Mission:
Opening doors to something deeper
A Mission workshop taught by Mission teachers gives students a chance to unpack a particular skill, technique or posture, and linger a bit longer than you would in a regular class. A workshop is a chance to explore and to ask questions. They are generally taught on a Friday night or at the weekend, giving students more time to sink in, reflect and learn.
Friday 8th – Sunday 10th November
£40 for each individual workshop
£230 for the full weekend
Join David, one of the world’s foremost practitioners and instructors of Ashtanga Yoga. You can attend any of these workshops individually or join for a full weekend of Ashtanga!
Ashtanga Yoga: Exploring the FUNdamentals
Friday November 8th: 6.00-8.00pm
Fully Led Primary Series
Saturday November 9th: 12.00-2.00pm
Inversions and Backbends
Saturday November 9th: 3.00-5.00pm
Breath, Bandhas and Pranayama
Saturday November 9th: 5.30-7.30pm
So You Think You Can Balance
Sunday November 10th: 12.00-2.00pm
Really Hip Openings for the Hips
Sunday November 10th: 3-5pm
Friday 13th December: 3.00-6.00pm
Teachers’ Practice (in-person and online)
£45 (Fri & Sat workshops – £130)
The Teachers’ Practice welcomes teachers of all yoga styles and provides a nurturing environment for teachers to contemplate, explore and deepen their yoga practice. Through the experienced guidance of senior teachers, Anna Ashby and Jean Hall, the session provides an opportunity to expand ways of moving and being through the sense perception of touch. Breath, movement and stillness practices, along with self adjustments within the session amplify this vital sense perception which then gets further explored in the context of teaching the following day in the Teachers’ Development & Sangha.
The Teachers’ Practice weaves together movement practices with philosophy, physiology and psychology – time dedicated to experiencing deeply felt wisdom of body, breath and mind – within a supportive and vibrant community of teachers.
Saturday 14th December: 12.00-4.30pm
Teachers’ Development & Sangha (in-person only)
£95 (Fri & Sat workshops – £130)
The Teachers’ Development & Sangha continues to unpack the sensory perception of touch, or tvak – which is often referred to as the “mother of the senses,” as it is the first sensory system to develop in all animal life forms.
Within a yoga class context, touch brings a personal element into the practice and is an essential aspect of teaching yoga – it often communicates what words can’t. With this understanding the line enquiry for this session will ask questions such as “What vital exchange happens when we touch, and how does this awareness impact upon what we share in class?”
We will also explore, through movement practices, group work and dialogue “the art of assisting”. As teachers, we have an opportunity to use touch to enhance the experience of our students. Refining the adjustments we offer can help repattern movement as well as encourage kinesthetic awareness and ease.
This gathering of teachers fosters and strengthens the sense of community and provides group support. These approaches deepen and widen understanding and the capacity to teach with authenticity while supporting others to access their own power and wisdom.
These sessions support teachers to:
● Explore and expand personal practice
● Build confidence
● Connect to authentic teaching
● Feel empowered and part of community
● Access innate wisdom and creativity
● Weave philosophy, physiology and psychology into classes
These sessions are for yoga teachers of all backgrounds and styles offering a supportive space to connect with others, explore and expand personal practice, discuss challenges, and contemplate what we value most in the teachings of yoga and how we may share this with others. The sessions can be taken as a whole or in parts.
Sunday 15th December: 12.00-2.30pm
£50
If you’ve ever experienced Transformational Breathwork and Sound, you’ll know it can feel almost miraculous!
Transformational breathwork is a therapeutic breathing technique that can relieve physical tension in the body, emotional stresses and blockages, leaving you feeling lighter and more connected to Self. Using circular breathing, you can move into an altered conscious state and access and release deeply buried obstacles and blocks. There is no other technique that can take you as deep into yourself, in such a short period of time, as breathwork.
After the Breathwork session, you’ll continue to lie on your mat, while Pablo will bring you into a state of deep integrative relaxation using sound. Sound healing has been used for centuries to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and enhance overall wellbeing. The soothing sounds and vibrations of the Gong, singing bowls, chimes and drum, will help create a meditative and immersive environment for you to assimilate and integrate all the benefits of the breathwork session.
We aim to show you the power of your breath and sound as vehicles for healing and enhancing your physical, mental and emotional health. The session will last for 2.5 hours, giving us space to set an intention and to share and integrate our experiences after the breathwork and sound. We will start with a breathwork session, moving into beautiful sound healing and floating off into bliss.
This workshop is suitable for everyone. For this experience, bring a bottle of water… you might want to bring a journal to make notes on your experience but this is not required. There is no movement component to this workshop, so no need to wear “yoga clothes” but please dress for comfort.
If you are aware of any heart conditions or brain conditions (ie. Epilepsy, PTSD) you may experience or could be/are pregnant please let Sally or Pablo know on the day.
Saturday 28th – Monday 30th December
£330 (£295 early bird price until 28th November)
With special guests Vergine Gulbenkian & Nikki Slade
“The sound of raindrops needs no translation.” – Zen saying
We are delighted to offer the much loved Urban Retreat in collaboration with Mission. Held at the cusp of the year, our Urban Retreat will give space to reflect, practice and bring closure to what’s past, while welcoming in what’s to come. It’s an auspicious time of gathering where the combination of intention and community can amplify transformation.
This year’s theme, Unify offers the intentional space to release, reconcile and reconnect. It supports the cultivation of strength in the face of life’s challenges by recognising and experiencing wholeness as our essence. By engaging in the embodied practices of yoga, somatic enquiry, storytelling and chanting, this retreat will inspire and nurture presence and oneness.
Come and join two of London’s most well-respected and experienced yoga teachers, Anna Ashby and Jean Hall to engage in traditional, somatic and Restorative practices, and be inspired by Vergine Gulbenkian, a professional and esteemed storyteller along with the one and only, Nikki Slade, a pioneer in the London kirtan scene as they facilitate this not to miss opportunity to bid farewell to 2024 and welcome in 2025 within the gathering of community.
All are welcome to partake of this retreat.
Saturday 25th January: 12.00-2.00pm
£40
In this hands on assisting workshop we will look at the difference between active and passive adjustments and energetic touch, how to promptly spot which one is appropriate for the practitioner in front of us, and how to effectively deliver them.
How to be attuned in your assists- imparting clear and useful information through touch and avoid injuries to yourself (and of course, your students) when giving regular assists as a teacher.
This workshop is open to anyone who has (or is interested in) a 200hrs TT.
Saturday 1st February: 12.30-6.00pm
£200 (per couple)
This unique live workshop for women and their birthing partners is informative, practical and confidence-building. Knowledge is power and you will gain a good understanding of physiological birth and how to cooperate with and encourage this innate and evolved process to flow.
Your environment has an enormous influence on the way you birth and Lolly pays particular attention to educating your partner on how to hold and protect your space. She will draw on her many years as a doula, yoga teacher, certified hypnobirther and childbirth educator to provide you with the tools for working together before and during the birth. You will learn how to release tension and fear though education, breathwork, visualisation, movement and massage.
There will be a maximum of 10 couples attending this workshop, giving time for individual questions. Ideally, this workshop should be taken in the third trimester of pregnancy, but it can be taken at any time.
Friday 21st March: 7.00-9.00pm
£20
Kirtan is a call and response musical meditation that takes a minute to learn, and makes you feel good just as fast. The practice is ancient but is fast becoming THE modern alternative gathering to help you discover your inner world, without waking the next morning with a crippling hangover!
You don’t need to be a good singer, a practitioner of yoga, or a follower of any religion or set of beliefs to experience the power of Kirtan. An open mind and willing voice are all that is required! Combining music, mantra, meditation and a few dance moves from time to time, kirtan offers a rich, immersive experience that has the power to change the world, one heart at a time.
New to Kirtan? FAB! Radhika’s Kirtan aims to deliver an immersive experience to both the toe-dipper, and the well-established floating yoga practitioner.
Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate those under 13 years.
Saturday 22nd – Sunday 23rd March: 12.00-3.00pm
£165 for the weekend
Over the two-day workshop Yuval will teach you the basics of handstands. He’ll help you establish a solid base necessary to take your handstand practice to a new level, safely and efficiently.
You’ll learn the technical preparations for handstands and come to understand and experience the alignment points of a straight line handstand. You’ll experiment with some different handstand shapes, learn balance strategies, and play with various wall drills, as well as different ways to enter a handstand.
This workshop is for beginners who can hold a handstand for 20 seconds against the wall. It is also for intermediate handstandsers who want to revisit the basics and improve alignment and control.
Saturday 22nd – Sunday 23rd March: 3.30-6.30pm
£165 for the weekend, £85 for one day
Saturday’s class will focus on refining the different shapes of handstands (tuck, pike and straddle) and adapting them for advanced level transitions and sequences.
Sunday’s class will focus on press to handstand, stalders, and the holy grail: one-armed handstands.
Both workshops are intended to give students a better understanding of how to practise complex handstands, and how to create or refine their own practice routine. While the workshops can be taken individually, you’ll get the most out of Yuval’s teachings by taking both.
These workshops are suitable for students with a committed handstand practice, and who can hold a solid handstand for at least 30 seconds.
Friday 16th – Tuesday 20th May, 2025
£250 for all five days, £50 for one class
Join R Saraswathi Jois, Ashtanga Yoga’s senior-most female teacher, in a rare visit abroad from her shala in Mysore, India. At Mission, Saraswati will be accompanied by her daughter Sharmila and they will teach led Primary and led Intermediate Series as well as chanting sessions and a Conference.
Saraswathi will teach led classes at Mission — both the Primary and the Intermediate Series, as well chanting classes and the all-important Conference where you can ask this matriarch questions about “first breath, then gazing, then posture,” about integrating a daily practice into family life, about Sanskrit, or any questions you may have about the path of yoga.
Next Dates TBC
£115
This beginners’ handstand course embarks on a journey of balance, strength, and poise. The classes will unfold with careful guidance, focusing on foundational elements crucial for success.
You will delve into body tension, understanding weight distribution, and mastering proper alignment. Each session cultivates mindfulness as students gradually overcome fears and build confidence in inversions. Progression unfolds through drills targeting shoulder stability, wrist mobility, and body awareness.
With instruction, participants learn to kick up, finding stability against gravity’s pull. Amidst hard work and determination, you will discover newfound strength and agility on the palms of your hands.
