Kemetic Yoga

Development of Kemetic Yoga classes devised from the movements of the Gods and Goddesses of Kemet.

Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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The proposal

To design and deliver a series of Kemetic Yoga classes, specifically the Movements of the Gods and Goddesses of Kemet. This course would bring acknowledgment that Yoga isn’t just from the Indian Subcontinent or South East Asia, but that Yoga was also developed in Africa, Kemet and Nubia.

The sequence, as the name suggests, also takes the practitioner through the Kemetic non-dual view of reality and mastery of the Ego through the icons of Kemetic Gods and Goddesse, like Asar (Osiris) Aset (Isis) Sekhmet, Heru (Horus) and Mat.

The sequence, in full, increases the flow of Sekhem (prana), as it leaves the student greatly invigorated. There is also an aspect of story telling through the postures; starting with the primordial ocean becoming a multiplicity and ending with Heru’s victory over Set (Ego) and working together in Mat, Universal Laws of Consciousness for the benefit of all.

The series would take ten weeks as the teacher will teach (two) postures each week building up to the full sequence, which is a flow. There are nine primary postures which are included and an additional 6 sub-primary and another few variations.

The background and justification

Firstly, there is a received wisdom that Yoga is Indian (and only Indian) in its roots. This course is drawn from an African heritage and designed and delivered by a black teacher. Below is a link to further information on the black history of yoga:

https://yogainternational.com/article/view/the-black-history-of-yoga/#:~:text=Yoga%20researchers%20have%20found%20evidence,spiritual%20element%20with%20physical%20experience.

Secondly (and in response to the article above and Yoga Body by Mark Singleton), modern postural yoga owes as much to Swedish gymnastics as it does to Indian Yoga - where the emphasis always has been on yoga being a way to access enlightenment rather than a keep-fit exercise or a way of helping mental health (not that these aren’t laudable reasons in their own right - but more that they weren’t the end goal as it were) - and so, a reconnection with the spiritual in yoga is overdue.

Thirdly: much as Indian yoga was suppressed by the British Empire and, indeed, then used by Ghandi, Neru et al as a signifier of Indian Independence (and now incorporated by the dominant Hindu ideology, ‘saffronisation’ of Narendra Modu and being used as an expression of hegemony); the yoga of Africa was suppressed by the slavers and colonial powers (of Portugal, Britain, France and America). This course is part of a reclaiming of this heritage by black and brown yogis.

Fourthly: Simply by delivering a course which is African in origin there is an opening up of yoga to students (and teachers) with an African heritage. This way we reveal a root which will attract black and brown people to the practice in a way that Power, Rocket and Aerial won’t.

About the teacher

Rowan is a registered mindfulness meditation practitioner and certified transformation meditation teacher. He has been practicing yoga & meditation for nearly two decades and in the past five years he has professionalised his experience in order that he can share the benefits of his own established practice with others. Meditation and yoga are life changing practices which have significantly contributed to his own life’s transformation, and continue to illuminate its unfolding day by day.

He is a teacher in the traditional sense in terms of qualifications, BA (HONS), MA, QTLS/DipTLLS but more importantly, he is a teacher in the sense that he is able to share, quite naturally, his own experience with others regardless of their background. Teaching has been his natural expression in life, as he has been teaching one thing or another since the age of 14. His teaching comes from the heart and from a love of sharing that which is both, life affirming and transforming to all. He teaches meditation because he know the benefits it brings for its practitioners and because he feel that more people would practise, if they are given good instruction and a system which bares immediate fruits.

The method

The course will be delivered online accessed FOC by students for the initial course. Lifetime access will cost student £30 which will be payable to Rowan Carr. Rowan’s ongoing commitment would be to ensure the material is available on an ongoing basis.

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