Mother India: how I found Ayurvedic Yoga Massage, by Nathan Synge

I spent my early years growing up in Wembley in north west London. This area of London was ethnically mixed but the majority of its community were from Indian heritage. My father, an Indian immigrant himself was from the Punjab in northern India and he traveled from India on a banana boat (true story!) where he settled in the UK in the 60’s. My mother was English. My early memories of visiting Indian family in the UK was sprinkled with strange images of deities on the living room walls, repetitive prayer would float through the home, curly bright orange and sicklily sweet Indian treats, trips to the local temple with my father and strange smells from the kitchen. My love of dahl started young!

These early experiences left an impression. Fast forward to 2001 and i took my first trip to India with my father to visit my family in the flat lands of the north. We took trips to the Sikh home, the Golden Temple, I wandered around with my camera trying to capture this fascinating land. The country really opened my eyes and iI came back to the UK knowing I would return one day.

So began my love affair with mother India and I found my self returning most years.

I would travel to experience its rich culture and traditions and was captivated by the way it hides nothing from you. It’s the whole spectrum of life laid out before you, the colour, the dispair, the beauty, life and death and everything in between. No holds bared.

My journey into Yoga began in 2009 and I found through a back injury that a very gentle practise would really help with my chronic pain. With the help of my early teachers i became obsessed with the practise, the history of it and at its heart its Ayurvedic principles.

I completed a one on one teacher training with a teacher from Tri Yoga in London and also attended a 6 month yoga foundation course in London.

My visits to India would continue to further my understanding and knowledge of India’s ancient connection to yogic principles.

As my body awareness grew, my interest in massage also grew. Western and Eastern philosophical schools of thought fascinated me. Hindu and Buddhism philosophy. I read books, took workshops, I returned to India to do a foundation course in Ayurvedic Massage.

I moved from London to Brighton and found an ITEC course in Holistic, Deep tissue massage and Anatomy and Physiology at the College of Classic Massage. Michael Gibbons was an instrumental teacher and the course gave me the foundation and tools of practise that i still draw on to this day.

I spent years in festival fields in the summer, giving treatments, connecting with fellow body workers, and learning, always learning.

Learning about the sensitivity you need to have when working with the body is a vital tool you will obtain in any body work course. The importance of touch and how it’s needed in our world. More now than ever as we find ourselves becoming increasingly detached from one another.

I enjoy working on a massage table and its benefits are huge, I did though, start to wonder about other modalities that I hoped could really connect the giver and receiver in a more profound way. A mode where the client receiving could really ground and find a way to truly surrender, to even feel venerable and know that the space was there for them to really open up and understand the benefit of moving into space themselves, to promote healing and to let go of past traumas in the body and mind.

This is where Ayurvedic Yoga Massage entered my life.

Again to India and while I was travelling in north Goa reconnecting with an old friend I leaned about a workshop taking place that my friend had taken her self and she was adamant iI should attend.

I met James here on a sun soaked Goan roof top, surrounded by palms trees and tropical foliage and enrolled on the then Level 1 Ayurvedic Yoga Massage training work shop.

Straight in I really connected with the hands on way of learning. The knowledge is delivered clearly and through the repetition thats unique to the AYM Institute mode of teaching. I loved that the treatment took place on the floor, getting to move around the body in a tai chi style dance as you move through each breath with your client and invite them into space through dynamic stretches, subtle joint manipulations and invigorating massage techniques. There are so many styles and techniques to draw from it really can offer something for everyone. Different body types and frames. We are all at different stages in our body association and AYM’s range really can speak to everyone.

I left the course feeling confident in the new language of what I’d just learnt. Its yogic association really drew me in also and I really connected with the hybrid of traditional massage strokes, deep tissue work, and breathe work & assisted stretching. It really gave the receiver an all round holistic experience. It really resonated with me. I completed my training with James back in East London and excitedly took my new skills to my existing clients and found there response was very positive. 70% of my clients are yoga teachers or yoga students and they all resonated with the healing it gave them and the space it gave them to evolve there own yoga practise.

James continued to be very approachable and helpful as my own AYM practise grew. I began helping and assisting James on his London AYM workshops. It was a unique opportunity to reinforce my own understanding of AYM but also see new attendees on their journey into AYM and I loved the chance to be able to share what I had learned with them.

My assisting James became more regular and we became good friends. I found his teaching style invaluable. His approach, humbleness and knowledge that came through was clearly coming from a dedicated and passionate place. One lunch time we sat in central London over a cup of the black stuff, coffee, a love of both of us. As we discussed and shared our AYM experiences he asked me whether I’d ever be interested in being mentored by him to become an AYM Institute teacher. I was instantly intrigued and felt utterly humbled he would think to approach me with this opportunity. In many ways that great India tradition of passing down knowledge from teacher to student was happening again. And so the next part of my journey began, along with Steven we found our selves again in the warm arms of a Goan beach where we together completed our Ayurvedic Yoga Massage teacher mentorship.

I get so much joy from teaching and sharing something I’m deeply passionate about. I’m so grateful to part of the AYM family. A journey that will continue to grow.

Nathan Synge - AYM Institute teacher