Joey Miles founded Ashtanga Yoga Leeds in January 2009, when he relocated to Yorkshire.

Joey provides a Mysore program in Leeds that welcomes all levels from complete beginners through to highly experienced students and teachers. Joey also runs regular yoga workshops at his small home studio near Hebden Bridge and leads retreats aimed at deepening practice. Ashtanga Yoga Leeds

Joey is passionate about Mysore Style practice. He loves how the students who attend early morning class have to make a bit of a sacrifice to be there, how thirsty they seem to learn and develop their practice. There’s a precious silence that descends as everyone focuses on their breath, cutting away the need for constant cues and reminders. There is no requirement to generically address the whole class with words of instruction that may be right for some, but distracting for others. He loves how the practice fosters a sense of independence in the students. Each student practises at their own rhythm as they learn to listen inwardly. Joey approaches each person as a unique individual. He intuitively works with each student day by day. There is no hurry. There is always tomorrow. He loves how each student practises alone and yet there’s a rich communal experience in practising alongside one other. Deep and lasting friendships develop among many students. There’s a real sense of community at Ashtanga Yoga Leeds: there have been marriages, divorces, births and deaths.

When Joey came to yoga in 1998 at the age of seventeen, he was ready to commit to something that could potentially change his life. He’d done it all by then and wanted to turn away from the lifestyle he’d become entangled in, especially after two of his friends had particularly traumatic experiences. That sense of ‘That could have been me’ gave him the determination to turn his life around and he turned to the discipline of a regular yoga practice to support him through that. The Ashtanga practice is dynamic and stimulating which is exactly what he needed at that time.

While at Goldsmiths University studying a BA in Drama he set up and directed the Yoga Society, there doing his practice of seva (service). On graduating he began assisting Hamish Hendry at Ashtanga Yoga London and for 3 years he practised and assisted daily. Ashtanga Yoga Leeds

At first, he was drawn to the sheer physicality of the practice. With a background in circus skills, martial arts and physical theatre, Joey progressed quickly and easily (relatively easily!) through the Ashtanga series. His relationship with experienced Ashtanga teacher Hamish Hendry became that of master and apprentice. This apprenticeship was key and Joey sees immense value in an ongoing relationship with a senior teacher and learning all that you can from them. Shifting roles from student to teacher is a long, slow journey of observation and experience, a journey that requires discipline and patience and results in a depth of understanding and practice. For Joey, a good yoga teacher shares yoga in an authentic way but that is not enough in itself. They also have to be a good communicator and they have to love teaching itself, not just yoga.

During his time in London, Joey taught daily Mysore classes from 2005-2008 at triyoga in Primrose Hill. He became a part of the teacher training programme there, alongside Anna Ashby, Carlos Pomeda and Chris Swain. Whilst there, he shifted away from being an Ashtanga purist. Whilst Ashtanga is an effective method for him and he is wholeheartedly committed to the practice, he recognises that some yoga students are more inclined to other styles of yoga. In fact, he himself is greatly influenced by the teachings of Alaric Newcombe and Christian Pisano in the Iyengar tradition.

Joey’s love and respect for the Mysore Style method continues to grow over the years. Seeing so many students benefit from this practice, what seems to stand out is the structure: people know where to begin and where to stop. This makes developing the habit of practice considerably simpler.

In 2004, he was authorised to teach the primary series by Guruji…… In 2012, Joey received Authorisation Level 2, meaning he has Sharath’s blessing to teach the full Intermediate Series. In 2014, Joey completed the 3rd series under Sharath’s guidance at the KPJAYI in Mysore. In 2016 Sharath started Joey on the 4th series and he is now well and truly stuck for the time being! Ashtanga Yoga Leeds

That’s how it works in the Ashtanga tradition. There is no formal teacher training as such that culminates in accreditation as in other styles of yoga. Ashtanga teachers had to be Certified or Authorised to teach formerly by Guruji and now by his grandson Sharath. There’s a lineage here, a tradition passed down from generation to generation that is revered and respected.

From outside of the Ashtanga world looking in, there’s the common misconception that the Primary Series is a simple sequence that must be practised from the beginning to the end. in reality, it’s more like Primary School (no one gets through primary school quicker than seven years!): it’s where all the foundational skills of Ashtanga yoga are learned. Joey observed in Mysore that whilst some students were taken through a series quickly, most people are reigned in and held way back. Many people take issue with learning the poses one by one with someone else setting the boundary, but the boundary actually creates freedom.

There’s a freedom to respond to your own body and listen to your own needs. Joey particularly discovered this truth for himself when his two kids were young and he did not get enough sleep. When he was exhausted, he would cut his practice way back and do more supine and supported poses. He still takes this approach if he is run down and he often encourages his students to do the same. He welcomes all to his Mysore class, whether they have thirty minutes or three hours. There is something in this practice for everyone.

Joey Miles has recorded classes for the online yoga platform EkhartYoga. When some of his students moved away and ended up all over the world and couldn’t find an Ashtanga practice nearby, Joey began to recognise the benefits of online yoga. For students living in big cities like London who can’t afford to attend classes at big city prices, online yoga is far cheaper. For those who struggle with attending a class – either for practical reasons or emotional issues – then online yoga is a great alternative. Practising yoga alone at home takes away performance anxiety and the consequences of comparing yourself to others in the room. It’s so much less intimidating.

Joey’s love for the practice shines through in all that he says and does. We’ll finish off here by asking Joey some final questions about this practice that has transformed his life.

So Joey, what is yoga?
Yoga is first and foremost a practice. It is something we do. We yoke ourselves to a practice in order to develop wisdom and skillful means.

How has yoga changed your life?
Yoga has dramatically shifted my perspective of who I am and that is massive. Yoga is also how I make my bread and feed my children and I feel really grateful for that. It gives me a tremendous sense of meaning and purpose.

Why is spiritual awakening important?
I think we are all pretty much the same across all cultures. We all want to be healthy and happy and we want our friends and our family to be healthy and happy. Some people are inclined toward spiritual practice and asking the deeper questions of ‘Who am I?’ ‘Why am I here?’ ‘What is my purpose?’ For those people ‘awakening’ or developing wisdom and skillful means is a way to find lasting peace and happiness.

Finally, can you see yourself practising yoga for the rest of your life?
Yes, certainly. But I also have no doubt that the outer forms of the practice will change.