 When I stepped on my yoga mat this morning I took time to fully experience the sensations of my feet on the mat, the breath moving in and out, the settling of the mind downwards from the head into the body.
As I started the first ujjayi breath I felt it fill my whole body as the arms rose up and found space in the ribs and abdomen. It is both mundane, we breathe all day, every day, for our entire lives. And it is also incredible that this complex, harmonious, finely tuned instrument of the body can do this with the smallest encouragement. To witness it is quite incredible and delightful. There is a tension in yoga about whether you are practicing for a future outcome or bringing yourself fully into the present moment. Of course it isn't an either / or. We are doing both. This morning, my yoga practice was very much with my body, not just for my body. It felt great at the time and it serves a wider aim. It keeps me grounded in the moment, grateful for the day ahead, and also helps me cultivate good health and more often than not feel pain free. In all of my classes there is someone who isn't pain free. I have students working to improve sciatica, back pain and various injuries, and they need to work with and around pain very carefully. Pain can be debilitating and can mean sometimes living with just a modest amount of movement. The breath and the movements may have a clear purpose of improving what we are looking to change. We may be seeking recovery or improvements of body or mental state. But they also bring us into a state of open ease and awareness. We discover that although the pain and worries can feel all consuming, in that same moment there is still a view available that remains aware of all this and not caught up within it. This view is subtle, easy to overlook, but well worth cultivating. In our yoga classes there is this dance throughout each session where we are serving both aims. We are working with our bodies to move, strengthen, stabilise, ease, rebalance, and energise. And at the same time, coming closer to being present and into the fullness of the moment. The aches and pains are addressed and improved, the weaknesses gradually strengthened, the tightness starts to resolve and future ailments hopefully prevented. We might need to target a posture here and there to more fully address things. The breath is respected and nurtured, the mind is calmed. The nervous system comes back to balance. And we finish the practice feeling renewed, refreshed, revitalised and more positive. The beauty of yoga is that it serves both aims seamlessly. You just need to show up to your mat, breathe, move, and cultivate an open mind that allows you to come more fully into your self and your practice. The benefits, the goals, the improvements will follow naturally, just as night follows day. Do your yoga. It works.
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 What I love most about summer is how much easier it is to spend time outdoors and in nature, amongst trees, and with the earth underfoot.
Popping outside doesn't require the right footwear, layers, waterproofs and umbrellas. And outdoor yoga is a possibility. Perhaps a few simple postures in the garden. Or more seated practices - try sitting for a moment aware of your breathing, or in meditation in the garden or on a park bench. Or try walking slowly through the trees noticing the sensations of the warm breeze and the sounds of bird song. Moments like these are easily missed. But when enjoyed they bring us right back to the same place that we enjoy in our mat practice. Yoga helps us cultivate more 'presence' - more awareness of what is in our direct experience. And it helps us notice when we are getting lost in our busy thoughts again. It helps us turn more fully towards our body and breath, our sensations and our surroundings. We start to let go of tension and worry and are invited to appreciate the moments of our life that are so easily overlooked. The moment you find yourself in right now might objectively benefit from being different. Perhaps your not happy about the twingey back, the red bills, or the wayward relative. I'm certainly not rushing towards the next time my son decides to yell at me and blame me for his teenage woes. But my practice helps me hold in mind that this moment, for all its apparent flaws, is still a moment that in 20 years from now, I'll feel blessed to have experienced, would love to have again, and will probably find amusing. Yoga helps us fully appreciate the moments that make up our lives. Life doesn't need to get objectively better for it to feel immeasurably better. Yoga reminds us that the small stuff doesn't need to bother us, our mind can become calmer, the world can feel more peaceful, and we get to embody that peace and then radiate it towards everyone we encounter. Enjoy your summer. Yoga can help.  Do you want to practice yoga at home and just don't get round to it?
I talk to people every week in my classes about wanting to do a home yoga practice. It is a future aspiration and may or may not come to pass. They love how yoga makes them feel, how they rediscover a vibrancy, ease and peace within themselves that you just don't get any other way. The aches and pains reduce, the strength of body and mind improve, and it feels great (or at least, loads better than before you did your yoga). The desire to start a home practice is step 1. Let's follow it up with a few more ideas, and address a few of the top obstacles that might be stopping you. TOP OBSTACLES I don't seem to find time... 10 minutes is a great starting point and makes a HUGE difference. I know you can find 10 minutes (put your phone down). I'm injured, I'll start once I've recovered... Don't forget about the rest of you. You will have to work carefully around the injury, but it will help you recover and you'll feel much better, mentally and physically, along the way. It's been a while, but I'll come back to it when... Get started today. Or come to class to help motivate you. If you don't do it now, then when? I'm not sure what to do... Keep it simple. See below for a couple of free home videos TOP TIPS 1) Put your mat in a visible place as a reminder of your good intentions. 2) Try adding 'Home Yoga' as a meeting in your calendar, mark it as important, and set an alarm as a reminder. 3) Be modest and start with just 10 minutes. Pick 2 or 3 postures, slow down, follow your breath. You won't believe how different you feel and it only takes a moment. Enjoy and do it again tomorrow. 4) When the time comes to do your yoga, don't think about it. Literally stand up, go to your mat and begin. 5) If you skip a day, no worries. Don't skip 2 days in a row. 6) Value your yoga. Prioritise it over the busy-ness of the rest of your life. It is important and you'll be so glad you did. I'll be setting a summer challenge soon but let's start today, small steps, build a good habit that could be life-changing. You'll love that you did. ___ Read on: | Urban Retreat Day in Bristol with Clara, 15th September| Find out more > | Ideas to inspire your home yoga practice - free videos | See the latest free videos > | Book Talk with Ranju Roy, 7th July | Find out more > ___  There are only 7 teachers at YogaSpace.
Between us, we have nearly 100 years of teaching experience. We are only a small team and some of us have been teaching here for many years. I even did my teacher training here almost 2 decades ago. This amount of experience means we have a lot to draw on when we teach every person who comes to class. This matters if we want to ensure that the practice, the poses, the breathing, will be able to meet the individual where they are on that day and help them get what they need from their yoga. Yoga is as unique as you Yoga isn't one-size-fits-all. We are all unique. Our reasons for why we come to yoga, our bodies, our levels of energy, our injuries, our life experiences, our previous illnesses and stuck tensions are completely individual. And they all show up on the mat in our attitudes, body, breath, postural habits, emotions and thought patterns. The beauty of yoga is that there is always something you can do that will benefit you enormously. The art of yoga Finding the right starting point, the best way to ensure that the postures, sequences, pace, approach and techniques are suitable. This is the art of yoga and where experience will bring a richness to what you do. And where the joy of yoga can be discovered by everyone. It might be that a more gentle class is the best place to get the most from your practice. Or perhaps your own level of experience means that you are well placed to adapt the practice for yourself in any class. Sometimes 1:1 is the best place to start, ensuring that it is adapted in a very bespoke way. Yoga can be very carefully and therapeutically applied using 1:1 guidance. This is especially good when working with health issues or for home practices, where the postures and approach selected are going to help you make the most of your time on your mat. Find your yoga Any yoga is better than no yoga. It all counts and is all worth showing up for. Part of your journey with yoga is finding the right teacher who can guide you towards your most ideal practice, and help you adapt and change it when your life-situation requires it. This doesn't necessarily mean advancing you towards harder, stronger, more complex poses, which in my opinion are a red herring in what we are doing on our mats. But in helping you unlock the postures, techniques, and breath that will help you develop your version of vibrant aliveness, spacious ease in your body and mind, and ultimately more joy in every day. |
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Bristol YogaSpace Ltd
The Courtyard Princes Place, Bishopston Just off Gloucester Road Bristol BS7 8NP |
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