LOVE SUPREME PROJECTS

Absolutely London tries Manizeh Rimer's Jivamukti Open class at the yoga studio she co-founded with Nadia Narain

SWEET DREAMS

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Love Supreme Projects has only been open 11 months when I visit one Saturday morning at the beginning of February, but it’s packed to the rafters. And ‘rafters’ is definitely an appropriate word considering the yoga studio is housed in a stylishly converted church on Notting Hill’s buzzy Golborne Road.

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I’m up on the top floor for co-founder Manizeh Rimer’s popular Jivamukti Open class. The room might be full (and more join us via Zoom from all over the world), but the energy is palpable as Rimer leads us in a chant to begin our practice. The Vinyasa style class aims to bring together the physical poses with the philosophies, chanting, and meditation of yoga.

Rimer tells me afterwards that when she started teaching yoga, she found that many people were a little hesitant about chanting. But she’s seen it slowly grow in popularity in recent years, especially since the pandemic. She explains that chanting is an easier path to meditation, cutting out all of the noise of the mind. Or as Rimer puts it, it helps you to ‘crack your heart open’.

Listening to Rimer’s beautiful voice helps me to feel grounded and shake o a sleepless night with my toddler. Being a relatively new mum, I must admit that I haven’t practised yoga for a while. The class is open to all abilities, but I find my basic knowledge of the yoga poses helps to get me into the flow, even if I’m not the most limber.

A long time student of Sharon Gannon, David Life and Jai Uttal, Rimer’s twenty years’ experience of teaching yoga has given her the wisdom to be able to adapt the class according to the energy of the room. We start o slow, building the tempo, until we find ourselves bouncing on the spot, waving our hands jubilantly in the air to the duration of Radiohead’s Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. At the end, I’m sweating, but I feel great. It’s easy to see how people get hooked on Rimer’s classes and I have a feeling I’ll be back, even if it’s just to tune in via Zoom.

Drop in class: choose your price, £10 - £25 lovesupremeprojects.com