The Yoga Sanctuary

“In the space between your breaths and the silence between your thoughts, I have placed a door that leads directly to me”
Rumi

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“We close our eyes when crying, when dreaming. When wishing and when hugging. Because the beautiful things in life aren’t seen with the eyes but felt with the heart”
Kahlil Gibran

During this 2 hour workshop with Justine, practitioners will learn basic breathwork and meditation techniques and practices. These skills will empower and inspire, and give confidence to all who attend the workshop, in being able to integrate these practices daily. After all consistency is key.

Benefits of regular breathwork and meditation include the following:
- boost your immune system
- increase your levels of energy and vitality and provide you with clarity of thought
- calm your nervous system leading to a substantial reduction in anxiety and stress
- increase your ability to focus and concentrate
- increase your levels of self awareness, self acceptance and compassion
- improve your overall sense of wellbeing and enhance your relationships
- promote your emotional health as well as your physical health
- assists you to fight any addictions
- make sure that you are less effected by negative energy and become more proactive
- increase your ability to use your imagination and creativity to meet ones life challenges
- increase your mindfulness ensuring that you are always aware of the present

Please call Justine directly to make a booking.

We are so happy to announce, not 1, but 4 new classes to our weekly timetable!
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Beverley Rodd will be teaching a Hatha Vinyasa on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 7am, completing our daily 7am offering.
Bev will also be teaching a Saturday Vinyasa at 8am.

Start your day with a balanced yoga practice blending traditional Hatha poses and dynamic Vinyasa flow. Incorporating sun salutations, breath work with foundational poses to build strength, alignment and core stability. Suitable for all levels, this early morning session invites introspection and intention setting for the day ahead.
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“Soul is not bothered
what race you are, what tribe you are, what family you are or if you have no family at all.
Soul is not bothered
if you have a religion or don’t have a religion.
Soul is not bothered
what kind of skin you have, what gender you have, or what mixture of genders you have.
Soul is not bothered
if you are good or bad, courageous or cowardly, a hero or an ordinary person.
Soul is not bothered
what age you are, whether you are abled or disabled, clever or not, intelligent or not, smart or otherwise.
Soul is not bothered
about what you achieve or what you do not achieve.
Soul has no regrets.
Soul is not bothered
if you can’t imagine,
if you never find love,
or if you never offer love or compassion.
Soul is not bothered.

But you are bothered
because you chose to be a human being and somehow you know that Soul is within.
You are bothered because Soul is infinite breathing life and infinite breathing life is you.
Soul is you and you are Soul.
Everyone is chosen, all of life is chosen, was chosen, will be chosen,
but Soul is not bothered.
Soul is all-encompassing, unconditional love.”

Jack Angelo

“Give up all sorts of fears, worries, anxieties and cares.
Do not be disheartened by failures and setbacks.
Draw strength and courage from God dwelling in the chamber of your heart.
Pain is the best thing in the world.
It is an eye opener.
It awakens your dormant faculties.
Never forget this.”

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Join Justine on the 24th of February at 11:30am for a two hour healing journey.

The two hours will consist of restorative yoga practices, breath work techniques, a yoga nidra, and sound healing.
These are tools to help stimulate the parasympathetic state of the nervous system. These tools assist the practitioner to drop into and imprint a deep healing, a “rest and digest” state.

Please make direct contact with Justine for bookings.

Cost:R500

Today we celebrated our friendship, our yoga sanctuary, our practice, our togetherness and our unified love of yoga.
Thank you 🙏🪷🪬📿

“Together we are all on a journey called life. We are a little broken and a little shattered inside. Each one of us is aspiring to make it to the end. None is deprived of pain here and we have all suffered in our own ways. I think our journey is all about healing ourselves and healing each other in our own special ways. Let’s just help each other put all those pieces back together and make it to the end more beautifully. Let us help each other survive.”

Ram Dass

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🛎️ NEW CLASS OFFERING!

Join Mandisa on Sunday evenings at 5, for a Sunday Reset.

SUNDAY RESET:

This is an embodiment practice that intelligently and safely infuses adapted practices, from the Hatha Lineage. The practice will combine an embodiment of gentle stretches/flow, restorative, yin , breathwork and meditation. There will be moments of holding postures for longer periods at a time and there will be moments of more fluid movement. The practitioner is always encouraged to practice at their level of effort, they have capacity for. From Beginner to advanced yogi's, all are welcome to reset their nervous system. All are welcome, as we collectively support each other through breathe, movement and connection.

Who this will benefit:
Any level practioner who would love to have a rest, before the working week.

How you will benefit:
1.Your stress levels before the work week will reduce. Thanks to the nervous system reset.
2. You will feel lighter, more flexible.
3. You will feel more peaceful.
4. You will feel supported
5. You will feel more in harmony
6. You will feel more enthusiastic.
7. Stronger immunity.

Join Justine on the 25th of November for a workshop on Vagal Tone.

The Vagus Nerve is the largest cranial nerve in the body.
It consists of 2 nerves, one on the right side of your body and one on the left side. Both extend from your brain all the way down to your gut, passing through your heart, lungs and intestinal organs along the way.

This nerve controls many crucial functions : digestion, heart rate, sweating, speech, taste, breathing, immune response, mood regulation, reflexes like sneezing, swallowing and coughing.

It most vital responsibility however, is the pivotal role it plays in getting you back to a state of calm after a stressful event.
The Vagus Nerve can sometimes become dysfunctional or damaged, usually due to age or chronic stress.

High Vagal tone means higher capacity for stress, change and challenge and higher capacity for rest, recharge and recovery.

Mandisa will be offering RESTORATIVE YOGA at The Yoga Sanctuary. Thursday evenings at 6:15.

This style of practice, is dedicated to recalibrating the nervous system, back into rest and digest. A very intentional practice, that allows you to fully restore, on a more conscious level.

The restorative practice uses yoga props, which create full support for your body, to safely open up. It assists injuries and is beneficial for the general holistic healing of your mind and body and soul.

In this practice, we are reminded of the importance of taking things slow. The postures are purposefully longer with passive holds, allowing for a full integration of relaxation.

How you will benefit from this practice:
1. Your anxiety will be reduced on a very deep level.
2. Your sleep will improve.
3. You will have a stronger immune system.
4. It improves your ability to focus on the present moment.
5. You will heal, you will feel rejuvenated and you will feel restored.

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Yoga offers many techniques to direct our focus to the vibration of peace that resides within each of us. An excellent practice for this is Ajapa Japa, a sadhana that dates from the Upanishads but was brought to the modern world by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
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During the practice, you must maintain constant awareness of every ingoing and outgoing breath. Not a single breath should go unnoticed.
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Sit in a comfortable position and relax your body completely.
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Leave the awareness of the breath through the nostrils and visualize a transparent breathing tube spanning the body between the navel and the throat. Try to imagine it.
Bring your awareness to your navel and start practicing ujjayi breathing (if you know how)
Begin to move your awareness very slowly up and down inside the psychic breathing tube (frontal passage).
Now add the awareness of the breath. Let the awareness and the breath ascend and descend inside the psychic passage (or tube).
As you breathe in, your knowledge flows slowly and evenly up from the navel to the throat. As you breathe out, the awareness flows down smoothly and evenly from the throat to the navel.
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Then add a third force, prana in the form of golden liquid. Visualize prana as a golden liquid flowing up and down together with the breath and the awareness.
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You have the breath, the awareness, and pranic energy in the form of golden liquid ascending and descending inside this psychic passage. Observe this slender, flowing river of golden liquid flowing with the breath and the consciousness inside the passage.
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To make the practice more constant, use the mantra SOHAM. (I am that). As you inhale, it is SO and as you exhale it is HAM. Now you have the breath, the awareness, the pranic energy and the mantra SOHAM ascending and descending inside the frontal passage.
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Practice this for a while. Include the use of a Mala Bead with 108 beads. Repeat the mantra with every bead.
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Now get ready to end the practice.
Leave the awareness of the psychic passage.
Become aware of your physical body, of your meditation posture and the external environment.
When your consciousness is fully externalized, slowly open your eyes.
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The Beginner Workshop is now on the 21st of October.

There are so many life changing reasons to begin a yoga practice. Come and unlock your full potential and embark on a transformative journey towards physical and mental wellbeing. Yoga is a holistic practice and as soon as you step onto your mat and connect with yoga, you will start to feel the benefits of yoga shine through in so many different areas of your life.

Here are a few real reasons to start yoga, now.
🔹Yoga is so much more than a physical practice!
Yes, there are the benefits of toning your body, but if you are open to it, yoga has the potential to go so much deeper.
🔹On a physical level yoga helps to strengthen your body, and improves your flexibility, balance, and coordination.
🔹Yoga offers a gateway to your emotions and allows a journey of personal growth and self-discovery.
🔹Yoga can be the key to living a more authentic life, which is led more by the heart rather than the mind!
🔹Yoga encourages self-awareness, helps to reduce stress, makes you more resilient to stress, improves your focus, boosts your productivity, creativity, and emotional wellbeing.
🔹In yoga we link movement with breath to create unity between body, mind and spirit.
🔹Conscious breathing soothes the nervous system and over time the mind becomes clearer and free from any thoughts, judgments, or fears, and we come back to our natural state of being.
🔹As you flow through the different yoga postures, you practice awareness, and if you allow it, your mind becomes still and as a result you become more present in the here and now.

With love
Maxine

EMBODIMENT & THE CHAKRAS

Join Mandisa for a 2hr immersive practice, focusing on staying deeply tethered and aligned within the chakra system.

The Chakras are the energy centers in our bodies that help us alchemise low vibrational energies/feelings, into higher vibrational ones. Overtime, when we no longer stay rooted in practices attuned towards our highest alignment, we experience disorder/imbalance.

The tools shared in the practice will look at how to reorganise misalignment within our energetic centers, to bring us back into alignment.

• Experience freedom in your physical body to perform tasks with more ease.
• Experience the space that will be freed up in the mind.
• Gain better access to operate from a place of excitement and peace.
• Feel revitalised and rejuvenated.

We look forward to holding space and sharing practices that have allowed for a more embodied life.

The workshops will be divided into two parts

1. 28th October 2023 (Full moon)
Releasing stagnant energy between the Root chakra and the Heart chakra. 💚

2. 18th November 2023
(Week of the New moon)
Inviting a clearer path towards our highest alignment, from the heart chakra to the crown chakra. 🤍

Join Justine Barnes for an integrative practice & learning tools for better quality sleep.
Saturday 7th October
11:30-1:30pm
R500
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Getting good quality sleep daily, is non negotiable. Sleep almost affects every type of tissue and system in the body - from brain, heart and lungs to metabolism, immune function, mood and disease resistance.
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Research shows that chronic lack of sleep or getting poor quality sleep, increases the risk of disorders, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and obesity.
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During this workshop, the student will learn and access different tools, to integrate and improve sleeping habits and insure good quality, consistent sleeping patterns.
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Mandisa is ramping up her offering at The Yoga Sanctuary, her classes naturally unfurling into the most exquisite offering.
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EMBODIMENT PRACTICE
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You are someone who believes that by simplifying your yoga practice, you amplify the feeling of freedom, deeper connection to yourself and self control. With this style of practice, you feel a sense of accomplishment, grounding and safety in your body. You understand that when you feel safe, you experience peace of mind and have more capacity to thrive.
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The class is a stronger practice, catered to the advancing practitioner/yogi who has a desire to acquire self mastery, through embodied techniques that focus on alignment holistically. The practice is intended to allow the head and the heart to reconnect to the body, through consistent dedication and effort.
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Rooted in the ancient tradition of Hatha yoga, the practice is intelligently infused with other styles of yoga, to compliment the fluctuating flow of energy experienced within the body.
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The teachings and guidance is based off of personal inspiration,physical and sensory experiences ,dedicated to:
1. Train the mind to keep focus on each breath and to learn to listen to the body.
2. Train the body to respond with ease to discomfort and build strength and flexibility, mentally and physically.”
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Happy Spring Day Yogis!!!

“It’s human to experience ebb and flow in life:
Seasons of transition and uncertainty;
Tilting between self confidence and self doubt;
Shifting levels of energy or productivity;
Changes in what you need and want. Death and new life.

Life is messy. And beautiful.”

Author Unknown

“the mind is a lot more vast than conscious thought can comprehend. the conscious part of the mind - the part we feel and hear the movements of our emotions, memories, and thoughts - may seem large, but it is quite small in comparison to the subconscious. an icebergs small peak floats above water while the great majority of its mass sits silently and unseen underneath - the top is visible and prominent, but what is unseen is much bigger and has a massive effect on the part that is seen, largely dictating its movements. the mind works in a similar manner; the subconscious and the reactive patterns that have accumulated there over time, though they remain mostly unknown or forgotten, have a strong effect on our daily behavior.

this is why there is a lot more to freedom than simply having unrestricted mobility or having our material needs met, or the removal of all forms of external oppression. freedom is deeper than believing that we are free on the conscious level of the mind - the conscious may think this is to be so, but if the subconscious is still burdened with patterns that cause us misery, delusion, and the pain that comes with unceasing reactions, then we are not yet wholly free. the greatest oppressor is the untrained mind.

freedom grows when we begin the mental healing and training that teaches us how to let go and interact with the ocean of life in a way that no longer causes us misery; our freedom grows as we observe deep within”

yung pueblo

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We are delighted to welcome Elaine Seidel onto our permanent teaching team. Many of our clients have known Elaine for years, practicing on Camps Bay Beach and online.
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Elaine will be teaching every Wednesday evening, in studio.
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Her class will be a Fusion Flow focused on alignment and regulating conscious breathing. A moderate flow will be taught with the use of props to assist in easing into asana.
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All bookings via the MINDBODY app.
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Here I sit beneath a tree.
Heartbeat calm.
Soul hums free.

Angie Wieland - Crosby

We have heard you!

Maxine will be offering a 2 hour Beginners Yoga Workshop, for those with no previous yoga experience and for those who would like a refresher.
For those of you who would like to begin yoga again.

This will be the perfect platform to learn the fundamentals behind a solid practice, which you can take into studio classes with you, as well as to begin a self practice at home.

Spring is also the perfect time to begin something new or to begin again.

With love.

Breathe and understand that you are alive.
Breathe and understand that everything is helping you.
Breathe and understand that you are the world.
Breathe in compassion and breathe out joy.
Breathe and be one with the air you breathe.
Breathe and be one with the flowing river.
Breathe and be one with the land you walk on.
Breathe and be the one with the fire that shines.
Breathe and discard the idea of birth and death.
Breathe and you will see that impermanence is life.
Breathe for your joy of being stable and serene.
Breathe so that your pain flows.
Breathe to renew all the cells of the blood.
Breathe to renew the depths of consciousness.
Breathe and live in the here and now.
Breathe and everything you touch will be new and real.
Thich Nhat Hanh

Join Justine on the 26th of August!
Imprinting a state of a rest and digest state to integrate into your daily practice.

11:30am-1:30pm
Cost : R500

This is a 2 hour healing journey consisting of a Restorative Yoga Flow, Breathwork techniques, Sound Healing & Yoga Nidra.
These are all tools to help stimulate the parasympathetic state of the nervous system and to assist the practitioner to drop into and imprint a deep healing… “rest and digest” state.

“If you sit within the Self, you will experience the strength of your inner being even when your heart feels weak. This is the essence of the path. This is the essence of a spiritual life. Once you learn that it’s okay to feel inner disturbances, and that they can no longer disturb your seat of consciousness, you will be free. You will begin to be sustained by the inner flow that comes from behind you. When you have tasted the ecstasy of the inner flow, you can walk in this world and the world will never touch you. That’s how you become a free being….”
The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer





PS: Justine and is back in August! Yay 😀

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving through you. A joy.”
RUMI

“To stay present in every day life, it helps to be deeply rooted within yourself: otherwise, the mind, which has incredible momentum, will drag you along like a wild river.
It means to inhabit your body fully. To always have some of your attention in the inner energy field of your body. To feel the body from within, so to speak. Body awareness keeps you present. It anchors you in the Now.”
Eckhart Tolle

Our yoga Home.
Our yoga Sanctuary.
It’s warm. It’s nurturing. It’s safe. It’s a space of deep grace.

How fortunate we are.

Many, however, have no homes. The streets are cold and the reality of winter and a hard life for the next weeks have set in.

We have decided to help our homeless community with a daily act of random kindness for the days to come in July and August.

We will be handing out 10 blankets with a warm beverage daily.

For those in our yoga community who wish to assist may donate by a deposit into our bank account or into our honesty tin in studio, or assist in bringing in any spare blankets when coming home to practice.

With love
Maxine

“Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

Join Maxine in this 2 hour deep dive, into navigating the quietening of the mind, through movement and breathe. Gentle instructions will help the practitioner to experience a deeper, more embodied practice. You will leave feeling more aligned, connected and whole.


25th of June
9am to 11am
Cost R400

[email protected]