David Michel Yoga

A state of peace is sometimes found in the residue of letting go. Letting go can occur as a natural extension of your decision to forgive. Forgiveness of another amounts to the release of that which you are holding on to with respect to them. Someone may have done something to you, or you may believe they did something to you. What was done (or not done) is less important than what you are doing to yourself subsequent to the perceived or actual hurt. Holding on to a story of injury, and retelling it to yourself and perhaps others, deepens and sustains an open wound. You imagine your un-forgiveness to be suitable punishment for another, when in reality you are the one who suffers for it, and who contracts for it. Forgiveness, and un-forgiveness, are biologically active. As such, leaving some things behind is arguably in your favour.

YIN YOGA, 70-HR ADVANCED TEACHER TRAINING. 3 SPACES LEFT.

Yin Yoga has helped me and my body in immeasurable ways since 2006. It's the most underused and misunderstood healing process within a society that's entrenched in a 'try-harder-to-be-better' psychological framework. I've written this course single handedly from scratch, and it's my proudest work to date. I'm glad to be contributing in my own little way by giving teachers the tools to practice and teach Yin Yoga from a place of immense understanding. For teachers of all lineages, this course holds the key to a more comprehensive and holistic outlook on the human body, on the way that students learn, and in class sequencing.

Dates:

September 21/22
October 26/27
November 23/24

Venue:

The Falstaff, Ramsgate

Investment:

£495, payable in 3 installments of £165

Message me on here or email [email protected] for more info and bookings. Come join me on a trip down the yin river.

We all have our views on 'how things are'. The truth is that deep down none of us have a clue what's going on. We agree to have beliefs in common as a way of holding things together. It's impressive how we copy each others views so well that we can have such organised ways of living. It's also amazing how groups defend to death their interpretations against other groups interpretations, or punish 'crooked' interpretations within their own group. It's amazing because at every perceptual level, there's no way of even telling if 'out there' is out there at all. We have 5 senses (from limited chemical reactions) that delineate 'out there' for the involuntary nervous system to combine, and conjure up partial recordings of distorted memories. Whatever out there is, our senses create incomplete, easily questionable, barely understood images, yet somehow we mostly agree on what to call stuff and how to behave.

Science is a formal attempt to agree on criteria that we are willing to accept for the basis of agreement, in advance of any agreement. People can go so far as to kill each other over what it all means. But, the solution clearly isn't to have everyone believe the same thing. Instead of working towards a commonality of views, we need to work towards common acceptance of the reality of diversity. We need to diversify views on 'how things are' for a broader, deeper, richer societal woodwork. Because, among other reasons, by realising that variety is the norm, we have a much better chance of supporting each other.

The emotional centre of your brain does a spectacular job of taking leadership from your heart. Around 85% of the fibres of the vagus nerve running between your heart and brain are afferent, meaning the majority of signals conveyed between them represents information flowing from your heart to your brain (not the other way around). The heart is a feeling centre of great power and competence to continually inform and reform your brain. But, the neocortex (thinking brain) can hijack the heart’s role if you allow it to. And more often than not, you likely do.

Right now your heart may know and tell that all is well in this sweet unfettered moment, and supply the limbic brain with cause for calm. Yet if you subject your brain to the blaring trumpets of crisis, fear, and danger from things (ahem, mainstream media), your neocortex may throw you into a state of panic quite unrelated to your very real and beautiful immediate circumstances. It will then keep you in that negative state for the foreseeable future.

It is up to us to decide what we task our limbic system to endure, and it’s relentless work. Sit with friend, with a lover, or other loved one, to invoke your hearts response. Then, invite and welcome your heart’s caress of your brain, rhythmically lulling you into reality on safe ground with an open sky that’s far above the ‘I should be scared’ information tsunami. Listen to the emotion that originates in your heart to reclaim your limbic system to its own desired order, and allow this to be your main domain.

Happy father's day y'all

My phone keeps showing me these ‘memories’ albums with stuff like this house hunting trip from London to Westgate on Sea in 2016. All I can think is… Doesn’t time fly?!

If I look back I’ve done some pretty fun stuff, although I wonder how much of my attention I actually gave to it in the moment. As I look forward, I’m a bit less bothered about where I might be physically in space, and more curious about how I can actually gift each moment in my life the conscious involvement that it deserves. It’s so good to drift and dream, but it’s even better if we are able to choose when we do.

For me, sound technique will always win over 'hard effort'. When the effort is there, but the technique isn't, it's like putting a turbo sports engine in an old banger (it would 'blow the bleedin doors off'). I know this first hand from years of fighting against my own poor technique, and having to compensate for my inefficiencies through increased effort.

How we practice yoga is steered by our perception of our movement capabilities. Like the tale of all things, we only take our practice where we believe to be possible. This means perception can be a source of inspiration, or a limiting factor. If you elevate what you believe you can do for yourself, you will no longer have to battle the negative internal dialogue of things like 'this is too hard' or 'I'm not good enough'. This will take your internal perception of effort down, so that naturally your skill and potential goes up.

I’ve just returned from a week in Spain celebrating my son’s first birthday. Over the last year he’s taught me more of the things about life that I had forgotten, than I’ve taught him about the practical bits and bobs. Also, the things that he’s taught me are more important in life than the things I’ve taught him.

This weekend I’m leading the 6th module of our current 200hr yoga teacher training, and I have a heck of a lot of appreciation and lightheartedness to overspill. We have a remarkable group of 11 prospective teachers who are on every level an absolute joy to be in the studio with.

Ps. Thank you for so many lovely messages. I’ll gradually get back to you throughout the week x

If you’re hitting the gym and trying to make yourself look like an upside down triangle, you might not like our book 😝

One of the concept diagrams in our book is the ‘triangle model of the body’. We use the triangle shape to emphasise our perspective that most of your strength and stability work should be in the lower half of your body. The largest and longest muscles in the body are not in the lower limbs by accident, and it’s worth mentioning that your ‘second heart’ lives there too.

This work is aided by carefully selected core region exercises to help stabilise your lower spine and pelvis. We believe arm work should have a very specific focus of functional stability with an emphasis on range of motion and reduced side of neck and shoulder tension. This combines with the goals of core stability and leg work to aid spinal mobility, resulting in versatility of movement patterns.

Our book is available on our website on the link in my bio. For less than the price of a round of drinks you can have lifetime access to your own personal self-care road map. Everything in there is hand picked from our combined 30 years teaching to leave you feeling more comfortable, skilful, and confident in your body.

I think, talk, love, and breathe yoga.

In 2018 I established the South East Coasts first ever 200hr Yoga Teacher Training, and have been distilling my personal belief in this practice through training extraordinary prospective teachers at the seaside twice a year ever since.

The reputation of my course has been hard-earned across 10 years of training new and experienced teachers, and this continues to draw people from all over the South East, offering the highest calibre yoga education available.

New dates for Margate 2024 are up on my website. If you fancy starting your own passion project, check out the link in my bio and get in touch to hear more.

*Image is the front cover of my 265 page course manual which you will receive on the first day, exclusively illustrated by

Lee trained with me back in 2018, and as with so many of my graduates over the last 10 years, she's been keeping me in the loop with the wide ranging places that her teaching has taken her. This message popped up unexpectedly, and I'm finding it difficult to ease my smile.

The ripple effect of the love that I pour into my 200hr yoga teacher training is my greatest achievement, and my greatest privilege. All words fall short of the depth of my gratitude for being in a position to bring new yoga teachers into this world. People's needs have changed, and yoga seems to have adapted to meet those needs in the most uplifting and long-lasting ways.

I am running this course in Margate from September this year. If you are curious and would like to find out more, head to the link in my bio. Maybe we will find ourselves on the mat together soon 🙏

I worry that ‘are you ok?’ is an increasingly numb social media affirmation, and a question we don't have as much time for in real life. I'm not sure if the acceleration to pretty much all areas of our lives onto our screens is helping. The algorithmic insulation of these platforms build walls of limited thinking around us, accessing only areas of like-mindedness that reiterate our own views, and perpetuate our own perspective. And, if someone's Instagram avatar doesn't align with mine, I can just un-follow right?

When children play, diversity and differences are met with child-like openness, curiosity, innate acceptance and bravery. Online, even just differences in opinion are met with increasing reactivity, defensiveness, identity politics, and aggressive rhetorics. I feel it’s never been more important to prioritise putting energy into my real life social skills, my debating skills, my witness consciousness of my emotions as they unfold and move in my body, and my willingness to make deeper contact with others.

For many years I too often framed my experience of challenging postures in a negative and unproductive way. My inner narrative hacked away at my self esteem, and wasted a lot of my time. Recently, something has shifted my perspective.

In yoga, as with all aspects of life, we are not trying to inoculate ourselves into a benign existence. Even if we wanted to, there is nothing that we could do to insulate ourselves from the feelings that come with being challenged. That said, we can learn how to self-regulate in the midst of our discomfort. We can learn to not suffer.

The Bhagavad Gita tells stories of the end of suffering. Not the end of pain, not the end of discomfort, not the end of challenge, but the end of the secondary process that is overlaid on top of these inevitable experiences.

This weekend is the first of our posture workshops on my current Yoga Teacher Training. Together we share just about every thought and feeling on the challenge spectrum. I now look at the inner experience of those moments with gratitude and intrigue. I can't wait to be back in the studio tomorrow! 🙏

Join me this September for the 70hr advanced Yin Teacher Training programme. Yin yoga is often the most underused and misunderstood lineage. It literally forms the missing half of your practice and teaching. We will look at the various aspects of yin and focus on how to use these to greatly enhance your teaching scope. This training is an opportunity to evolve and transform your confidence and advance your yin teaching skills.

The format of this course is flexible to allow for maximum life / study balance. We will spend 50hrs in the gorgeous upstairs space over 3 weekends, you will also be provided with 20hrs online recorded anatomy tutorials with lifetime access.

Dates: September 21 & 22 | October 26 & 27 | November 23 & 24

Only a few spaces left on this one. Drop me a DM or follow this link in my bio for full details and to register.

My work is not to give peoples body's a new set of impositions to learn through making different shapes. I'm in the business of preventing the minds interference with the bodies natural movement capabilities, which I believe is part of the bigger picture of longevity.

There are 2 things that need to be loosened in order to develop a balanced and symbiotic working relationship between your mind and body. 1. Trying as hard as you can. 2. Trying to get it right. Both of these are 'ideas', which means they are derived from intellect rather than from somewhere physical. If you are doing either of these, the starting point for your movement is dominated by cerebral processes, which makes it progressively harder to hear and respond to sensation. If you let go of both above points before you start moving, you free up enough head space to use your mind to notice what's actually going on in your body.

There's no such thing as a muscle cell that doesn't have a nerve attached to it. Every single muscle cell is wired to your brain. The relationship between thinking and moving is a very real and very powerful relationship. When the brain is altered by something, like trying your hardest, the body will have a corresponding reality in which the nervous system creates either more or less effective muscle activity. You’re either ‘trying to get it right’ and freezing, or letting that go, and accessing the pure ecstasy of moving freely according to your body's needs.

If you always put the radio on the same station you hear the same music, same hosts, and ultimately the same perspectives. Over time, the repetition reinforces and perpetuates what's already there. If you never turn the dial and adjust the frequency, you may eventually refuse to acknowledge the existence of anything beyond that to which you are habituated.

Your brain is a far more sophisticated antenna than a radio, capacitated to both transmit and receive. You can easily turn the dial using your attention. It is your prerogative in a free-will world to choose to attend to 'more of the same', or to venture beyond and enjoy realising that there are many perspectives to choose from. When boosted with emotion, your attention is your superpower. Tune your dial to kindness, and you will pick-up as well as transmit that frequency. We all know this because our everyday experiences continually prove it. Pause your inner dialogue long enough, and you will unmistakably witness your heart in action.

A broadcaster is free to play whatever tune they desire. The whole world could be screaming "play fear" or "judge others" or "lack of self-belief"... and you could still decide "f**k that I'll put Bruce Springsteen on instead". Play what you need and you will find your heart humming it's favourite beat. Play what someone else needs, and you will see their face reflect the sun's light a bit more brightly because of you.

It always seemed weird to me that intelligence is so strongly associated with an ability to master information. Like, the more information you can juggle, the more 'intelligent' you are. 'Remembering' information only demonstrates 'understanding' at the level of thought. Knowledge must be weighted for its relevance and context, then relationships must be interpreted. Further, endless questions can be needed to refine our unique interpretations.

There are many styles of intelligence, and 'modes of understanding' that operate both inside and outside of us. Each has its place. The most impressive cerebral intellect pales when faced with the complexity handled effortlessly by our enteric nervous system all day and night. Our gut-brain is pumping out volumes of neurotransmitters to process the nutrients we consume, co-ordinating the myriad processes transforming matter into 'you', beyond the level of us knowing the astonishing details involved. Our heart and kidneys are co-operating to maintain fluid volumes, internal pressures, pH levels, and salinity to name a small few, thankfully far outside the operations of thinking.

ABOVE ALL: Matured powers of empathy, sensation, feeling, and emotion are critically relevant to assigning any meaningful value to knowledge. The many styles of intelligence within each body enable the functioning of the whole being. In the exact same way, the many styles of intelligence that different people occupy are all essential to the successful functioning of our social organism. Treasure them all.

Got family from Spain in town. We’re looking over Dumpton gap beach on the way back from Broadstairs food festival. Belly and heart very full.

Happy Easter one and all x

Become a yoga teacher

Join me this September in Margate. My 200hr Yoga Alliance International YTT programme blends modern science with traditional wisdom, delving into yoga anatomy, movement techniques, teaching methodology, philosophy, and class sequencing. This reputable, in-depth and expert led programme, equips you with the tools and skills to teach with confidence, and ultimately discover a teaching style that is uniquely suited to you.

Over the past 10 years as a teacher trainer I have had the pleasure of helping so many amazing students realise their potential. Reach out today to connect either via DM or follow the link in my bio. Let's have a chat about your teacher training journey.

Sometimes I lead students through a series of strong dynamic physical postures (and their alternatives). When I do this, I always witness the exact same thing.

Everyone feels and responds differently to each posture. Everyone has slightly varying degrees of physical capacities. And, students needs and possibilities differ greatly from each other.

Yet when we lie down at the end of practice, having ventured through all the challenges, the whole room seems to rest equally. Students appear equally grounded and content. There is quiet, ease, and calm. To me, this reveals that the true value and benefit of dynamic postures doesn’t come from how ‘perfectly’ we can execute or perform them, but rather how completely we engage with the process of practicing them.

For this coming Friday morning I've written a class based on strength for longevity. It's gonna be tough, and absolutely lovely! See you there?

We took a mini trip down to Brighton and stumbled across a hotel bar and co-working space with murals by . A few years back, Amy created original and exclusive illustrations for my 200hr yoga teacher training manual. She has since also illustrated my advanced 70hr yin yoga teacher training manual.

I know that I have a story to tell. I also know that my story telling has its limits. This is one of so many reasons that I am whole-heartedly grateful to have collaborated with Amy. The inspiration for the images were drawn from various texts written by ancient Indian spiritual seekers, most notably, The Vedas.

The moment I saw Amy’s work it was obvious that the course manual needed her touch. Her message of love and freedom is integral to the philosophical paradigms of my training. And... her stunning images permeate this feeling in a way that I’ve never experienced before. Thank you Amy!

Dates for our upcoming training in September are up on my website. Check out the link in my bio to find out more.

Our heart is a sense-organ. Its tendrils reach throughout the entire physical human form. We are literally heart-shaped. Far beyond the skins boundaries, our heart’s potent magnetic field palpates our environment, and is touched by it in return. Based on what feelings arise, we adjust all of our systems behaviours from moment to moment.

We are dancing with the world. As lifes movements caress our heart, we can extend our appreciation, and create an ongoing feedback loop of goodwill. Stepping towards someone with an open heart, again and again, builds up our tolerance for pleasure, our capacity to appreciate, and our natural impulse to be kind.

The human heart is sometimes wounded, and sometimes held too tightly for its own good. Yet it can also be refreshed, restored, and healed. The dynamic twists and turns of life currently call upon this renewal, for which we are perfectly capacitated.

Marcus is a graduate of my 200hr Yoga Teacher Training, and Saskia is one of the original graduates of my advanced 70hr Yin Yoga training (quite a few moons ago now).

Together they have established thriving yoga studios in both the UK and Australia, and have so far shared their passion for this project we call yoga to thousands of students.

I know what it takes to give your life to teaching yoga. I also know that there's very few paths in life that could be this soulful. Hats off you pair! .xciii

If you wanna get in the studio with these guys they'll be in the UK teaching 3 workshops in May 🙏

If you put a pair of foggy goggles on, it doesn’t make the world blurry, it makes your perceptive of the world blurry. Regardless of how you spin your view, the reality of the thing you’re looking at persists.

If you’re on the brink of a mental dressing down of your body in search of some perceived flaw, pause, and save yourself from wasting your time. Your body is so incomprehensibly beautiful that it’s beyond appraisal. If a beating heart isn’t worthy of the highest possible level of your marvel, wonder, and appreciation, then I really don’t know what is. It’s no surprise that self-deprecating words feel so icky… they bear no relevance and have no business being applied to such a miracle.

The great thing is you can say whatever you like about yourself. Just remember to take those foggy goggles off before choosing what to say.

Thank you so much for sending these testimonials through, it truly means a lot and always brightens my day 💙. I am very proud of the 200hr training I have crafted and I would love to share it with you, if you are interested in studying with me check out the link in my bio. Come see what all the fuss is about 😎😍

A few years ago I had a personal realisation about my teaching. I decided that it didn’t feel helpful for me to give students a platform to become more flexible, if I wasn’t also helping them control that flexibility. It felt like handing them the keys to a car that had an accelerator but no brake.

Within most styles of physical yoga there is a large emphasis on flexibility. There is no reason to vilify that, but it also makes no sense to solely develop this focus without giving our students access to a commensurate amount of complimentary stresses (there are too many to list).

One process we face across all of our teaching tools, especially class sequencing and teaching language, is to ensure that there is not a disproportionate emphasis on one singular technique or approach to movement. There isn’t a perfect algorithm to sort out what you are going to teach, and what techniques you should use. All you need is a sensible appreciation of the value of each option- strength, stretch, and soft tissue release. My primary objective now is to facilitate a broader and more heightened sense of how we use our body. Not just in a yoga poses, but in all the ways that optimise our movement functions, for all aspects of our life.

To say I’m grateful for the relationships and interactions I have with my students is an understatement. Teaching Yoga has meant that I have been able to spend quality time with thousands of open-minded, inquisitive people over the years. I have learned something totally new from every single one of them. I get to navigate and understand the human form in a way that I would never be able to if it wasn’t for teaching. I get to explore something deep beyond the ‘norms’ of social etiquettes in a safe and considered space. I get to be myself. And students get to be themselves.

The most fun thing about making a career out of learning together, is the chance to be surprised on a daily basis. Every unique student makes me go WOW... I never knew/saw/understood that before. So thank you. I have this feeling each and every day.

Photo of during my yoga teacher training, by

Throughout our 200hr Yoga Teacher Training, I teach you how to use MY METHODOLOGY, to enact YOUR VISION.

I don't ask anyone to just believe what I say. I ask them to explore it, and evolve it over time. I also invite students to contend for something different to my view on a subject. My goal when leading trainings is not to get people on my side. After all, by practicing yoga we're not just trying to build up and rationalise who we already are by staying in our own belief system lane.

As a teacher, listening to alternative views is not simply something you should consider. It's something that you should actively seek out. For you to be able to parse information skilfully, apply context, and manage/encourage viewpoint diversity within groups, you have to (at the very least) be willing to look at humanity in an interdisciplinary way.

Instead of us all subscribing to a single orthodoxy, the more range in experience, beliefs, and preferences in our trainings, the better. Not necessarily easier, but better. No matter how convincing and seductive a singular idea can be, I don't want my graduates to be held under any of those thumbs. Diversity is the cornerstone for providing us with a more 'whole' understanding of the story of yoga, and of life.

The fundemental teachings in my classes have their origins in my family. My grandparents and parents set up the terrain, the environment, and the atmosphere, in which I was able to generate understanding and affection for the world. I learned how to engage, and I learned that the process of engaging is more energising than the outcome. For this I am for ever grateful.