YogaKutir

YogaKutir UK / India / Parents 👯‍♀️ Welcome to yogakutir...

We teach traditional Hatha Yoga, a holistic science for health and wellbeing. Yoga Teacher Training.

Rory Viggers & Dory Walker
Yoga Teacher Trainers, Mind Mechanics, Meditation, Headstand & Inversion specialists, Global Retreat leaders, 25 years, Dona Holleman students. 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. UK and International Yoga Retreats. Holistic Treatments. Yoga Therapy. Private Tuition. Yoga in the workplace.

If you practise yoga (and you’re not living in a cave somewhere) this is where it actually matters.You say your partner ...
23/06/2026

If you practise yoga (and you’re not living in a cave somewhere) this is where it actually matters.

You say your partner is avoidant.

You say they don’t meet you.

You say you’re the one doing the work.

Maybe.

But let’s slow down for a second.

Because yoga doesn’t start by analysing them.

It starts by looking at the one who is perceiving.

And this is where most people miss it.

You think you’re responding to your partner (or neighbour, friend, colleague)”.

But you’re not.

You’re responding to:

what you think is happening

what you’ve decided it means

what your system has already rehearsed a hundred times before

They go quiet.

You feel rejected.

They need space.

You feel abandoned.

They disagree.

You feel unseen.

And maybe none of those things are actually true.

In yogic psychology, this is Avidya.

Not seeing clearly.

Mistaking your interpretation for reality.

And once that happens, everything else follows.

You react.

You defend.

You withdraw.

You pursue.

You explain.

You try harder.

Not because it’s true.

Because it feels true.

Then something strange happens.

You start finding evidence for the story.

You call it intuition.

You call it a red flag.

You call it “just knowing.”

Meanwhile, the same pattern keeps showing up.

Different person.

Same dynamic.

Different story.

Same feeling.

And at some point you have to ask:

Is it really the relationship?

Or is it the lens I’m looking through?

Because until that shifts...

you can practise yoga for twenty years

and still find yourself repeating the same emotional pattern with different faces.

The practice was never about becoming more flexible.

It was about seeing clearly.

That’s where freedom starts.

Not when they change.

When you can finally see what you’ve been bringing into the room.

Mind Mechanics is where we explore exactly that.

Comment MIRROR and I’ll send you the details.

21/06/2026

The Headstand method you were taught may not be the most effective one

And most people never even realise that is a possibility

I’ve worked with hundreds of teachers + students specifically with Headstand

And the cues people have been given are all over the place

Hold opposite elbows
Keep all the weight in the arms
Little to no weight in the head
Clasp the hands into the skull

These are some of the most commonly taught instructions today

And yet they are often the very things making Headstand heavier, harder & more unstable than it needs to be

Which is why so many people end up thinking:

I’m not strong enough
My balance is bad
My neck doesn’t like Headstand
Maybe this pose just isn’t for me

Because if the mainstream method feels hard, most people assume the issue must be them

Why wouldn’t they?

But Headstand can be built very differently

And some approaches align far more effectively with:
physics
body mechanics
support structures
long-term sustainability

And from some of the trials I’ve started, potentially even very different effects on the brain & nervous system too

The approach I’m interested in is the one that is most efficient, integrated, supportive, sustainable

Yet strangely, that is often not the version most commonly taught today

Particularly in flow environments where Headstand becomes short-hold & arm-centred

And yes, some people can get away with that

Usually because they are strong enough to compensate

But for many others it feels:
heavy
unstable
effortful

And this is no surprise

Because the most effective setup does not rely on the arms in the dominant way most people think

The focus is somewhere else entirely

This is the part most people never get shown

And when we break this down in trainings, the penny drops fast

People suddenly realise:

they were never weak
they were never incapable
they were working from a misaligned setup

Every time we teach this there are major breakthroughs

First-time lifts
Staying up with less effort
Less fear
More stability & balance

All from redesigning the foundations

This is exactly what I’ll be breaking down in the upcoming free 3-part inversion training

Reply HEAD for an invite

20/06/2026

I’ve been fascinated for a long time by how certain yoga postures make you feel.

Not just while you’re practising them - afterwards.

Headstand is one of those.

But it wasn’t always.

For years, it felt fairly physical.

Then everything changed 15 years ago when I was shown a very different way of approaching it.

The posture became lighter
More stable
Less effort
I can now stay comfortable for up to 20 minutes and balance blindfolded, all because of a method change.

But what interested me most was post-practice effects.

I felt very different.

Clearer, completely present & super focused
Alert and calm at the same time
A very different experience to post-meditation practice but equally beneficial

This began my deep dive and specialist interest into Headstand because it changed my state

Recently I had the chance to explore this further with some early-stage research.

We looked at brainwave activity before, during and after Headstand.

There were significant shifts (I’ll share more on this soon)
In one area, alpha brainwave activity increased by over 145%

But what’s really interesting so far is what the data points to.

What if it’s not just the posture that matters…

But how you practise it?

The method
The state of the physical body, breath and mind
The duration in the pose

I have always had this thought because this is exactly what I have experienced as well as my peers too.

Because two people can practice the same asana
And have wildly different experiences dependent on how they go about it.

It’s reassuring that the early data is pointing towards this

This is why I’m passionate about the method.

Because when the optimal foundations are there you not only access the most effective mechanics

You enhance the potential to experience the inner transformation & effects

Yet many commonly taught techniques miss this

The methods I dropped 15 years ago are still the most commonly taught today

And they miss key pieces

I’ll be sharing more about this in the upcoming FREE 3-part inversions training including what you change straight away to improve your Headstand.

For an invite reply HEAD

19/06/2026

If you’ve been told you don’t need your core in Crow or Crane pose, then the version you’re practising is missing a key piece

And it’s that piece that makes the pose lighter & 10x more useful

Because today, Bakasana is primarily taught as an arm balance

So the main focus is balancing on your arms

If that is your only focus, you can get away with little core support

You just move your weight forward enough to stack with gravity

The challenge is that unless you grip your legs to your arms (to increase friction), you’re going to nose dive

But simply stacking is a missed opportunity...

I was taught this way for years too

Then 15 years ago I was shown what these postures are really about & how they fit into the asana family tree

The Bakasanas are abdominal practices

It’s this action that makes them one of the best counter postures for backbends

It becomes one of the best ways to create support in the lumbar for forward bends

Without your core & abdominals, it doesn’t happen

And whilst it may look the same on the outside, inside it’s a completely different bird

When you bring this action into the posture, it changes the game

The legs become lighter

The arms work less

You no longer rely on friction & gravity as the glue holding everything together

One thing I’ve heard repeatedly over the years is how people’s relationship with their lower back changes when the full abdominal engine comes online in these poses.

That was certainly my experience too

It transformed my lower back health

My lens is always:

What is the fullest possibility of this action?

What could this posture add that other postures can’t?

This is one of the reasons I prefer the classical version of Bakasana

The version that Iyengar taught my teacher Dona Holleman in the 1960s, and I learned from her

They fully understood that these are abdominal practices

And you don’t even need to balance on your hands

There is a way to develop the exact same support, control & lift with your feet on the floor

I’m sharing this in the upcoming FREE 3-part Inversions training.

For an invite reply CROW 🚀

You practise yoga…And yet you’re still attached to how people respond to you.You get on the mat.You regulate your breath...
19/06/2026

You practise yoga…

And yet you’re still attached to how people respond to you.

You get on the mat.

You regulate your breath.

You say you’re doing the work.

Then you go into your relationship...

and everything you just practised disappears the moment life doesn’t go your way.

You say the thing.

But you need them to respond in a certain way.

You open up.

But you need them to understand.

To agree.

To acknowledge your experience.

To reassure you.

To meet you where you want to be met.

And when they don’t?

The frustration.

The shutdown.

The resentment.

The feeling of not being seen.

You call it communication.

Yoga would call it attachment.

This is rāga.

The grasping for a particular outcome so you can feel okay.

And when you don’t get it?

Dveᚣa.

The push back.

The resistance.

The reaction.

Different directions.

Same thing.

Your state is still being determined by what happens outside of you.

This is why so much practice never leaves the mat.

Because the real test isn’t whether you can stay calm in a quiet room.

It’s what happens when life refuses to follow your script.

The Yoga Sutras aren’t asking:

“Can you stay peaceful when everything goes your way?”

They’re asking:

Can you remain free when it doesn’t?

That’s vairāgya.

Not pulling away.

Not becoming indifferent.

Not pretending you don’t care.

But staying open without needing reality to rearrange itself first.

Because if your peace still depends on how people respond...

you’re not free.

You’re negotiating with reality.

And most people spend their entire lives doing exactly that.

Comment ME if you can see this pattern in yourself.

18/06/2026

When so many people do the same thing, you never question the method.

And when you struggle, you look elsewhere for the reason.

In Headstand, that reason is often assumed to be us.

Not strong enough.

Not flexible enough.

Too old.

Just need to practise more.

But what if the very method being taught — even if most people teach it — was the real issue?

This penny dropped for me 15 years ago.

And it completely transformed my Headstand practice and understanding.

I’ve since shared this with thousands of teachers and students, showing them why many commonly taught methods don’t align with the outcome they desire.

In the upcoming free 3-part Inversion & Arm Balance training, I break this down.

I’ll share why these methods can make things harder and something you can start doing differently straight away that can create a huge shift in your Headstand practice.

For an invite, reply HEAD.

17/06/2026

Fear of falling in Crow and Crane is real for many

And there is a reason for it

One of the biggest mistakes I see is people thinking they have a confidence problem

Most often they have a design problem

The most commonly taught version of Bakasana usually looks something like this:

Knees high on the arms

Pelvis high

Head and shoulders low

Lean forward

Grip legs to arms

Balance

And when it works, what keeps everything together is usually:

Friction

Leg grip

Gravity

The problem?

One leg slip and everything disappears

The legs slide

The body is already angled downwards

The head is the closest thing to the floor

Nose dive and crash landing

So the fear is real

The body knows there isn’t much room for error

One of the reasons I prefer the classical version is because it gives you a Plan B

The legs don’t rely on gripping the arms

The pelvis and shoulders stay level

The body isn’t already in a nose dive

And most importantly, the lift comes from somewhere else

The abdominals

Because the Bakasana family are abdominal postures

This is where they sit in the asana family tree

The lift is the thing that changes everything

It lightens the legs

Reduces reliance on arm power and friction

And means the pose isn’t hanging together by a thread

If something slips, your feet are often closer to the floor than your head

The interesting thing is that this lift isn’t exclusive to the classical version

Its a key mechanic

I’ve had so many teachers and students, from all different systems of Yoga, apply this action and suddenly the pose is lighter.

Because they had previously just been told to move forward and stack.

You can bring it into any variation

I break this exact method down in detail in the upcoming free 3-part Inversion & Arm Balance training.

If you’d like an invite, reply CROW

Follow .kutir for crow tips

What makes yoga different from exercise?Most people think it’s the postureI don’tA Handstand can be gymnasticsCircusCali...
16/06/2026

What makes yoga different from exercise?

Most people think it’s the posture

I don’t

A Handstand can be gymnastics

Circus

Calisthenics

Or yoga

The shape is the same

The difference is the lens

My teacher used to tell us that yoga only happens when it’s you and you

No audience

No one to impress

Not even yourself

Just you and the practice

I’ve thought about that a lot over the years

Because the moment reward enters the room, something changes

And reward can be incredibly subtle

A compliment

A “well done”

Being seen

Being right

Proving something

Getting the pose

Getting stronger

Being the advanced one

Showing yourself that you still can

At some point the practice stops being done for the sake of practice

And becomes an exchange

You do something

You get something back

That is one of the reasons I separated strength, mobility & conditioning from my asana practice many years ago

Not because they aren’t valuable

They are

I still do them

But I wanted asana to be asana

Not strength or mobility training disguised as yoga

Just practice

The trend now seems to be the opposite

More strength, mobility, more things added in

And whilst those things may benefit the body, I often wonder what gets taken away

Because yoga isn’t found in the posture

It’s found in your relationship with the posture

Can you practise something without needing anything in return?

No praise

No progress

No photo

No achievement

No one even knowing it happened

Just quietly getting on with it

I think this is why many long-term practitioners eventually change

The obsession with what the body can do starts to fade

The need to achieve starts to fade

Reward starts to lose its grip

And the practice becomes simpler

Deeper

Asana is the hardware

Yoga is the software

How much of your practice is driven by reward?

No judgement. Just curiosity

Because the more honestly we can see it, the less we tend to care

And strangely, that is often where yoga starts to appear

15/06/2026

Imagine holding a heavy pole in your hands and arms & not letting it touch the ground

Now imagine how much less effort would be required if the pole could connect to the floor

Your arms no longer have to be the main support

They’re more for balance

Not only does it require less effort, the whole structure becomes more stable

The ground now helps support the load

Yet one of the most commonly taught Headstand methods is still:

Put most of the weight in the arms

Little to none on the head

This is one of the biggest reasons I see people struggle

Because they are making the posture far more physical than it needs to be

The arms get tired

The legs feel HEAVY to lift

Balance feels wobbly

Staying up feels hard work

Fear increases

And then the story begins

“I need stronger arms.”

So what happens next?

More Dolphin reps & arm strengthening.

You build superhuman arms

But you still struggle

Because the issue was never the arms

And it goes on

Because this cue rarely comes on its own

Usually it sits alongside:

Holding your opposite elbows to measure arm distance

Clasping the head into the hands

Walking the feet in before lifting

More Dolphin reps...

When you start stacking these cues together, the posture becomes harder

I’ve worked with hundreds of teachers + students specifically with Headstand

And this is one of the biggest patterns I see

People think they have a strength problem

Most often its a method problem

When they finally learn how to develop support through the central column, everything starts to change

No overnight strength gains

Just a redesign

Legs start floating

Balance improves

Fear reduces

The pose becomes lighter

I’ve been teaching Headstand for a long time

And still today, so many of the most commonly taught methods are not the most effective

If you’re struggling with Headstand right now, it probably isn’t for the reason you think

I break this down fully in the upcoming free 3-part Inversion & Arm Balance training

You will walk away with clear insights into what’s actually going on + new techniques to implement straight away

Reply HEAD and I’ll send you an invite

13/06/2026

If your legs feel heavy in Crow, there is a reason.

And it probably isn't because you're not strong enough.

Most people think the answer is stronger arms.

I think the answer is a stronger engine.

One of the biggest things I see is people treating Crow as an arm balance.

Which makes sense.

Because that's how it's usually taught.

Knees high on the arms.

Lean forward.

Balance.

Fly.

And when it works, what usually keeps everything together is:

arm strength

leg grip

friction

gravity

The pelvis sits high.

The weight drops into the arms.

And the whole thing can be held together without the abdominals doing much of the work.

This is why so many people tell me:

"My arms burn."

"My legs feel heavy."

"I can get up but it never feels light."

"One slip and... nose dive."

All because the engine isn't doing the work.

The Bakasana family aren't primarily arm balances.

They're abdominal practices.

That is their role in the asana family tree.

It's what makes them such a powerful counter pose to backbends.

And why they can support the lumbar in forward bends.

The lesser-practised version makes this impossible to miss.

The legs open.

The shins move towards the triceps.

The grip disappears.

And suddenly the lift has to come from somewhere else.

The abdominals.

Without them, the landing gear doesn't leave the runway.

When this engine switches on:

the legs get lighter

the arms work less

the whole body becomes integrated

And here's the best part.

You don't have to change which version of Crow you practise.

You can add this engine to any variation.

And when you do, everything changes.

In fact, I have a favourite drill that teaches this exact action without even balancing on your hands.

I share it inside the upcoming free 3-part Inversion & Arm Balance training.

If you'd like an invite, reply CROW.

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