Brighton Pavilion

Brighton

Brighton is a vibrant, colourful, creative city on the south coast of England, affectionately known as “Little London by the Sea”. With 2 universities, 3 main theatres, 4 cinemas and countless venues, bars, cafes and restaurants, as well as the South Downs and of course the Royal Pavilion, Brighton is literally jam-packed with arts, culture, music, film, festivals and places of historic interest. The city attracts artists, musicians and creative types in their droves, it’s been coined the gay capital of Europe, and has a huge alternative scene, with everything from health food shops and vegetarian restaurants, to complementary therapy clinics and of course yoga studios.

It was Kristina Karitinou who first put Brighton on the Ashtanga map, having studied under the guidance of Derek Ireland for many years. She taught the first Ashtanga class in Brighton at Evolution in 1998 and was one of only a few teachers in the UK at that time. The first Ashtanga community became established at the BNHC in 1999 and Kristina continued running the morning Mysore programme there until 2003.

Julie Martin took over in 2003 who later handed the baton to Russell Case. Sarah Miles had been assisting both Julie and Russell, and at the end of 2004 Russell encouraged Sarah to teach the programme herself. So for the next 8 years she single-handedly ran the only Mysore programme in Brighton at the BNHC, inspiring students through her dedication, determination and devotion to the practice.

In February 2013 Brighton’s first dedicated Ashtanga shala was set up, and continues to run alongside the BNHC as the only other Mysore programme in the city. Authorised level 1 teachers Jess Davies and Laura Cornish teach in the traditional method, as learnt from Sharath in Mysore, and they welcome complete beginners as well as experienced practitioners to study with them at the Brighton Ashtanga Shala.

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Below you’ll find all our blogs and articles related to practice and life in the sunny seaside city of Brighton.

Our latest Brighton blogs:

1st November 2015
James Boag Workshop: storytelling, meditation & kirtan
Hannah Moss
James Boag comes to Brighton for the first time, offering his knowledgable and passionate teachings in Indian and yoga philosophy, through a combination of storytelling, meditation and devotional singing. Not to be missed!
12th July 2015
Joe London – from Mysore with Bliss
Laurene Anstee
Laurene shares her experience of attending a Brighton workshop with Joe London, who encourages us just to let go in order to feel the sense of liberation and oneness that is bliss.
8th March 2015
Ashtanga Brighton reloaded
Guy
Notice anything different about our site? We’ve got a new mission, team and a fresh new design. Our founder Guy digs into the latest changes here at Ashtanga Brighton.
22nd February 2015
Baby steps: practising after childbirth
Louise Jolly
Louise Jolly shares her experience of practising with a new baby and discovers new depths to the concepts of daily practice and discipline.
30th November 2014
Manju Jois Teacher Training in Brighton
Guy
In this guest blog post Laurene describes her experience of attending a teacher training course with living legend Manju Jois in Brighton.
17th August 2014
Mysore MC – Getting ready to ride again
Guy
We’re getting ready for our next trip to Mysore and I’ve just finished a t-shirt design project I started last year. Inspired by both our last trip to Mysore and the Sons of Anarchy.