About Ganges Yoga
Ganges Yoga is dedicated to teaching holistic yoga in Tasmania and other parts of Australia and the world. Ganges Yoga is about authentic yoga – for the body, mind, emotions, psyche and spirit.
Ganges Yoga teachers are trained and accredited by the Academy of Yoga Science, Australia, which offers one of the most comprehensive yoga teacher training courses in the world. The expertise of Ganges Yoga teachers is grounded in many years of personal practice and teaching.
People of all ages and levels of fitness or flexibility are welcome. We teach a blend of postures, breathing techniques, relaxation and meditation, from beginners to experienced.
Ganges Yoga offers general and specialised yoga classes, seminars, workshops, retreats and one-to-one consultations. We can teach in schools, workplaces, conferences and just about anywhere.
About Holistic Yoga
Yoga is about learning to be strong, flexible and healthy, physically, mentally and emotionally. It gives you practical tools to manage real life, enhancing positivity, overall wellbeing and potential. And yoga is concerned with the human spirit - the brilliant part of each person that makes you feel inspired, positive and happy.
Holistic yoga provides the tools to help you accomplish these goals by integrating methods and ideas from the various branches of yoga, such as the hatha, raja, jnana and kundalini traditions.
Ganges Yoga is based on the Satyananda Yoga system that was founded by Swami Satyananda (1923-2009) in India in the 1960s. In his quest to "spread yoga from shore to shore and door to door" a modernised, integral yoga emerged from his profound understanding of the various classical yoga traditions, based on the spiritual culture of the Vedas and Tantras. Today thousands of teachers around the world provide this holistic form of yoga to people from all walks of life. At Bihar School of Yoga, India, the tradition continues under the guidance of Swami Satyananda’s successor, Swami Niranjan.
A Ganges Yoga Class
Each class starts with asanas (postures) which are followed by pranayama (breathing), yoga nidra (relaxation) and sometimes meditation. Your teacher plans each class to suit the group’s level of experience.
Classes begin with a series of yoga postures, known as asanas. These are not intended as a workout, but as a way of using physical positions to integrate body, breath and mind. The effect is calming, energising and grounding.
Asanas help develop muscular strength and flexibility, improve posture and balance, and calm the mind. They also have a positive influence on the nervous, immune, digestive and hormonal systems.
From simple moves practised in rhythm with the breath, students progress to stronger asanas which may be dynamic or still.
Practised with subtle awareness, the simplest asanas bring peaceful equilibrium to the body and mind.
The way you breathe profoundly affects your state of mind and feeling, as well as your physical health. Due to the influence of the breath on overall wellbeing each yoga class has a breathing segment.
Here, participants observe their own breathing patterns and are taught techniques such as abdominal breathing, full yogic breath and classical pranayama. Each method works on the nervous system to bring about energising, harmonising or tranquilising effects.
As experience is gained, classical pranayamas are taught.
Following the asanas, the breathing is a pathway to relaxation and meditation, bringing the mind to a state of calm alertness and introversion.
Meditation is not ‘emptying the mind’ or trying to control it. Instead, the techniques learned in a Ganges Yoga class aim to help you learn about and manage your own mind.
For example, developing the ability to witness your thoughts and feelings in a steady physical and mental state enables you to observe the activity of the mind objectively. This gradually allows you come to terms with your mind’s activities, even when it is painful or hard, helping you not to be afraid of what is going on in your own mind.
Meditation brings greater self-understanding, reduces tension and increases clarity of thinking. It is a pathway to inner peace.
Relaxation is a physiological state that leaves you feeling refreshed and energised. Relaxation is possible for everyone but it generally needs to be learned rather than coming naturally. This is especially true if you are often stressed and the body gets used to fight or flight mode.
Yoga nidra is a guided technique that trains your body and mind to deeply relax. Many people, including those who have had great difficulty with rest, sleep and relaxation find that yoga nidra leaves them feeling deeply calm and peaceful, helping with stress management and overcoming insomnia.
Asana |
Yoga Postures
Pranayama |
Breath Techniques
Meditation
Yoga Nidra |
Systematic Relaxation
People of Ganges Yoga
The people behind Ganges Yoga are committed to helping others. Our vision is to share not only our love of yoga but to develop programs that combine our experience and knowledge of yoga and psychology.
Ahimsa (Helen Cushing)
BA Communications
Diploma of Satyananda Yoga Training
Accredited by Academy of Yoga Science, Australia
Member of SYTA and Yoga Australia (Senior Registered Teacher)
Ahimsa has practised yoga for most of her life and has been teaching since 2003. She is a highly regarded teacher and presenter in Australia and internationally. For many years she was manager of the Hobart Yoga & Meditation Centre, a busy yoga hub providing a wide range of classes, workshops and retreats. Ahimsa is the founder of Ganges Yoga and Life Beyond Trauma. She presently teaches in Hobart and travels widely offering retreats and workshops.
Author
Prior to teaching yoga Ahimsa worked in the media, including in publishing and with ABC TV. Her interest in writing led her to write articles and books on yoga, including for Australian Yoga Life, Yoga Magazine and elsewhere. During several years as a resident of Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) in India, Ahimsa worked in the publishing division, editing an extensive range of books and contributing as an author under the direct supervision of the head of BSY, Swami Niranjanananda. She continues to write about the benefits of yoga for spiritual living and for specialised applications.
Yoga for PTSD
For more than a decade Ahimsa has taught yoga to war veterans, refugees and others with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. She has consulted to a Colombian study on yoga for PTSD and presents papers and workshops on the topic around the world including at the 2013 World Yoga Convention, India.
In 2014 Ahimsa produced an award-winning documentary, Heroes of Peace, about the experiences of veterans involved in the yoga program she teaches. View it on the Life Beyond Trauma page.
Her unique book, Hope: How Yoga Heals the Scars of Trauma offers holistic solutions to post-trauma suffering, showing how yoga heals the nervous system and gives skills for managing the mind and emotions.
In 2016 Ahimsa conducted retreats and workshops on yoga for PTSD in Australia, the UK and Europe. In 2017 she will be teaching yoga for trauma recovery in Colombia, Europe and Australia.
Touring and teaching
Ahimsa has instructed on yogic studies and yoga teacher training courses at the Satyananda Yoga Academy, Australia and Bihar School of Yoga, India. In 2013 she toured New Delhi as part of the all-India Yoga Yatra conducted by Bihar School of Yoga and has held seminars in Mumbai, Bangalore, Singapore, London, Europe and Colombia. For details of upcoming programs click through here.
Yogic Living
To Ahimsa, yoga is about creativity and positive relationships. It is about understanding one’s self and others in order to live with balance and in harmony. Ahimsa’s interpretation of yoga for creative living is based on depth of study, experience and a passion for peace. The meaning of 'ahimsadhara', her spiritual name, is 'to flow with non-violence,' and that is her aspiration.
Yoga Books by Ahimsa
Yoga Day by Day: A Guide to Holistic Practices for Healthy Living
Hope: How Yoga Heals the Scars of Trauma
Editing
Conversations on the Science of Yoga: Hatha Yoga volumes 1-8
Gheranda Samhita by Swami Niranjananda Saraswati
Yogic Management of Cancer by Dr Swami Nirmalananda
Pippa Cushing (Satya)
MPsych (Clinical)
BBehavSci (Psychology) (Hons)
Diploma of Satyananda Yoga Training
Accredited by Academy of Yoga Science, Australia
Pippa was introduced to yoga at an early age. She attended classes from childhood and spent extended time living and studying at Bihar School of Yoga in India as a teenager and young adult. Engaging with yoga from a young age enabled Pippa to develop positivity and insight that have guided her through a life rich in study, travel and creativity. Her spiritual name, Satyachitta, means consciousness of the truth.
Pippa is a provisionally registered psychologist and is currently completing a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Tasmania. As an aspiring clinical psychologist, her vision involves researching and applying yoga to the management of mental health disorders.
When she's not with the books, Pippa enjoys singing, fitness and design. She served on the management committee of the Yoga Association of Tasmania from 2012 - 2015 and was involved with the Hobart Yoga & Meditation Centre before then. Yoga has guided all aspects of Pippa's life and she is eternally grateful for the wellbeing, peace and clarity that an integrated yoga practice brings.