Bliss Divine Yoga is run by James Reeves, Dip SM, Dip Yoga Siromani, Dip Structural Yoga Therapy. James has been practicing yoga for over 10 years and qualified as a teacher in 2004.
About Me
Yoga enables me to find rest from a world that is fast paced and a mind that is relentless.
I have been studying and practicing Yoga since 1999, and find a real affinity with the letting-go that comes through this discipline. For me, Yoga provides a way of finding stillness and peace internally, and this washes through in the way I teach. My philosophy is that it’s more important to find stillness than it is to achieve completion of poses. My classes are not focused on striving or straining, although there are always challenges for us all to work through.
I started to explore the idea of teaching Yoga in 2004 when I completed the Sivannada Yoga teacher-training programme in south India. From there I went on to study privately for some months in Rajasthan with a teacher from the Bihar School of Yoga. In 2005 I returned to the UK and although I was technically a qualified Yoga teacher with a solid grounding in the heart of Yoga practice, I also wanted to develop a clear understanding of anatomy and physiology – I wanted to teach Yoga in a safe and informed way. This led me to Mukunda Stiles, a well-respected eastern teacher and author of Structural Yoga Therapy. I took an 18-month diploma course with Mukunda, which qualified me as a structural Yoga Therapist. Along the way and in my own time I studied with Donna Farhi, John Friend, Philip Xerri for pranayama, Dr Vasant Lad for Ayurvedic studies and took a retreat with Thich Nhat Han. During this time I also underwent two years of Jungian psychotherapy and inner journeying work with a wonderful therapist in Oxford.
In 2006 I took a month-long trip to the US and practised extensively with Kali Ray, one of Mukunda’s teachers, and took a retreat with Richard Miller, one of Donna’s teachers. Magic happened: through Kali Ray I discovered Tri Yoga, a hatha yoga practice that is sublime in its intricacy and flow, and when I met Richard in the hills of Montana, I knew I had found my teacher of philosophy and meditation.
Towards the end of Richard’s retreat I had a profound experience of stillness and connection with all of life that, even years later, I struggle to put into words. I have been aligned with him since, and as I write this I am completing teacher training with Richard to become the European teacher for iRest, a complete protocol for self-enquiry and a path to deep stillness. I plan to start teaching iRest in the UK, and I hope soon to also offer a number of teacher-training programmes.
All of this study and practice has opened the door to some powerful experiences, but ultimately it has shown me that the happiness we all seek is never as far away as we think. Our true nature, our rested self, is always at peace and just waiting to be discovered – are you ready to meet yours?
