changes.

Headstand is the perfect example. Most people focus on balance.

When you understand that balance is just part of the pose, your focus changes

What made the biggest difference for me was taking my attention off the balance itself,
and instead focusing on the entry process and the exit process

This is what made the jump in quality for balance

The balance is the cherry on the cake we all want,
but the coming out reveals so much more — your understanding, control, and where the gaps still are.

The entry and exit are the real teachers.
When you refine them, balance becomes effortless.
Because balance isn’t something separate — it’s what lives between those two points.

This is the point where many have gaps because the focus has just been on balance

When you instead focus on the entry/exit you dont miss gaps

And without gaps, balance becomes much more easeful and steady.

Inside Inversion Foundations LIVE, we’ll explore these entry and exit strategies for Headstand, Pincha, and more,
so balance becomes a byproduct of awareness, not effort.

Doors open soon with limited spots for live guidance.

If you’d like to be on the list, reply YES and I’ll make sure you’re first to hear.

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About us

We are passionate about the full spectrum of yoga. We live, teach and embrace the richness of a yogic lifestyle. We endeavour through our teaching to share our own experience of yoga as a transformative practise on and off the yoga mat. Our classes are inspired by our study of classical teachings of Hatha yoga in disciplines that include Iyengar, Sivananda, Satyananda, Krishnamacharya, Scaravelli and Dona Holleman's enlightened asana work. We teach group classes and private lessons, host courses, workshops, retreats, and organise Teacher Training programmes.