Dru yoga: an introduction

Dru yoga is based on soft, flowing movements, controlled breathing and visualisation. Now one of the largest yoga teacher training schools in the UK, it is both a graceful and potent form of stress relief.

Dru's roots go back thousands of years to the story of Dhruva in one of India's great yogic texts, the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Dhruva means ‘still point' which is what we experience at the heart of Dru Yoga and meditation.

With its foundations set firmly in ancient yogic tradition, Dru works on body, mind and spirit, like many other styles of yoga.

However where Dru is different is in the emphasis on flowing movements, accessible for all levels of fitness.

Dru's Energy Block Release sequences are unique and systematically dissolve blocks of energy from the major chakras, creating a wonderful sense of well-being and health.

Many people who have done other styles of yoga enjoy Dru's depth and emphasis on all the levels of awareness (koshas), as well as its focus on the heart chakra.

These are five key areas essential to Dru yoga:

Flow
When we do Dru yoga we aim to create a continuous flow of movement and breath. This creates a graceful yoga practice which moves in and out of asanas and energy block sequences, which at Dru we call EBRs.

These unique sequences release tension and move the body in all directions. They incorporate flowing graceful movements which give Dru yoga its unique character.

We practise classical yoga postures with the emphasis on flow and the energy in the chakras, particularly the heart centre.

Breath
We direct the breath with awareness to specific parts of the body to energise the body and release tightness or pain. We aim to breathe using the vyana breath, where the lungs are emptied and filled from the base to the top.

Soft Joints.
We keep the joints softly bent for most of our postures, which we find helps to keep them flexible yet strong during movement.

Core Stability
Muscles have two main functions - to create stability and movement. If the balance between these functions is uneven, our muscles become tight or weak. Dru Yoga‘s emphasis on flowing movements in a wide variety of positions strengthen the postural muscles and gives the main movement muscles a full stretch.

Spinal Wave
We bring vitality to the spine by natural wave-like movements which occur naturally when we breathe or move correctly. In Dru yoga we encourage these movements, as they encourage the free flow of cerebrospinal fluid, which keeps our spine healthy.

Jane Clapham has been teaching Dru Yoga for the last 20 years, and is a senior tutor on the Dru Yoga Teacher Training course. Dru also offers yoga teacher training courses around the UK and internationally - see www.druyoga.com