 The sounds of that day are still vivid. And for months afterwards I couldn't hear anything even close to them without being transported right back to a frightening experience I once went through. It is over 20 years ago now, and while my reaction is much more neutral than it was, I can still feel it.
Many more sounds have wonderful and positive associations, and some are utterly delightful. Certain music, bird song, beloved voices, laughter, the sizzling of delicious food. Sound can be jarring, soothing, rhythmic, regulating, informative, stimulating, annoying, inflaming, desirable or undesirable... or absent. There is always something to hear when you tune in. Sometimes we might notice the silence. The gaps between the sounds. We've worked with sound as a theme this term. The sounds of our breathing, the environment, our bodies, the chiming of the singing bowl. Sound can help us stay very present and connected to the immediacy of the moment, and at the same time, enable us to be aware of our relationship to it. We can find clues to our state of mind, to our mood or the level of relaxation or agitation of our nervous system. Sounds can also help us notice the silence that is always around us that we overlook as we travel through our day. Pockets of quiet, here and there, constantly coming and going. Noticing the silence is just as valuable as noticing the sounds. Noticing the gaps between sounds, the gaps between our thoughts. We overlook the silence and gravitate towards the noise. We fill the gaps with more sound in case it feels uncomfortable. But being aware of these silent moments can be a useful practice, and can help us find a more grounded space within. Beneath our reactivity and before being taken over by our thoughts and memories, there remains an ever-present, quiet stillness that we can get connected to. The practices of yoga help with this. We might glimpse it from time to time at first. Feel a sense of ease and openness, a quietening of reactions and mental noise, getting used to quiet moments, even though at first they are outside of our comfort zone. The art of yoga is to keep re-connecting to your own, internal quiet space. At first in a controlled environment, like our lovely quiet yoga studio. But eventually we can connect to this quiet space, no matter what sounds are arising and no matter where we are. Cultivate your own stable, quiet harbour deep within, even when life gets noisy.
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 After class recently, I've had a couple of conversations about the quality of sleep after yoga.
Usually sleep is great and notably improved after taking yoga practice, even if the session was earlier in the day. If you are taking yoga once or twice a week, then those are often the best sleeps of the week. And if you practice daily, then the general trajectory of sleep is hugely improved. But one student noted that their sleep hadn't been as good as usual after yoga and we dug a little deeper. We talked through her practice and there were two suggestions that she took on board, and I'm happy to say that her sleep is back on track. If ever you aren't sleeping really well after your evening yoga, consider these tweaks to help improve things: Posture choice 1) Reduce the amount of downward facing dog or staying down in forward bends after 7pm. This isn't a rule, but these are quite a stimulating poses which when you are getting into the wind-down part of the evening can be helpful to reduce. So if your sleep is struggling use a more gentle, flowing visit to the poses rather than staying and holding the pose. Or even going half way in rather than the full pose can be better. Experiment and see what you can tolerate and what is helpful. More is not always better. Breathing 2) Notice if you are holding your breath during yoga We are aiming to free up our breath and improve how well it flows in harmony with our body. There are often patterns that I observe in students breathing and posture, where things are a little stuck, or there is a tension pattern observable in the chest or in the depth of the breath. The ocean breathing (Ujjayi) is great at helping us discover and improve these patterns. The smooth sound, or lack thereof, can be a great reference point to help us understand and improve our breathing habits. Holding the breath, particularly after the inhale, is contraindicated if you are struggling with sleep or anxiety and observing that they are showing up in your practice is the first step to improvements. It takes a little practice to get the hang of but it is well worth prioritising. The research There's heaps of research that shows us that sleep is a primary pillar of health and wellbeing, and there are lots of resources and supports out there to help clean up your sleep patterns and help optimise sleep. Try this one for starters if you are interested: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/toolkit-for-sleep Other suggestions If you know you are going to be on a limited supply of sleep for a while, perhaps as a new parent or for lifestyle reasons, then the skills of yoga are invaluable. 1) Avoid overthinking about the quality or quantity of your sleep. Cultivate being more accepting that this is how life is right now and resolve to make the best of what you have, rather than dwelling on what you don't have. Check your attitude towards it and resolve to not let things you can't control take up too much of your headspace. 2) Take a lying relaxation or yoga nidra practice which can be deeply restorative if you find your sleep windows are too sporadic. YogaSpace members: use the short-practices in the library Remember that in the short-practice video library there are gentle practices from only a few minutes and also a couple of yoga nidra videos to help guide you and support you with this. Yoga is great for your sleep It will be notably improved if you are practicing regularly. However if that isn't the case, then these suggestions or a chat with me can help understand areas to tweak your practice to be more helpful.  Have you noticed the paradox in yoga practice?
A) Be present On the one hand, we are invited to be fully present. To pay full and vibrant attention to every aspect of the moment that we are in. Notice and experience each breath as it happens, the sensations in the body, the feeling of each posture, the placement of the feet, the thoughts going on around all of this. Not thinking ahead to where we are going. This helps us feel more alive in the rest of our day as we stay grounded in what is actually happening, rather than leaping ahead to all the other things coming our way. B) Improve and change On the other hand, we are working on ourselves. Hoping and aiming to make improvements and changes. Improve our posture, our breath, our focus, our tense and tight areas and feel stronger, healthier, more mobile and less achy, more alert and energised, to feel calm and steady, grounded and serene. We are doing both Simultaneously we are being in this moment, and becoming something more. We are improving and developing for future health and wellbeing. Plus we are full immersing ourselves in the moment as it unfolds. And cultivating our awareness to all of this. There is no contradition Yoga invites us to be fully immersed in the practice. To let go of the goals and aims for a moment and realise the potential of the place that you discover you are already in. The practices also do the future work that you are hoping to achieve. The postures, the breath, the flow, the ease and stretch are there to serve you. You simply enter into your yoga, do the exercises and techniques sensibly, and watch it all unfold. It isn't as effortful as it sounds. Sometimes less is more - allow the posture to do the work, let go of struggling or pushing and just be in it fully. You just need to show up The effort may well be showing up in the first place. That much you do have to do. A bit like spring time, where we find ourselves now. A magical unfolding of buds, flowers, lambs and all things gorgeous. You can't rush it. You show up to it and be in it and reap the rewards of its beauty and potential. (The above photo is from last year's retreat in Somerset. A gorgeous toddler staggering happily after a cute pet lamb in fabulous countryside followed by a fluffy puppy. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.)  When I first bought my puppy home, in the car journey she was distraught and anxious. She was in a cardboard box and jumping up, whining, sniffing around, and very agitated. Then all of a sudden, she collapsed in a heap and didn't move.
Oh no! Is she still breathing? I checked and looked, and it turns out she had exhausted herself and fallen into instant sleep. No pre-amble, no sniffing around, no time for landing comfortably, no settling into just the right spot. She stopped exactly where she was and stayed there for about half an hour. In hindsight, it's funny. At the time I thought we'd lost her. Savasana Savasana, the lying rest pose in yoga, rather unromantically translates from Sanskrit into 'corpse' posture. A cessation of movement. A resting from all effort. A stopping of 'doing'. Pausing into an awareness of simply 'being'. Over time we learn to be fully present in an otherwise resting body, and then notice all that remains when you land there. Tune in Perhaps you can tune into subtle sensations of your heartbeat, your breath, and the open presence and aliveness that we can sense more deeply when we are still. It is often a hard posture to get the hang of and a stark contrast to the rest of our lives. It isn't sleep. It isn't Yoga Nidra which is another practice again, even though from the outside they look similar. Pause & be curious It is a pause from being busy and fidgeting, from being lost in thought, from reacting to impulses to adjust our hair or our clothing. We are letting our nervous systems relax and rest, along with our limbs, and our tensions. Be curious next time you are invited to Savasana about what it translates into for you. It is nothing like what my puppy did. That was a scarily abrupt. But on the other end of the spectrum, sometimes the process to get ready for the pose takes longer than the pose itself. Donning socks, jumpers, blankets, having a drink, adjusting hair, getting 'nested'. How much comfort is enough? A level of comfort is helpful for the body to relax. And sometimes if we are feeling anxious or agitated, these preparations are as close as we get. They are important ways to sooth and care for ourselves, and allow us to feel able to approach the pose. This is all part of the process of our yoga which over time, if our practice is working for us, get easier. If it is a 10 minute Savasana then more comfort can be helpful. But lying in mild discomfort can bear its own fruit too. A curious openness to how reactive often are. And how deliciously freeing it can feel when we discover that we can let go of all of that. We can even start to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, which is one of the many gifts yoga can offer us. Build tolerance & patience Savasana is one of those precious poses that we gradually get used to, and build up our tolerance to. We can't rush this process. But we could sleep through it. Be patient and curious along the way.  Most common reason to skip yoga
Jobs, family, clubs, caring responsibilities, life admin, and then recovering from it all. By far the most common reason not to make it to your yoga practice is that you're too busy. When the survey results came in (thanks for replying!) this was by far the most common reason for not getting to your mat. Being busy won't change I know friends who have retired only to say that they don't know how they managed to find time to fit in a job. If we have any free time, we fill it with something. There is always so much to do and we enjoy being busy and don't like to say no to things. How many times in the last year have you been too busy to clean your teeth? To take a shower? Put petrol in your car? Name / insert any important self-care thing in here ___________ Looking after body and mind, and regularly connecting to yourself in a meaningful way (which is essential to connect well with others) is in the same important category as all the other things you think of as important. It is essential maintenance, not a luxury. However it might be the first thing to stop when we feel squeezed unless it is prioritised. Even 10 minutes, when pushed for time, is well worth showing up for. And if you are anything like me, then you probably lost at least 10 minutes to your phone today. Let's prioritise the important stuff. 3 top tips 1) Schedule it in Book important things (like yoga) into your week, in advance, and commit. Term bookings and memberships help you show up even when your feeling squeezed. 2) Have a buddy Tell someone you plan to do it, then ask them to follow up with you, or even better, do it with a friend while you build the habit. Keep yourself accountable. 3) Realise that... this is it There is no time in the future when you will have more time. Realise that it is now. Say no to less important things and do what will actually make a difference. Everyone is busy, hopefully with mostly good things. Let's prioritise our self care of body and mind, and nurture a deeper connection with ourselves. Everything and everyone, including you, will benefit as a result. Try a little home practice (use these free yoga videos) if getting to the studio doesn't work for you at the moment. And enjoy.  It's better than you think
My teenage son's room is a bombsite. This afternoon he freaked out when he couldn't find his club uniform. I got both barrels of his temper - apparently it was my fault. It wasn't an ideal episode in my afternoon. But it resolved itself eventually, and as suspected, it was in amongst the debris in his room and with a little help he got things back on track. I don't always, but today I helped him navigate it and managed to hold my patience and good grace, even in the face of a teenage tantrum. I'm attributing my greater abundance of patience directly to my yoga practice - particularly with what we have been threading through the classes this week. Gratitude The intentional turning of our minds towards things that are good in our lives, looking for the blessings in amongst the problems and challenges. Even when on the receiving end of both barrels, I found it easy to be grateful for him caring about his uniform enough to get upset, and being healthy enough to express it so energetically. Sure, his expression needs finessing, but I'm so grateful that he is going to his club tonight and wants to look smart. Simple but powerful The simple but powerful act of bringing to mind the good stuff in your life for a moment or two is well worth cultivating. It might seem trite, it might seem like you're deliberately ignoring the bad stuff and being overly hopeful, but it really works. Most of us go easily towards what is negative in a situation, most of the time. Our inner critic takes over, we problem solve things that might best be left to work themselves out in their own time. We worry rather than allow patience to take the lead. Find the joy Looking for problems and solving them is natural and helpful, and makes us more successful at navigating life. However, being overly involved in the problematic aspects of our life contributes to high stress levels, low mood, and most importantly, overlooks the abundant joy that life has to offer. If you take the time to look, you might be surprised to realise that much of life is going great. Or at least fine. No-one's is perfect. But overlooking the blessings and good stuff is so easy to do. Try it Right now, there are far more things going right for you than are going wrong. It is up to you to name a few... before they go unnoticed. When you pause and take the time to count your many blessings, you'll find that they are in abundance, and all around you. This simple act of naming a few things that you are grateful for, done regularly, is a powerful practice. Spend a moment the next time you step on your mat and do this. Make it a habit of doing it daily at the start of your practice. Stick up a post-it note so you don't forget. And before you know it, it'll come much more naturally and easily, even in the midst of a challenge. You're welcome.  10 minutes of yoga every day sounds like hardly anything. What difference will it make?
My 3-week home yoga challenge starts on 1st January, you'll know what I'm talking about after only 1-week. You'll feel better, more grounded, more mobile, stronger, and more resilient. There is still time to join in if you haven't already registered, just send over your name in the registration form by the end of 2024! Jumpstart your home yoga practice with my free short home practice video series. Enjoy! Register Here before 2025 >  This week has been another doozy with chaotic, moody teens.
My job: to stay calm and not lose it, and help them navigate the ups and downs of where they are. I have mostly succeeded, which means I've lost it a couple of times. Ahem. Not proud. But I think I would have lost it many more times, and for a lot longer, if I hadn't started my day with my full quota of yoga. I knew I would need it. I knew the day could be much rockier had I not stepped on to my mat early, before they woke up, to do my practice. Yoga can be multi-layered and multi-purpose. It keeps us strong and fresh, grounded and feeling our best. It brings a calmer perspective and a more clear view. And it resets and helps regulate and rebalance emotions, mental turbulence, stored stress and an over-wired nervous system. And it enables us to connect to an inner spaciousness, even when experiencing challenging times. There is still a space where we are fine, even amidst chaos. Think you don't need this over the holiday season? We all do. We all have our own means to do this for ourselves, and in turn to help those around us. Keep up your daily practice, whatever it is, even when life is busy (especially if life is busy). I can highly recommend yoga.  I had a wonderful week away on the Mediterranean coast and the lemons in the picture above (yes, green lemons!) were fresh from the grove behind the apartment.
I had forgotten how a week of sunshine, sea and an abundance of fresh lemons can be truly restorative and the memory of it is still with me to drop in to when the grey skies aren't uplifting. My daily yoga was on the roof terrace in the glow of the morning sunrise overlooking the bay. The terracotta tiles were cold but the warmth of the sun was fabulous. But of course, there are still flies and bugs, and the idyllic bay still offers up the chug of boat engines. Even in paradise there are things to take issue with, if you want to. Yoga in a beautiful environment Our yoga practice doesn't need to be in a beautiful and inspiring environment (although it is wonderful!). The end of the bed, the corner of the studio, tuning in to a few breaths at our desk with a taller spine - it all counts. Eyes closed and tune in - it doesn't matter where you are. Enjoy each moment - get inspired by Chris Hoy I was listening to the cyclist Chris Hoy on the radio this morning and he summed this up brilliantly. As you might know, he has recently announced a very challenging health diagnosis. Yet he has learned to take inspiration from it. Whereas before he might get stuck waiting for a delayed plane and be frustrated and get annoyed. Now when he gets stuck waiting for a plane, he turns to enjoying the moment. He gets to notice and fully appreciate the day that he has been gifted, instead of just moving through it. He has time to experience the breath in the body, the friendly people around him, the book that he doesn't get to read enough, the health that he has while it lasts. Time is limited When you are facing how limited your time is, it helps you stay focused to attending to each moment more and make the most of it. When we don't face a challenging diagnosis we still have that option to bring this same attitude of appreciation, gratitude and enjoyment to our moments, even the challenging ones. Our surroundings ultimately aren't as influential as we think they are. We can all wake up to the moment we are in and enjoy it more fully. We can choose to let go of worrying about what might happen. We can let go of dwelling on that troublesome thing from a recent memory. We practice this on the yoga mat, focusing in on what is actually going on in the body and breath, without the extra thoughts layered over about past and future. Moving and breathing We stand on our mat. We breath and feel the body. We move and start to come out of our heads and pay attention to what we find. The movements help us settle into steadier breaths and release our tense shoulders and backs. We rebalance physically, mentally and emotionally, and find ourselves loosening our knots and becoming more connected to ourselves. We let go of the small stuff and rediscover that this moment, that we are in right now, this body and breath, is good. Sunshine or not. Enjoy it.  This term of classes has flown by. Kids and those who work in education have been hard at it for 8 weeks and next week is half term. We've also done a lot with our yoga practice over the last 8 weeks. It is good to reflect on what we have been doing.
Each term always has challenges and discoveries to explore and new ways to help you feel more established in your practice. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned practitioner. This term has built strength, technique, stability, insight and depth. Getting familiar with the posture set and breath, which in turn helps our focus and clarity of mind to become more tranquil. Physical development At one level, the poses have progressed to become either more adaptive or more demanding, and more precise as we get to grips with what we are doing. This term we have strengthened our backs, knees, core and hips in particular. At the start of term, each of us had to discover what was possible as a starting point. Gradually strength and stability are embodied and you to start to feel more spacious and confident in your practice (and throughout the rest of your day). Thank you for bearing with the challenge of locust pose over so many weeks! No-one's favourite I suspect. But it will have left us all with stronger posture and breath, and at less risk of injury going forwards. Hurrah and well done! Breath development At another level, our breath has developed. The exhalation has been encouraged to lengthen and become smoother, which in turn will calm the mind and nervous system. We've learnt a wonderful balancing pranayama technique and spent several weeks becoming more proficient. I often go to classes where pranayama is sprinkled in without much introduction and the technique and refinement leaves you hoping for the best. Once learned properly, the 'deer' hand mudra needed, the quality of inhale and exhale, and familiarity with the pattern alllow you to settle into a much more subtle practice. You need to get past the initial 'this is curious' stage of trying things, to allow these ancient techniques to become subtle, absorbing and thereby more effective at the rebalance, clarity and calm they can invoke. Calm, spacious presence We've all felt it. We can't really put a name to it. That wonderful quality that arises in moments during our practice, or at the end when we sit or lie down, or as we go back into the rest of our day feeling lighter and more open. What we cultivate during our practice is a connection to a quiet, calm space that is ever-present within us but that gets cluttered over by the day-to-day 'stuff'. This regular reconnection appreciates over time. It becomes easier to be calm and present, on and off the mat. It gradually gets to be our default setting as we go about our day. And ultimately helps us feel better about ourselves, our lives and cope with whatever comes our way. I hope you have enjoyed this term. As you know, each class is stand-alone too, but taken over the weeks you have experienced the progress and depth that can develop. As always, come and chat about anything that you find confusing. As teachers we are all here to help guide you towards the benefits, and help you overcome the obstacles that we all encounter along the way.  Last weekend I was an attendee at an inspiring weekend retreat of yoga and rest. Time away from day-to-day life to immerse myself in my practice, and to reconnect to the ancient wisdom underpinning it.
Ancient Wisdom The lead teacher was Sriram who rather impressively has been teaching yoga since 1977. He has encyclopaedic knowledge of the Yoga Sutra, and great insights into practice and philosophy, plus incredible stamina! The Yoga Sutra is an ancient wisdom text and is the foundation of what I teach in yoga classes. We study it, chant it, understand as many of the rich teachings as possible and embody them in our mat practice to help bring them into everyday life. They are as relevant now as they were 2,000 years ago. Sriram's sessions were lively and had me attempting things that were seemingly impossible. I say seemingly impossible because he is in his 70s and managed to do things that I simply couldn't get close to. He wasn't showing off. He sort of expected us to be able to do some things, and then adjusted it to be more accessible when he realised we couldn't. Apparently it all starts by playing Kabaddi as a kid. There is always something you can do Whether you have limited energy or mobility or come to yoga much later in life which many of us do. The practice will always meet us where we are and works its magic when we keep showing up to our practice consistently over time. Find the right starting point and benefit from there. Our mat practice embodies a profound philosophy to bring us to a place of greater contentment with life, no matter what our hamstrings, knees or or state of physical health are up to. It brings us to a place of greater equanimity, that lovely calm glow at the end of class, where our life-challenges don't feel as daunting. My kids remind me of this every day at the moment, and my yoga practice shows up not just on my mat each morning, but in my mindset, my relative equanimity, and my open heart in the face of teenage angst and tantrums. As I'm sure some of you know, parenting can mean holding a tough line sometimes, as long as it is done with clear intentions held with a loving heart. Both of which I cultivate on my mat each morning as I move and breathe. Yoga is transformative If you find yourself with struggles in your life in any form, a yoga practice or class can help you transform how you feel about them and how you handle them. The strength, confidence, equanimity and clarity born out of a regular practice aren't there to simply make you feel good. Even though they do. They are there to help you show up each day in the best way you can.  My family life with a teenage tearaway is hovering around Def Con 3. It can get pretty intense at times, but I'm riding the storm, parenting as best I know, and of course, am safe in the knowledge that it is only a 'phase' and will pass. Brilliantly though, this coming weekend I'm away immersing myself in yoga, handing over the reins to my partner. Every year me and about 100 other yoga teachers get together and share yoga workshops, practices, enjoy good company and good food. Early morning practices, in depth teachings, chanting together and enjoying the expertise and wisdom of some of the most senior teachers sharing yoga in the world today. Even the granddaughter of Krishnamacharya (the forefather of modern yoga), daughter of TKV Desikachar, is Zooming in to share yoga with us. Should I go? Absolutely. It's important. By committing to this time away, I'll return able to be a better parent / friend / spouse / person. I'm making time for myself to reconnect deeply to the yoga practice that sustains me every day and that I share with those around me. This weekend will help me show up for my son in the way that I need to, with patience and love while also holding firm boundaries and accountability. On a smaller scale, day-to-day, week-to-week, we are always faced with distractions interrupting our best-placed intentions to get to our yoga mat. Family demands, work emergencies, dark and rainy evenings, tiredness, etc. The list of potential hazzards on the way to our mat is long. Important or Urgent When I used to work in business, we used the Eisenhower Matrix. You took your To-Do list, and placed everything into a grid of four boxes. Each box has a title along the axis: Urgent, Important, Non-important, Not-urgent. Everything in the Important and Urgent box is prioritised to the top of what you need to do. It helps you weed out the Urgent stuff, the stuff that feels really pressing, but actually might not be as Important. It helps you prioritise wisely so that you ensure the Important things are attended to.  Yoga lands firmly in the Important box. Sometimes the Urgent stuff isn't as important and has to wait. Sometimes we leave getting to our mat until it is Urgent, instead of just Important. We wait until a health crisis, a burnout, anxiety overload, back pain, immobility, before we decide the time is right to get to yoga. Don't wait until it is Urgent Treat your yoga practice as Important now, don't wait until you have an Urgent health crisis. Yoga, alongside good sleep and nutrition are our foundation. They support us in our daily life so that literally everything feels easier and less urgent. And it even helps you enjoy the turmoil along the way.  Do you collapse in a heap at the end of the day?
Do any of these sound right: 1) If our yoga feels hard, then we must be getting more benefit. 2) If it feels easy, then it can't be 'doing' anything. 3) If we invest more in something, it has to pay us back with what we want. More effort = better results. Let's think again. There is a false belief that if we do something that is hard, or do more of it, it will give us better results. Of course this can't be true. If eat chocolate, it might feel good at first. If I keep on eating lots and lots of chocolate, my mood won't continue to feel better and better and better. I will get to a point where my body will grumble and I'll feel horrible. The amount of time and effort we put into something needs to be just right, and the way to tell is often subtle. We are used to listening to our heads, not our bodies or more subtle sensations or energetic cues. Our willpower often determines our level of effort. We override everything else. We do the hard stuff, enjoy the buzz, and carry on. Even though we may be increasing our stress levels, not noticing that we have become accustomed to struggling through our days and collapsing in a heap at the end. Yoga practice can become that quieter place where things become easier to listen to. We learn to attend to the subtle cues in the body, in the breath and in how grounded we feel. We start to notice that we are rushing, or pushing into a pose, or struggling to breathe well instead of inviting a full unfolding of ease and stability in each pose, and in each breath. Of course, at first this may feel elusive or even impossible but once established in your practice, sensitivity increases. Yoga helps us move and breathe better, to become more aware of ourselves, our habits, our blind spots and helps us work with ourselves in a much more skillful way. We learn to listen with openness, care and attention. And listening in this way is definitely a skill worth cultivating. Ultimately it can help unfold a new dimension of relationship to ourselves, and to those around us. And help us avoid the need to collapse in a heap at the end of each day. ___  One of my students said she feels the same after her yoga class as she does when she gets back from holiday.
The summer vibe after a holiday is a good place to reside, even when we are back in the swing of day-to-day life. Of course there are responsibilities and challenges to meet when the holiday is over, but we can rekindle our summer mindset which helps us live with more ease and joy. We're not glossing over the trials we encounter or pretending that everything is okay. We.re not turning our backs on it all which we might do when on holiday. The chaos and worries in our external lives are very real and need to be met with our clearest head and our best heart. The reset back to this is where our yoga practice comes front and centre. Grounding back into our bodies, noticing how out of balance we are. Moving back towards a more harmonious relationship with ourselves. None of this is hard to do, but you need to make time to do it - regularly. Showing up and committing to your movement, breath and meditation practices has never been more necessary. Slowing down and paying more attention to the postural habits we've built up. Re-training the aches and pains for greater ease and freedom. Building a better foundation of support physically, mentally and emotionally. Re-discovering that beneath all the tensions and stresses there is a consistent and quiet foundation that is all too easy to lose sight of. Here are 3 great ways to help keep that summer feel-good vibe: 1) Spend time outside in the daylight, even if its raining. It all counts and is even more important as the days shorten and get gloomier. 2) Get to your class or re-ignite your regular home practice - or even better, both. 3) Keep up some of the good habits you picked up this summer. Spend time relaxing, reading, exercising, gardening, whatever it is you enjoy in the summer. Make time for it. Even when life is hard on the outside, our relationship to all of what is going on is up to us. How we show up and respond is more within our power than we may at first realise. Yoga helps us ride the waves instead of getting churned up in the breakers. You can always find summer on the inside. It doesn't go anywhere, we just need ways to reconnect to it.  In the delightful way that teenagers sometimes can, my son is being uncooperative and a touch moody.
On a good day, I see him as asserting his independence and my role is trying to help him gain skills in how he does this a little more gracefully. It is all part of growing up and sometimes, it can get a little ugly. We are going on holiday in a week and it is looking a little rocky. It might not be the hoped for restorative time where we can recharge. But expectations need to be put aside, it is part of the ups and downs of life. It has definitely been stressful with all the curveballs that get thrown into our family life. This level of stress is manageable and I know life gets a lot worse than this. It is a nice problem to have really - we are lucky to have energetic kids and go on holidays. Thankfully I have my stress busters that help me through this turbulence. They help me respond as well as possible and avoid getting too caught in the stressful whirlwind. 1) Movement This includes yoga of course, plus gentle jogging with very loud music, walking the dog and sometimes even going for a swim. It all works. Exercise is a tried and tested for many people, and never fails. No-one ever went to a yoga class and came out feeling more stressed. Movement shifts the energy, it rebalances hormones in the body, it helps discharge overwhelming feelings and creates much-needed head space so we can address what is causing the stress as skillfully as possible. It is my first go-to method. 2) A break or change of scene Even if it is getting out for a coffee. A change of scene, a change of surroundings, and friendly people. It gives you perspective, clears the air, and reminds you that not everyone is hostile. Of course a retreat from it all (which holidays should be but often aren't) is great. It helps re-establish a more balanced view on everything that is going on and come back to base. My upcoming September day-retreat is just what some of you may need - I know need it. See more below. 3) Breathwork This isn't a first-aid, immediate kind of fix. It is a practice taken over time which builds resilience and balance with our energy and emotions. I have a daily breath practice. I take my yoga postures with slow, measured breaths making the calming 'ocean' sound, and then I sit for a few minutes at the end and take a pranayama (breathwork) practice. It is subtle; it feels like I could skip it and it wouldn't matter on any given day. But the accumulative effect over the weeks is profound. It makes a huge difference to how I show up and how well I cope. Yes, it does have an immediate effect, I feel more spacious and refreshed right away, but this also builds over time. It is sort of like taking a shower for your brain and nervous system, cleaning out the built up gunk that stress tends to leave us with and restores my sense of clarity. And the subtlety of it helps me connect to something far quieter and quite essential. We'll be doing some of this in the day-retreat if you want to learn more about it. My fourth one is coffee - but that really goes under taking a break :-) ___ | Upcoming retreats | Right here in Bristol with Clara for a lovely day of gentle yoga 15th September 2024 Or our weekend retreat for next year will be announced soon too. Find out more >  Once school broke up for the summer, I had an idea in my head that my teenage boys would sleep late. It turns out I got the other kind of teenage boys. Ones who get up really early, and I'm always the last one downstairs.
At first I was a bit disappointed. Where was my peaceful morning coffee while the kids lay in? This used to happen, even last year. Where was my longer yoga practice and more leisurely pace for the weeks over the summer? Yes, my expectations set me up for a mismatch with reality. It is all good really, I love that they are healthy and able to get up and start their days. It just seemed odd and out of kilter with what I had thought. It is easy for expectations to hit that mismatch in our yoga practice too. We expect a certain practice and a certain result. To feel stretched this way and that way. To feel energised, vibrant, calm and for it to improve how we feel in some way. And yes, it might. And thankfully, it usually does. But our expectations will set us up for a fall at some point. It won't always go how we expect it to. And we need to be open to what we aren't expecting or even open to what we wouldn't choose to experience. And to note any disappointment, anxiety, judgement or frustration that then arises. We might feel that our practice wasn't good enough, that we didn't like what we were doing, that the yoga didn't work. But perhaps the yoga did work, and is helping you discover something unexpected. Perhaps you have discovered the reality of how you are. Whether you like it or not. At some point in your practice, you'll discover that you can't do the thing you could do last time you tried. Perhaps you felt stiff or had a pain, didn't feel strong enough, felt agitated, stuck, dissatisfied in some way. You expected your practice to make you feel great again. You want your yoga to allow you to continue to do the tough stuff forever. Yoga can't do this, obviously. But there is something wonderful that we can find, every time. Yoga can help you discover that being open to how you actually are, not how you think you are or would like to be, and accepting completely what you find, is a beautiful, less effortful, less frustrating route to the spaciousness and ease that yoga can lead you to - if you allow it. Yoga doesn't do this by satisfying our expectations. Especially when these expectations are mismatched with reality. It does it by allowing you to let go of notions of what you hope to create or change. It feels like a conundrum at first - how do you do that? You don't, yoga does, you just show up and be open and attentive to what you discover.  We've just finished another term of classes and start on a new journey next week. While each class stands on its own merits, the accumulative journey holds so much potential.
At the start of this term of classes with me, I invited you into a few challenging poses. Our hips grumbled and the new sensations invited us to inquire into exactly what did we think we were doing!? We gently persisted and encouraged our hips and legs to carefully try again each class. They got the hang of it and listened and responded. And by the end, this week, they are stronger, more mobile, more stable, and yes, our hips are happier and healthier (and so are we). It took a few weeks for the kinks to unfold. For the familiarity in the poses to enable us to work skillfully with what our body would find helpful, and for the nervous system to allow the poses to take a more full expression once safety was established. The sequence unfolded over the weeks. The breath was able to settle and come into the foreground. Perhaps we discovered our breath potential a little more with the pyramid breathing and the rhythmic counting. As we turn towards the next term, and I put together the jigsaw of pieces that will become our focus for the next few weeks, I find it so helpful to listen to the feedback after class. The challenges, the gains, the insights that yoga has inspired for you. And to build on that. For those who enjoyed the challenge of Warrior 2 or the Half Moon balance, or the grounding of the pyramid breathing, the library has our end of term practice recording to maintain and continue this work. Do carry on if you feel it is a direction that you are benefitting from. Enjoy your yoga and look forward to more explorations next week.  Life can throw us so much stuff sometimes.
At the moment one of my kids is having a hard time. I wouldn't trade being a teenager again for anything, I've done my time, and he is doing his 100%. He is doing his teenage job of figuring himself out and facing some demons, and as his mum, I need to show up and be there for him as best I can. This is as much my yoga practice as when I step on my mat each morning. It is on me to keep calm because he can't yet. I need to tune in, to him and to me, to really listen to what is going on, so that I can keep regulated in the face of his teenage 'moments'. I need to practice patience, not over think what is happening or take any of it personally. To bounce back quickly, not be judgemental about what is going on and keep showing up moment by moment with my full presence and heart. To hold it all lightly and enjoy the moments even when they seem tough. And keep taking care of myself during the rough rides that are part of growing up. We do all of this in the microcosm of our mat practice, breath by breath, moment by moment, and we bring it with us into each day to help us show up as best we can. My mat based yoga practice is part of my self care. Nurturing myself and restoring equilibrium and balance. It is also essential maintenance for my body and mind, to ensure I'm staying as well as possible during challenging times. Not just taking care of myself, but also investing in preventing future problems emerging, physically, mentally and emotionally. It is challenging but who ever thought parenting was going to be easy? I just need to do what I can to make sure I am up for the challenge. But my yoga is also something much greater than self care and much more than essential maintenance... There are 3 ways you could view your practice: 1) Do you view yoga as 'self-care'? That thing we do when we feel stressed, stiff, immobile, in need of some nurture or emotional rebalancing. It is this, and more. 2) Do you see it as 'essential maintenance'? A bit more fundamental than self care. The oiling of the creaky bits, increasing the fluidity of whole body and mind suppleness. The clearing out of the accumulated grind and freeing the breath. The regular maintenance routine that helps us operate in the way we like to and help prevents things going awry too far. Yoga is this and more. 3) Do you see yoga as a way to connect to something more fundamental than either of these? Yoga can bring us to a place where nothing needs fixing, maintaining, or improving. Where we are able to let go of the need to change anything. Improving tight hamstrings wouldn't make any difference to how whole and connected you feel to yourself and others and how a sense of joy and contentment isn't improved by touching your toes or achieving your most focused practice state. The aches don't matter when the peace you are seeking is found. And it can continue to be found, felt and enjoyed throughout the moments of the day once you know what your looking for and the best route there - even in the face of a meltdown. Yoga does all three of these brilliantly. It is easy to be satisfied with the first one, and the second one, they are great to do and we should do them, regularly. But the third one, a little more subtle, is where the real power and joy of yoga can be found, no matter what the level of challenge life may be throwing our way. Enjoy your yoga.  I love the feedback I get about yoga. I got this wonderful email last week about the two-week yoga challenge that launched a couple of weeks ago in the online library:
"I just wanted to say how much I’m enjoying the 2 week yoga practice. I’m aiming for daily and achieving alternate days so far! Feeling good for it. Really helpful and inspiring." Another student told me yesterday he has managed to ward of impending shoulder surgery, as his regular practice has done enough. He has been keeping up a regular practice since the January 30-day challenge and it has been well worth it! What I love about these stories, is that they have done this for themselves. They have made it to their mats, found the impetus to keep it up, and discovered that the benefits far outweigh the 10-20 minutes each day that it takes. The recordings were the seed of a starting point to get them going. The led classes at the studio help to keep up the motivation, refine the practice and bring in the reminders of how to practice that are so helpful once you are familiar with the basics. Yoga can be so simple once it gets your attention. The hard part is competing with so much noise in our lives: constant distraction and entertainment, phones, marketing and consumerism, busy lives, and false narratives that tell us that simplicity isn't as good as complexity and that everything should feel hard or it isn't 'doing' anything'. I feel fortunate to have discovered a simple and accessible approach to yoga. It's emphasis is on 'little and often' at home with inspiration via 1:1 support or through your weekly group class. The approach manages to side-step the gymnastic forms of yoga and saves you years of getting lost in perfecting the postures without looking further at what is available from moving and breathing well. With consistent practice of this simple yet powerful yoga, you'll discover the distracting noise of life and the aches and pains drop further away. Gratitude for simplicity, and the recognition of a more subtle joy comes into the foreground. The practice of yoga helps you discover this, and helps it stay around for longer until it becomes your default way of travelling through the ups and downs of life. Of course I think that everyone should do yoga. I know they won't as it is doesn't appeal to everyone (they don't know what they are missing!). But if you know about it, and you know how good it is for you, and you know how brilliant you feel when you've done it, but then you don't do it... Make sure you get to your mat this weekend.  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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