He's got the beat

Sye stresses that yoga is about learning and listening to the body. "Most people are strangers to their bodies," he observes. "My rule is to follow your body, not dominate it. If our bodies tell us they need to shift, they do. Yoga practice works towards fulfilling an innate homeostasis, finding a harmony within."

Sye's freethinking approach to yoga makes Yogabeats classes suitable for all fitness levels and ages. Beginner, intermediate and advanced students practice together because of Sye's philosophy that yoga is instinctive to the body. As a teacher, Sye challenges students yet advocates the importance of not pushing the body too far. "Then the body will say, 'Let's do that again,' rather than just, 'I must do my yoga,'" Sye explains.

Sye's Yogabeats continues to grow. He is currently planning events throughout the United Kingdom as well as in Italy and Israel. "We are in negotiations to produce our first DVD to convey the excitement of sound and movement in yoga and a chill-out meditation CD," says Sye. Yogabeats is also excited to be holding its first Yogabeats Holiday, just outside of Rome, Italy, in a beautiful restored seventeenth-century farmhouse in September. Limited spaces are available.

Hoping Yogabeats is on its way to a gym or yoga studio near you? "We have been invited to Toronto and there is talk of Yogabeats coming to the United States, in particular Los Angeles and New York, but as yet nothing is confirmed," Sye reports.

Perhaps Americans can soon reap the benefits of Yogabeats and find inspiration from Sye, who credits yoga for giving him a beautiful relationship with his body and a delight in being alive. "Yoga isn't particularly important unless it leads to being a better person and enjoying life more," he says. "I don't want to die saying I was some great yogi. I want to die saying, 'I was a great human being--I had a great life.' That's far more intelligent to me."

For more information on Yogabeats, visit www.yogabeats.com.

This article has been adapted from the United Kingdom's June 2003 issue of Yoga magazine.

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A yoga vacation could be one of the most rewarding vacations you've ever experienced. It is not only one of the best ways to deepen your practice, but also a way to purge old negative emotions and replace them with new positive growth. It can be a time to make new friends with like-minded interests or, if you choose, spend time with yourself.

"A yoga vacation, like any other holiday, is an opportunity to relax and recharge. This can be a time for reflection and to assess your current life path and the changes you would like to make to live more peacefully in this high-octane world," states Jeanne Ricci in Yoga Escapes: A Yoga Journal Guide to the Best Places to Relax, Reflect, and Renew (Celestial Arts; $19.95).

To help you find the perfect place to submerge yourself in downward facing dogs, triangle poses and savasana, Yoga Escapes features over 150 retreats, ashrams, resorts, spas, inns as well as bed and breakfasts around the world, from the lavish beaches of Hawaii to the mystical silence of Arizona's red rocks, from the serene mountains of Colorado to globe-trotting adventures in India, Bali and Peru, from the family friendly to the remote. Listings are organized by type and location. Each entry contains a description of the property with comments from guests or teachers, a description of classes and recreation as well as a sampling of services.--D.K. Howe