Yoga with Manjunaga

30/01/2026

Poem of the Week is by Martha Postlewaite

Clearing

Do not try to save
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create
a clearing
in the dense forest
of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself
to this world
so worth of rescue.

Image Johannes Plenio

23/01/2026

Poem for the week is one of favourites by L.R Knost.

19/01/2026

⭐ Opening Your Heart : Yoga & Meditation Workshop ⭐
Saturday 28th February 10am – 1pm
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ

An opportunity to explore opening your heart through the practice of yoga and meditation. See how these teachings can offer creative ways of working with your heart and mind in a busy world.

We will explore a combination of flowing movement through a combination of circular and spiral patterns as well as a stilling-style practice, focusing on restorative and meditative practices, working with more subtle energetic aspects of our being.

I will also be introducing some meditation practices: Samatha (for calming & positive emotion). We will also have the opportunity to connect and explore our relationship to our heart and the Manomaya Kosha (The emotional body), looking at how a deeper opening to our emotions and feelings, can bring us more fully into life.

This workshop is ideal for anybody wishing to explore yoga and meditation for the first time, or students with an established practice wishing to go deeper.

Open to all levels of experience.

The Didsbury Parsonage, a beautiful Grade II listed building set in a magical garden.
Full workshop price is £45 / £40 non-refundable, non-transferable.
(Concessions apply to students, the unemployed, OAP’s)

You can book a place via the link below.
www.manjunaga.com/yoga-workshop

16/01/2026

Poem for the week is 'The Horses' by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

From the window I saw the horses.

I was in Berlin, in winter. The light
had no light, the sky had no heaven.

The air was white like wet bread.

And from my window a vacant arena,
bitten by the teeth of winter.

Suddenly driven out by a man,
ten horses surged through the mist.

Like waves of fire, they flared forward
and to my eyes filled the whole world,
empty till then. Perfect, ablaze,
they were like ten gods with pure white hoofs,
with manes like a dream of salt.

Their rumps were worlds and oranges.

Their color was honey, amber, fire.

Their necks were towers
cut from the stone of pride,
and behind their transparent eyes
energy raged, like a prisoner.

There, in silence, at mid-day,
in that dirty, disordered winter,
those intense horses were the blood
the rhythm, the inciting treasure of life.

I looked. I looked and was reborn:
for there, unknowing, was the fountain,
the dance of gold, heaven
and the fire that lives in beauty.

I have forgotten that dark Berlin winter.

I will not forget the light of the horses.

❤️

14/01/2026

Does this posture feel familiar to you ? 😕

The Posture Crisis of Our Time

A silent transformation is unfolding before our eyes — the rise of hyperkyphosis driven by excessive screen use. What was once an age-related deformity is now reshaping the posture of teenagers and young adults, their spines bending under the weight of digital dependence.

Prolonged hours hunched over devices are not just changing how we look, but how our bodies function — leading to chronic pain, restricted breathing, nerve impingement, and lasting spinal damage.

This isn’t just a cosmetic issue; it’s a growing health crisis born from our modern habits. The future of a generation is quite literally bending forward.

09/01/2026

I have been sharing this poem by Elaine Dunstan in my yoga classes this week. A reminder to honour the season of winter and a time to rest and turn inwards.

06/01/2026

The gardens have been looking very beautiful in the snow. Just starting back my yoga classes at the Parsonage for 2026.

31/12/2025

It's been 18 years since I started my journey as a yoga teacher. A lot has happened over those years. I feel very fortunate to be able to have a vocation as a yoga teacher. I have recently been going through some of my old yoga flyers. Including one of me looking very fresh faced and a lot younger. Maybe you can spot your yourself or one of my students from over the many years.

30/12/2025

Dear Yoga Friends ,

New Yoga Classes starting in January

MONDAY
Mixed Level 8 Week Yoga Course
6.00-7.00pm 5th January till 23rd February
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£100/£97 concessions (3 places left )

MONDAY
Beginners 8 Week Yoga Course
7.30-8.30pm 5th January till 23rd February
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£100/£97 concessions ( 1 place left )

TUESDAY
Morning Yoga 8 Week Yoga Course
9.30-10.30am 6th January till 24th February
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£100/£97 concessions (3 places left )

TUESDAY
Restorative & Yin Yoga 8 Week Yoga Course
6.00-7.00pm 6th January till 24th February
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£100/£97 concessions ( 4 places left )

THURSDAY
Beginners 8 Week Yoga Course
7.30-8.30pm 8th January till 26th February
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£100/£97 concessions ( 5 places left )

All courses are held at the Didsbury Parsonage, a beautiful Grade II listed building set in a magical secret garden.

Explore classical yoga postures in a safe and supportive environment where students are encouraged to listen to their own body and go at a pace that is comfortable to them.

The courses will focus on building safe alignment infused by clear anatomical understanding. exploring a mixture of flowing sequences and static poses.

These classes will be run in pre-booked courses of 8 weeks and available to 12 students to allow for intimacy and focused attention.

Everyone is welcome: If you would like to join me you can book a place via the link below. www.manjunaga.com/classes

Warm wishes x
Manjunaga

24/12/2025

This week I went to the cinema as part of a festive film season. As the lights went up at the end of the film, I looked around to see people wiping tears from their eyes, and likewise during the course of the film I had been moved to tears myself on several occasions. I had gone to watch a film that you can guarantee will be showing on TV or at your local cinema as part of the Christmas celebrations. It is Frank Capra’s classic ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’. Made in 1947 and starring a great cast including James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore, Capra’s film has a Dickensian quality to it. James Stewart plays the role of a selfless man George Bailey who is much loved in the small town of Bedford Falls; it’s a story of redemption that follows his suicidal despair one Christmas night. Clarence the angel appears and shows George how much of a dark and sad place the world would have been without him.

I believe that the reason the film is so loved by so many people is (not only due to Capra’s masterful direction and story-telling) because it illustrates a deeper, fundamental truth about the nature of reality. The truth is: that every life is of value and is important. We can often feel powerless in our lives and insignificant, even isolated and alone. But we are all interconnected to each other and to all of life – the threads that connect us to others and the world are not always easy to see.

A small act of kindness or a harsh word or action can have a profound effect, beyond what we can imagine. We have a responsibility for the world we live in; we are not separate from it but embedded in a network of complex patterns of connection. It can be helpful to stop and reflect on our lives and all we have done through our actions – great and small. The small acts of kindness shown to others bring us into deeper relationship with the world. Think of all the different people in your life and how their lives would be without you, and then you will begin to see the profound ordinary beauty that is your life.

“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?’
Clarence The Angel from ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.

24/12/2025

As we head into the festive season I wanted to share my gratitude for your continuing support in attending my yoga classes, workshops and retreats this year. I feel we have created between us community, friendship, warmth and intimacy. I hope you have a safe and relaxing break over the festive season and I look forward to seeing you again in the new year.