It is that time of year again. We're back from holidays, feeling pretty chilled out, and facing an Autumn of work with shorter days and dipping temperatures. There is a need to try and keep the summer-time relaxed feeling for as long as possible while the warm weather lasts.

The yoga courses starting next week at YogaSpace try to encourage that feel-good feeling with regular yoga practice and even personal home practice for those who are interested (my students often take home handouts with little stick men in yoga poses offering a short 15 minutes yoga session to try at home - not homework, and by no means compulsory!).

Nothing beats a regular yoga practice for helping you feel good. The once-a-week de-stress in a group class is great, but keeping it up and taking even 10  minutes a day can really help cultivate that feel-good-feeling all through the week. All you need is a space on your carpet in a quiet part of your home and an uninterrupted 10 minutes (hard for some I know!). But an investment worth making.

Morning stretch anyone!

Last Sunday was a great opportunity to take a few hours to explore ways to improve how we handle stress in our lives. Stressful life is a given for most of us. We're busy, our lives are full, our jobs, kids, families, homes, obligations keep us pretty much flat out.

I'm used to welcoming people into my weekly yoga classes who are exhausted and stressed out. We often keep going until we are exhausted, and only really stop when things get to a point where we actually can't go on, when our bodies tell us in no uncertain terms that we must stop.  We all do it, but of course it takes it's toll. Research suggests that stress is one of the biggest contributors to ill health and an early demise from various related health conditions such as heart disease.

So Sunday's yoga workshop on stress relief was a chance to explore some simple, easy to practrice yoga methods that can help us manage our lifestyles and keep stress levels lower. The aim was to teach them in a way that means they can be practiced daily or regularly at home. Short, regular practice of these methods can make a dramatic difference to our ability to deal with stress and having a few techniques that you can use at any time, even at work or when in the car stuck in traffic, can help reduce our stress levels. Simple breath techniques, body work or meditation for a few minutes every day can make a huge difference.

The yoga workshop on stress relief at Bristol Yoga Space explored a few easy methods and gave handouts on how to practice them at home. Another workshop on stress relief will be held in early Autumn too. Keep an eye on the website for dates.