Charles Cartmell
“My aim is to inspire a curiosity for self-discovery, to open people’s minds and bodies to the joys and benefits of self-knowledge. Charles uses these ancient practices, as he aims to cultivate ‘the art of listening’ which lies at the root of healing.”
More About Charles
Charles has been practicing yoga for 26 years, during which time he has studied Astanga, Shadow, Sivananda, and Satyananda variants of Hatha Yoga. In 1998, Charles found his teacher Christian Pisano and undertook a four-year apprenticeship in the Iyengar tradition. He is a certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor and has been teaching for over 20 years. He specializes in therapeutic applications of yoga postures using props and supports. Charles has also studied T’ai Chi Chuan and Ba Duan Jin Qi Gong. He is also a certified Thai masseur and practices Vipassana meditation.
“My aim is to inspire a curiosity for self-discovery, to open people’s minds and bodies to the joys and benefits of self-knowledge. Using these ancient practices, I aim to cultivate ‘the art of listening’ which lies at the root of healing.”
What can you expect from your Iyengar yoga practice with Charles?
The student is instructed to perform postures through physical example and very clear verbal instruction which gradually grows in detail and refinement instep with the student’s capacity. Instruction is given to move into, stay in, and come out of a posture in accordance with the breath and the motions can be vertical, horizontal, spiral, expanding, or contracting. Gradually through a process of repetition, the student’s sensory perception and coordination of his/her body move from the gross to the subtle as he/she performs increasingly demanding postures.
Singular to this methodology is the Use of Props; belts, blankets, bolsters, bricks, chairs, and wall ropes. The props are a signature of BKS Iyengar’s methodology. In this tradition, the props provide a unique aid for understanding the structure of an asana and to help awaken sensory perception…’ the felt sense’ in the student. They also facilitate the unfolding of the variations, modifications, and intensifications of postures enabling the elderly, injured, tired, or ill students to benefit from a “supported” asana practice requiring less muscular effort or for a more experienced student to deepen his practice.
