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Sandy King Sandy King
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    • Sandy
    • Jivamukti Yoga
    • Blog
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    • Thai Yoga Holiday
    • Not Just Asana Podcast
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    • Daily Movement Challenge (free)
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Aug 16

The Fabulous History of Friday Night Party Class

  • 16 August 2021
  • Jivamukti, Music, Story-time

In 2011 when I returned home from Jivamukti Teacher Training in New York, I was lucky enough to be walking straight into a job at the newly-opened Jivamukti Yoga Sydney. The owners had ambitiously decided to open 4 studios at once, and while there were plenty of time slots to fill, I was still a newbie and more than happy to take whatever was offered to me.

At the time, the “bad” time slots passed my way included Wednesday 6.30am (a class I continued to teach for 10 years) and Friday night 6pm.

At first, only a handful of students would show up at the end of the week, and who could blame them? We were in Newtown, one of the main party hubs of Sydney, and there were probably a million cooler things to be doing than practicing yoga on a Friday night.

So I decided to figure out what I could do to make Jivamukti Yoga one of the cool places to be before the weekend kicked in.

Honestly, one of the reasons I was turned off yoga as a teenager was because it seemed like something lame that people my mum’s age went to, where they did some light stretching, accompanied by background music with wind-chimes and pan pipes. As a young adult, when I walked into one of my first Jivamukti classes, my perception of yoga was turned on its head. Specifically, I found myself in a “Rock- āsana” class, taught by a visiting teacher from the States, whose playlist was entirely Guns and Roses, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I remember walking up to him after the class (although my legs could hardly move for all the sun salutes we had done) and telling him “I’m going to do Jivamukti training one day”.

Sure enough, 6 months later, I was in New York becoming a Jivamukti teacher.

Back in Sydney, I was at first apprehensive about playing anything too experimental in my classes. Enya was pretty standard for me, and if I was feeling wild, I’d chuck in a Beatles song.

But as my confidence in teaching grew, so did my iTunes library. Before long, my playlists were full of the Smiths, the Cure, Placebo and Portishead. Some nights it was Rihanna, Beyonce, Britney and Gaga. And the interesting thing was… the classes kept getting bigger and bigger. Whereas I used to teach the class in the smaller upstairs room, we quickly had to migrate downstairs to the larger studio in order to make space for everyone.

I ended up teaching what came to be known as the Friday Night Party Class for close to 7 years. Every Friday night at 6pm, I knew I’d be in for a fun time with all the amazing yogis who chose to unwind with some sweaty movements and killer tunes.

Those were the good times.

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WITH TOUCH ~ a two day hands-on-assists workshop w WITH TOUCH ~ a two day hands-on-assists workshop with Sandy and Sas at @foldeyoga for yoga teachers and students of all lineages. 

“Just as āsanas themselves are not static, yogic assists are the confluence of ever-moving rivers of energy.” - Sharon Gannon + David Life

28+29th June, 12-4pm each day

@sandykingyoga 
@sas_stephenson 
@foldeyoga
Did you know I teach online classes on a weekly ba Did you know I teach online classes on a weekly basis?

You can either join me live on Fridays at 9.30am (Sydney time), or catch the replays any time after. The recordings are added to an online library that currently has over 300 classes.

Perfect for when you’re travelling, if you’re a home practitioner, looking for a more affordable way to practice, or simply prefer the flexibility of online classes.

Here is my online schedule for May, and the second slide shows the last two classes I taught online.

Find everything on my website sandyking.com.au 🖤
So incredibly proud of Keith and myself for finall So incredibly proud of Keith and myself for finally biting the bullet and putting our podcast out into the world!

The reception so far has been beyond what we imagined. Thank you to everyone who has listened, given us ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and offered kind words of encouragement.

Episode 3 is out now!

Listen to Not Just Ăsana on Spotify and Apple Podcasts 🎧
Okay so here’s the big DOUBLE announcement: Kei Okay so here’s the big DOUBLE announcement:

Keith Kempis of @bija_yoga and I have been working on a #podcast called #notjustasana for the last 2 months and TODAY is the launch date. 

This is the premise: every episode of the weekly show will start with a #slokah #sutra or #chant and it’s always a surprise to the other pod-host. We then explore it together; basically an extended dharma talk in the form of a conversation. First two episodes are out now!

Secondly, Keith and I are going to Thailand 21-28 October and we would love you to come with us! #yoga #food #adventures #seva in #khaolak Thailand during the #phuketvegetarianfestival. Basically like White Lotus Season 3 except BETTER. 

FYI Last year, this trip with Keith sold out in 3 days. 🙏🌴🌞 #thailand #yoga

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I acknowledge and pay my respects to the muwinina and palawa people of nipaluna and lutruwita; the traditional owners and custodians of the land upon which I am humbled to live, work and play; and pay respect to elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded. This is, was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

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