Stirk John - Deeper Still Authentic embodiment for yoga teachers

Contents

HANDSPRING PUBLISHING LIMITED

The Old Manse, Fountainhall,

Pencaitland, East Lothian

EH34 5EY, Scotland

Tel: +44 1875 341 859

Website: www.handspringpublishing.com

First published 2021 in the United Kingdom by Handspring Publishing

Copyright Handspring Publishing 2021

The three photographs in , Figure 1.14 and Figure 3.6B). All other photographs are by Sarah Stirk.

All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a license permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

The rights of John Stirk to be identified as the Author of this text have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Acts 1988.

ISBN 978-1-912085-71-2

ISBN (Kindle eBook) 978-1-912085-72-9

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

Notice

Neither the Publisher nor the Author assumes any responsibility for any loss or injury and/or damage to persons or property arising out of or relating to any use of the material contained in this book. It is the responsibility of the treating practitioner, relying on independent expertise and knowledge of the patient, to determine the best treatment and method of application for the patient.

Commissioning Editor Sarena Wolfaard

Project Manager Morven Dean

Copy Editor Sally Davies

Cover and Design Direction Bruce Hogarth

Indexer Aptara, India

Typesetter DSM, India

Printer Bell and Bain, UK

Cover image Sarah Stirk

DEDICATION

To Hannah for her love and wisdom

It was an unusually balmy and blustery November evening in 1990 when John Stirk quite literally blew into my yoga studio in Brookline, Massachusetts. The weather was not the only unusual aspect of that evening. He was a force scrolls under his arms filled with stick figures and arrows, hoping to point us in a new direction. His enthusiasm was matched only by his desire to communicate his process and understanding of the essence of yoga.

He was masterful, articulate and there was something uniquely different about his approach. He has been our guide, our mentor, and even, occasionally, our entertainer ever since. He has taught us to search within our very beings, and to be deeply enriched by this endeavor, free from techniques, systems, or ideals.

My yoga career began in the 1970s when I first met and studied with B. K. S. Iyengar. Since that time, I have observed the trajectory of yoga evolve from a relatively obscure unknown to a household word with millions of people doing something called yoga.

The physical aspect of yoga is a beautiful point of entry. It is important and remains a connecting thread throughout. However, to reduce yoga to an act of physical prowess, a fitness commodity, or even an advertising gimmick misses the profound depth and beauty of this art.

Yoga needs to reclaim its ancient role to remind us of what we could be, of what unites us, of our common humanity. Deeper Still invites us to explore this paradigm shift. Yoga becomes a lens through which we find meaning within ourselves. With his insight and wisdom John Stirk guides us towards the unifying spirit found within the quiet inner spaces of our own hearts and minds.

Deeper Still is a groundbreaking body of work and one of the most original I have ever encountered. Uniquely John, yet his ideas are substantiated by modern philosophical and psychological thought, ancient wisdom teachings, and even quantum science. I believe this work lies on the frontier of the evolution of yoga practice and teaching. It is complex in its scope and depth. The subject demands it.

It is for the skilled specialist, mature (in age and number of years practicing) meditator, yogi. It is a gift to the yoga community ready and eager to go beyond the basics of mechanics and enter into the more advanced expressions of the science of yoga, the nature of mind and consciousness, and how these expressions relate to our purpose, our humanity, and what unites us.

For nearly 30 consecutive years, John Stirk has come to Brookline or Marthas Vineyard, MA, to share his unique teachings with us. We have emerged, from all over the country, as a family, traveling together on a journey to yoga. He has taken us on undiscovered paths that awaken our senses and consciousness to new and untapped possibility and potential. Deeper Still brings to the reader the felt quality of experience and discovery that one finds in his classes.

There are no levels separating beginners from advanced students in John Stirks classes. There are no advanced certificates of completion either. What you do find is an authentic embodiment to Presence.

Carol Nelson BA

Founder Director Creative Yoga Studio, Brookline, MA, USA

The Salon for Creative Yoga, Marthas Vineyard, MA, USA

www.yogaonmv.com

November 2020

John Stirk is a yoga teacher and author with a background in osteopathy. He has been teaching yoga since 1974. He graduated as an osteopath in 1983 from the College of Osteopaths in London where he subsequently lectured in biomechanics and practical osteopathy. He was made a fellow of the college in 1995. His association with R. D. Laing in the 1970s and 1980s and his attraction to the teaching of J. Krishnamurti have inspired his approach to a quality of consciousness realized through hatha yoga practices.

John stopped practicing osteopathy in 2005 to focus exclusively on yoga teaching and use his osteopathic and philosophical understanding to inform teachers. His approach has influenced many teachers in the UK and internationally.

His interests lie in the power of group work and the potential insight and wisdom that arise spontaneously within the group field. He invites yoga teachers to take a step further: to trust and share their own insight and wisdom with their students by using physical sensitivity as a springboard to an alternative consciousness.

John is the author of several books, notably The Original Body: Primal Movement for Yoga Teachers (Handspring 2015). He teaches in the UK and internationally and conducts courses for teachers, including the highly successful What Lies Beneath course.

John is based in London and East Sussex where he lives with his wife Lolly Stirk, who is a childbirth activist, pioneer of yoga for pregnancy, and founder member of the Active Birth Movement and Yoga Birth. Their daughter Sarah created the photographic images for this book.