Yoga Asana – Movement – Postures & Breathwork

I teach Yoga Asana, movement & postures and breathwork from a functional perspective. I focus on how your body feels, moves and occupies postures on the mat. My teaching and practice are always breath-led and informed by how we are breathing.

With a background in martial arts and strength and conditioning, I understand the bio-mechanical benefits of Yoga to people who engage in physical pursuits.

Yoga is as much of a workout as a ‘workin’ to paraphrase A.G. Mohan. Beyond the Yoga mat it is a complete mind and body system for living a more integrated and aligned life. Yoga helps us to deal with the challenges that life presents us with. I weave these philosophies and themes throughout my teaching.

David Balfe - Dragn Yoga

Work with Me

Step Into Your Power – Yoga & Well-being Retreat – Snowdonia – May 2024
retreats

Step Into Your Power – Yoga & Well-being Retreat – Snowdonia – May 2024

You are invited to the Step into Your Power yoga retreat at the Big House…

Conscious Connected Breathwork & Sound Bath
workshops

Conscious Connected Breathwork & Sound Bath

You are invited to join this monthly Breathwork Sound Bath workshop combining a Conscious Connected…

Corporate Well-Being
corporate-wellbeing

Corporate Well-Being

I offer bespoke corporate well-being sessions and programs which combine Yoga, meditation and breathwork.

Yoga is a vast body of teachings, practice and wisdom that has evolved over many thousands of years and became popularised in the West when it was exported from India in the early 20th century.

Today, many people’s perception of Yoga is that it is either something that middle-aged women who aren’t very active, or paradoxically, something you need to be super flexible to do. Neither of these things is true. Yoga does not care if you can touch your toes, neither does it care if you are male or female.

The essence of Yoga is that our essential nature is of pure calm and awareness. To quote the sage Vyasa in his commentary on the Yogasutra: “The place in which the self is hidden is not to be found in the netherworlds, nor the mountain caves, nor darkness, nor the bottom of the oceans, it is in each thought.” (Yoga Reminder – AG Mohan, pg 35).

Yoga practice teaches us to find a place of peace within us while working through the challenges, the stress and the drama of life that often surrounds us. We do this by cultivating focus in our minds, being more discerning of our thoughts, concluding those that don’t serve us and amplifying the ones that do.

This pathway to the mind begins with our outer world, our relationships, our actions and behaviour, delving through the physical body through the breath to our inner world, that of the mind.

“Yoga tells us that we must bring balance and clarity to all these layers of our life experience, and the mind will follow suit” (AG Mohan – Yoga Reminder – pg 36).

Through the practice of Yoga Asana (the postures), controlled breathing (pranayama) and meditation, we can find a place of calm within the mind. We can experience a state of relaxed energy and awareness that is the essence of who we are, beyond our stories, our grief, our pain and our suffering. This is the journey of the self, through the self to the self. This is Yoga and Yoga helps us to find ourselves.

 

I began practicing Yoga in 2013 and over time, having experienced numerous benefits relating to better posture and mental well-being, I was compelled to train as a teacher. In 2019, after 18 months of study with Yogacampus, I graduated as a Yoga Teacher.

Throughout my training, I trained with world-class teachers. With close links to the Krishnamachyra lineage and the Mohans from India. The course blended science, art, philosophy and history, and provided a very broad and detailed training experience. This allowed us to develop our own voice and passion for teaching Yoga.

The importance of Yoga Asana, movement, postures and breathwork is fundamental to Yoga practice. Each posture or Asana has distinct energetic and physical effects on the body and when combined with a series of other postures (also known as a vinyasa), can energise, relax and bring body, breath and mind back into balance. Throughout each practice, I place great emphasis on how you are breathing and incorporate pranayama breathing exercises into each class.

I teach a variety of Yoga styles from strong flowing vinyasa, hot yoga, hatha yoga to restorative yoga nidra. I teach in a variety of settings from public classes, workshops and festivals, to private groups, 1 to 1, in the workplace and on retreat.

David Balfe Yoga Teacher Training Diploma
David Balfe Yoga Teacher Training Diploma