Deeper Still: Authentic Embodiment for Yoga Teachers

Deeper Still is the next stage of an ongoing process and a consequence of further inquiry into the yoga experience from author John Stirk. Following on from The Original Body this book invites an even deeper immersion into the reality of practice and the totality of personal experience in accessing the power of our inner teacher.


As the theme of this book unfolds the reader is invited towards a sensory understanding leading to profound insight. Teachers using this book will be able to share with their students the clarity, mental space and basic wisdom that emerges as a result of their awakening physiology. We may frequently acknowledge that we are there with the group. Experience may tell us that 'there-ness' is not fixed, that it is based on an unknown element upon which all creativity is founded. Deeper Still goes beyond current experience and invites teachers to write their own story, develop their own script, ride the uncatchable wave that might be called yoga, and open up creativity to the next level.


Deeper Still enables teachers to take their students to a deeper dimension. It also:




provides a basis for off the chart experiences


appeals to the depth mind through a deepening physical experience


invites a more profound contact with groups


brings out the essence of yoga in students as a consequence of a deeper creativity


highlights emergent insight as a feature of group work


blends an ancient concept with modern western yoga


draws attention to the relationship between soft tissue sensitivity and the quality of xonsciousness


examines the potential for abundant resonance in group work and the so called 'universal experience'

John Stirk is a yoga teacher and author with a background in osteopathy. He has been teaching yoga since 1974. He graduated as an osteopath in 1983 at the College of Osteopaths in London where he subsequently lectured in biomechanics and practical osteopathy. He was made a fellow of the College in 1995. His association with R. D. Laing in the 1970s and 1980s and his attraction to the teaching of J. Krishnamurti have inspired his approach to a quality of consciousness realized through hatha yoga practices.


John stopped practising osteopathy in 2005 to focus exclusively on yoga teaching and use his osteopathic and philosophical understanding to inform teachers. His approach has influenced many teachers in the UK and internationally.


His interests lie in the power of group work and the potential insight and wisdom that arise spontaneously within the group field. He invites yoga teachers to take a step further, to trust and share their own insight and wisdom with their students by using physical sensitivity as a springboard to an alternative consciousness.


John is the author of several books, notably The Original Body (Handspring 2015). He has published numerous articles for yoga journals, teaches in the UK and internationally, and conducts courses for teachers including the highly successful What Lies Beneath course.


John is based in London and east Sussex where he lives with his wife Lolly Stirk, who is a childbirth activist, pioneer of yoga for pregnancy, and founder member of the Active Birth Movement and Yoga Birth. Their daughter Sarah created the photographic images for this book.