OUR PEDAGOGY
Understanding comes before progression.
Mauna, silence in Sanskrit, is a school of yoga and movement that begins with listening. We invite you to meet your body with curiosity and care, to understand it before asking more of it.
What we hold at the center
Listening: mind, body, breath. Before changing anything, we learn to listen, and we begin with the mind, with a kind of undoing. This way of beginning comes from the teaching of Dona Holleman. We set down expectations, ideas of how a posture should look, and the beliefs that sometimes place limits on the body without our being aware of them. As we bring attention to them, we gently light up what seemed dark or out of view. Then we listen to the body: its sensations and its habitual ways of moving. And we listen to the breath. At times it is agitated, or we simply forget to breathe, and this can hold tension in the body. At other times, a softer breath helps us relax, and gives the body the confidence, safety and care it needs.
The asana lives in the body. We never force a body into a posture, and we do not impose asanas on it. Each body develops its own asana, which becomes an expression of that person, a language of their own. Our role is to create the conditions in which that can unfold.
Seeing before correcting. We begin by looking: where the energy gathers, where it is lost, where a posture feels alive and where it feels unsure. Props are good friends here, a block or a wall can make a pose possible and kind. Depth matters more than volume, and one posture practiced with care can hold a whole practice. This is in the spirit of Maty Ezraty’s teaching.
The teacher stays a student. Teaching is a way of continuing to learn. We return to the basics again and again, and each time the same pose shows us something we had not yet seen.
Why this form, why now. Before we repeat a shape, we ask what it is for. A pose earns its place in the class by what it teaches the body today.
Small adjustments, real change. Progress rarely comes from big movements. It comes from small, precise adjustments that give the body safety and confidence, so that it can let go and surrender.
One step at a time. We approach every posture step by step, with kindness and care, so that practice feels alive and safe.
Kindness throughout. Attention, compassion and kindness, in the spirit of Jack Kornfield’s teaching, shape how we practise and how we speak to ourselves.
What a practice feels like
A practice begins with a short meditation focused on the breath, a few minutes of arriving and listening. Then we observe what is present, explore a movement gently, understand why it works the way it does, through anatomy, biomechanics or a line of philosophy, and integrate it into the whole form and into daily life. We call these four movements Observe, Understand, Explore and Integrate.
Many students tell us they arrive carrying tension and worry, and leave completely relaxed, as if walking on a cloud.
What you may notice over time
After a few months, you may notice a real progression in your practice. Not through big movements or dramatic changes, but through small adjustments that bring confidence to the body, so that it can relax and give itself to the practice. A progression without strain, pressure or anguish.
You may also carry a state of calm in both body and mind. It changes how you feel in your own body, and it reaches your relationship with other bodies and minds too. The sense of well-being tends to extend outward.
Three ways in: Move, Understand, Breathe
Everything we teach grows from three movements, which work together and feed one another.
Move
the body in motion. Yoga, stretching and mobility, from restorative and slow to dynamic practices. This is where the practice lives, in Move, Mauna’s online course, coming soon.
Understand
the mind that comprehends. The philosophy and history of yoga, and the anatomy behind each movement. Not only to practice, but to understand why. We explore it in our deepening courses and in the Teacher Training.
Breathe
the breath that settles. Breathwork, breathing exercises, meditation and deep relaxation: where the body quiets, the mind clears, and you start to listen. You can begin with our course Breath.
Who it is for
If you have been practicing for years and something feels a little flat, you are welcome here. If you are new, curious and perhaps unsure, you are welcome here too. If you wish to understand what you are doing rather than simply perform it, this may be a lovely place to begin. Every body has its own structure, history and needs, and the practice adapts to you, rather than the other way around.
Where our teaching comes from
Dona Holleman, Centered Yoga. Maray studied with Dona for eight consecutive years in Italy, through the beginner, intermediate and advanced programs. Her way of looking at alignment, observation and the intelligent organisation of the body shapes how we teach. The undoing of the mind, with which we begin every practice, comes from her teaching. Dona encouraged Maray to always go further than she herself had gone, and to follow her own path. That freedom opened a wide door to research and curiosity, and to the wish to keep studying and exploring.
Maty Ezraty, co-founder of YogaWorks, with whom Maray took courses and teacher trainings, and who supported her in teaching yoga. Her way of teaching is a constant inspiration: she asked students to learn to see rather than memorize, valued sincere effort over showy poses, and trusted that each body finds its own way.
Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, with whom Maray studied for two years, and from whom she received her meditation teaching certificate. Jack’s teaching on attention, compassion and kindness informs how we bring presence into practice.
I am deeply grateful to Dona and to Maty. They supported me in the teachings, and also with their advice and their wish to see me keep going. From both I always felt encouragement and trust, and that is what has allowed me to continue with my project until today. I consider them a very important part of my path.
Mauna’s teaching is a living conversation between tradition, contemporary knowledge and personal experience, and we value the freedom to keep questioning, learning and exploring.
Where to begin
- Read or watch: Mauna Notes and our YouTube channel.
- Begin with the breath: the course Breath, now open.
- Study with Maray: one to one teacher training.
Whether you join us for a class, an online course or an in-depth study, our intention is the same: to help you develop a more conscious and lasting relationship with your body. Curiosity rather than comparison. Understanding rather than imitation. Exploration rather than performance.
Learn your body. Move with freedom.