"viśokā vā jyotiṣmatī"

"Concentration may also be attained by fixing the mind upon the Inner Light, which is beyond sorrow."

Sutra 36, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Namaste

My name is Namrata Gauri, founder of Vishoka Yoga. I originally hail from India, where I grew up and lived most of my life. My mother, who is a Yoga and Hindi teacher, taught me Yoga when I was a child. She herself had studied Yoga in a very traditional and rough setting in the Himalayas. As for most Indians, my life in India was always full of spirituality and this deep connection with the spiritual has alway been the main root of my Yoga and meditation practice. I have now been working and serving as a Yoga teacher for +10 years. During an extended stay in a remote Yoga ashram in India, I met my German husband, fell in love, got married and moved to Munich, Germany in 2015 and in 2018, we moved to London. In the West, I realised that people here had a very different understanding of Yoga: it was mainly about Yoga Asana and with a very strong focus on exercise, mobility and good looks! This form of yoga definitely has its merits, but I felt that many people want to go deeper and connect more with the spiritual aspect of Yoga. This led me to start Vishoka Yoga.

Vishoka Yoga is rooted in traditional Hatha Yoga and it’s sister healing science Ayurveda. With the circumstances of the 21st century in mind, I have adapted the ancient teachings to contemporary needs and added elements of Restorative Yoga to my practice and teaching.

Along with more than 500 hours of Hatha Yoga teacher training I am also trained to teach Restorative Yoga. Restorative Yoga is an essential practice in our present day world where rest is seen as unproductive. This practice is all about giving ourselves permission to rest, recharge and renew our beings. I found Restorative Yoga while I was teaching at Yogamagic Eco Retreat in Goa through one of the retreat onwers and my mentor, Ishi. She introduced me to this form of Yoga that is based on BKS Iyengar’s approach and was popularised by Yoga Journal’s co-founder Judith Hanson Lasator. Today I continue to learn from Judith and her daughter Lizzie Lasator.

In Hatha Yoga, the practice of Yoga postures, Asana, is about achieving union of body and mind through mindful movement and posture. Eventually, this will lead to meditation and becoming “aware” of our conscious existence as spiritual beings. On this path, the first and most important principle is to practice "Ahimsa", the Sanskrit term for non-violence. In the context of today's world, I also call it self-love: I teach my students how to listen to the signals of their being, to accept and respect it and to nurture a loving relationship with themselves.

In Ayurveda ("knowledge of life"), a long, happy and healthy life is the result of living a balanced lifestyle and being in harmony with yourself and your environment. In order to achieve balance and harmony we focus on the middle way: I encourage my students to start observing their day-to-day lives mindfully and to introduce small, but consistent changes to their lifestyle rather than making drastic changes. Ayurveda and Yoga not only share common roots and compliment each other, but amplify each other’s transformative power.

I believe that health, happiness and joy naturally live in all of us and automatically manifest in the lives of everyone who regularly dedicates time to the practice of Yoga and Ayurveda. My approach to help you manifest health, happiness and joy is one of simple focus on the fundamentals of proper breathing, proper posture, simple meditation and finding balance in your lifestyle. I pair this with a lot of attention to your individual needs and with personal dedication to your progress.

My teaching is accessible for everyone and beneficial for everyone - no matter if you are a beginner or an advanced practitioner.

I have created Vishoka Yoga to guide you to live more consciously, to find your purpose, wisdom and to embark on a journey of health and spiritual growth. Vishoka means "Free of Sorrow" in Sanskrit and embodies the purpose we found in our teaching: aiding you to live a healthy, happy life with a powerful spiritual foundation.

Love,

Namrata Gauri

May all beings be peaceful.   
May all beings be happy.   
May all beings be well.   
May all beings be safe.   
May all beings be free from suffering.