August 2007

Forget om-style postures you can never quite master - this funky, freestyle form of Yoga has little in common with traditional varieties. Rather than using static poses, it combines classic postures with continuous movement to rhythms, from soft ambient sounds to loud Venezuelan rap.

WHY ITS GREAT

It has all the physical benefits associated with yoga - strength, flexibility and good posture - but its creator David Sye, is keen to emphasize that is benefits are all-encompassing. 'The whole session is a form of meditation' he explains.'If you go to a quiet yoga class, as soon as you go back out onto the street you get stressed again. In my classes music allows people to learn how to switch their minds off from the outside world' You are also encouraged to express yourself spontaneously. 'This means anyone can enjoy the classes because you work within your own limits', says Sye 'By the end, everyone feels good about themselves'. - Madeleine Bailey

Read Heather McGarrigle's hilarious account of her experience at a Yogabeats class in Belfast last April in the summer issue of Belfast's award wining magazine, Northern Woman.

Click here for the first page and here for page 2

Check out Jenny Lee's great article, April 14th 2006, during David's successful visit to Belfast this Spring here

Health + Fitness. Magazine - 2006. - In between filming his DVD and travelling all over the world to teach his unique style of Yoga, David Sye still manages to run at least seven to eight classes a week, though many of these take place in private clubs. Fusing traditional yoga postures with movement set to dance music definitely raised a few eyebrows among the more traditional members of the yoga community, but Sye prefers an inclusive and creative approach to yoga and is both hugely charismatic and unpretentious. Few can help but get caught up in his enthusiasm. After several years based at the Third Space, Sye will now be teaching at the Special Yoga Centre on Wednesday evenings as well as running weekly Tuesday night classes at Abbey Road Community Centre.

- WEEKEND - NOVEMBER 13/14TH 2004 - THE CHANGING SHAPE OF YOGA - ..... the mix and match scene is epitomised by David Sye, whose recently invented Yogabeats is an underground hit. Sye, a slight man whose entire upper body is covered in tattoos, fits the stereotype of an urban guru. "I like clubbing and I like Yoga", he says, explaining his Eureka moment. "So I thought I'd bring them together".
Yogabeats is like a cross between yoga, circuit training and a dance class. Often he performs with DJs in night clubs. I met him at a community centre. A ghettoblaster played a mixture of techno, salsa and rock. Sye freestyled between classical yoga postures, never keeping still, and his students copied. "I want people to have fun. To me it's not about being serious", he said. "It's about feeling good.

Check out Daisy Greenwell's great article in What's on in London of January 12, 2006 here

- "Yogabeats is definitely having your cake and eating it. For the rest of the week you are taller, fresher and suffused with an inner glow."

- " David Sye has a famous clientele, yet he is also respected among physiotherapists who refer their creaky, sometimes disabled, clients to his classes."

- "If I could have this every weekend I would be the happiest worker in town"

- MAGAZINE - " We go through various yoga moves and before we know it, the class is over, leaving us in a semi-blissed out state"

- METRO - " A yoga class is only as good as its teacher - and David Sye is the reason Yogabeats attracts everyone from ultra-fit yoga addicts to clumsy beginners".

David was featured in the second largest Newspaper in Finland, Aamulehti, in the issue of December 15th, 2006 - during his first visit to the Country. He was featured in the magazine Valo with this photo on the front cover.

The story written by Anna-Sofia Berner has been translated for us by Paula Kiuru of Om Yoga, Tampere.

Cover page: Tie yourself up in a knot before your life gets twisted first. Yogi David Sye shows the way. More>>>