Originally from Manchester, in the UK, Peter Roussel has followed the trail of yoga around the globe, through India and now, to Japan. He holds annual retreats in India, embracing the conventional and unconventional aspects of Hatha yoga.
Starting Ashtanga vinyasa yoga 11 years ago at age 23, then advancing to non regimented Hatha yoga, Peter is well versed in meditation, asana and pranayama, having started to give professional classes and workshops in 2002. Yoga led him to long Indian retreats with Clive Sheridan or by himself.
A teacher-training course with Glenn Ceresoli in November 2008 led Peter to realign his practice and his teaching even more closely to the highest purposes of Hatha yoga. Six months of teaching at the Yogamagic Eco Lodge in Goa, India, tightened his Hatha focus on reestablishing balance.
Peter’s approach has been one of learning by doing… he maintains that regular self-practice is the essential core of insight. His classes are a direct experience of the balancing power asana can have on the whole system. His workshops integrate techniques from subtle awareness up to gross physical movement.
As has been the case with so many people, Peter’s experience with yoga was love at first sight-and-breath. He soon found that weekly classes weren’t enough and asked teacher Mike Nevitt what to do at home. “Roll out your mat, stand in Samastihi, take an OM then lie down and rest” he said, “call that a practice.”
This often led into a sun salutation and standing postures, becoming a full-scale self-practice. The length and frequency of the practice grew, and with that came proficiency. Regular practice produced great changes in the body initiating a transition into awareness and the feeling of recognizing an old friend after a long separation. In Byron Bay, Australia, after traveling and practicing alone for months, Peter took an Ashtanga course at Yoga Arts, with intensives with Consta and Louisa. Peter was inspired by the people he met there, Glenn Ceresoli, Dena Kingsberg, and Clive Sheridan to name a few. A subsequent teacher training exposed him to a wide range of teachers, dispelling any thoughts of some kind of standard practice/teaching/or even existence.
Finishing a 9-month full time Yoga Arts course in 2001, Peter stayed in Byron to practice with Deana Kingsburg and to do yoga therapy with Glenn Ceresoli. He returned to Brighton in the UK and opened a teaching practice independently, as well as for Evolution Arts. His class offerings included therapy, pre-natal yoga, privates and a one-week yoga retreat in Lanzarotte.
After five years of practice, Peter connected with the art of meditation, for which he found guidance during month-long retreats with Clive Sheridan in India (2003, 2004).
After the Rishikesh Yoga Retreat in February 2004, Peter went to practice around the world, alone on mountains, by rivers and on beaches, attending courses between retreats held just for self-practice.
Peter has navigated many corners, gaining new insights through pains revealed through his practice.
Back in the UK, Peter practices and teaches in Brighton, while continuing to seek out teachers and to enquire into the techniques of the asana, the power of breath and the nature of reality. He uses all of this in his intuitive teaching style, which he calls Byoga for the purpose of distinction. The ‘B’ in ‘Byoga’ is when yogic powers are used to enjoy sensory delights. The yoga comes when yogic powers are used to merge into unity with the creator.
Peter looks forward to traveling further ahead on his journey into yoga and life while at YogaJaya.