health check in with yoga in Cheshire

   It’s been a lovely month of ‘false spring’ with the warmer temperatures making it easier to get outside tidying the garden after Winter & making plans for the sunnier months. I’ve not only been doing this with my garden but also my own mental & physical health. Personally I like to do an annual MOT, some stuff involving professionals […]

is it the season to rest, recuperate & enjoy all aspects of your yoga practice

Recognising that sometimes we need some down time and that is actually good for us. So enjoy this time for what it is, an annual time to reflect and to notice. To notice that when our bodies naturally slow in the darker evenings that this is fine. That we can enjoy gentler physical exercise or a change of activity rather than pushing onward with the same routine. Also recognise that just as a rest day is important in any training regime, so is relaxation time in general. Savasana, the relaxation at the end of a yoga class, is often considered the most important part. The time when your body accepts and acknowledges the benefits of the physical practice. This is an important lesson too about the seasons, maybe the winter is our natural savasana. The time when bodies need to relax a little, get more rest and recuperation ready for the longer warmer days ahead.

Building a Yoga toolbox for treating yourself with TLC

why do I want to call the yoga I teach YogaTLC. It’s yoga where we treat ourselves well. We don’t push ourselves into contortionist shapes but we use the physical asana (postures) to heal not harm. We aim to move out of our comfort zones but not be competitive. We are honest with ourselves and kind to ourselves. We provide our body with the nutrition we need, mentally, physically and emotionally only ingesting that which does us good.
I want yogaTLC to give us a toolbox from which we can take the things that allow us to heal

Finding time & space to relax with yoga

Getting outside our ordinary everyday routine is wonderful for showing us things we need to change! as well as those things we need to appreciate! I have certainly noticed a few of both in this holiday. I have a life at home where, although I am busy, it is doing things that make me happy! I get to share my passion with wonderful people, to open my heart and my world to new experiences daily. I do however see many of these wonderful people stressed and worried as they have many demands made of them every day. Hence the new relaxation on YouTube using a metronome that can be used to bring a sense of focus and inner quiet to your day. Using an app…easily available for free on the iPhone…please let this bring some space to your holiday time that is just about you.
So my enthusiasm is really fired up for establishing more of these opportunities for others. More yoga holidays and lifestyle retreats. More different experiences where people can find space for themselves. Time for yoga (well obviously!!) but also combined with other opportunities. Maybe walking, maybe nutritional advice or therapy. Maybe weight loss and fitness retreats, maybe yoga retreats which also include hypnotherapy and motivational sessions. Holidays which are opportunities to discover the inner you. The peaceful light part of you that is intuitive. The part that tells you the answers you’ve been looking for, rather than the answers you hear from the external world. Retreats that allow you to notice the inner quiet, and find the peace that seeps through every part of you when you spend time there.

make your own inner sunshine with yoga

So when life becomes too busy to get to your weekly class or to find a few minutes of peace and alone time in each day. Ask yourself why. We are not going to be happy being alone with ourselves if we are running away from taking a risk. Do you want to live with that feeling of anxiety, of feeling disconnected, depressed and lethargic. Or do you want to feel at peace, energized and connected to a knowledge that is bigger than just you. To do so sit with fear, watch your pain and anxieties, learn from your breath and know that all will pass. Know that the solution could be found in yoga; learn to explore and get to know yourself, to turn inward and to be honest with yourself. Then you will find more happiness, more inner sunshine whatever the weather is doing outside!

time is precious

Time is our most precious gift yet the one we tend to take for granted. It was my birthday this week and a few good friends gifted me their time. The day started with me laughing out loud as I continually discovered small notes in every nook and cupboard wishing me well…small deeds done with love and good will which really touched me. Later the day I was reminded that many hands make light work when friends visited to help with some DIY….even more so when I got to do the light work and they did the heavy stuff!! Not only did the wall they took down let in more light to my garden, but they brought a lightness to my day and a brightness to my smile!
Every day I am grateful to have the opportunity to live, learn & practice my yoga both on and off the mat. These days I am loving having more time to do it and less stress about how quickly it happens and I’m enjoying the greater awareness that yoga brings to my life. Both internal and externally appreciating the world through clearer vision.
As Patanjali’s yoga sutra 1.3 tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam explains so much better in discussing how when the clouds are removed it can be seen that the sun was always there, merely hidden by the clouds of our minds!!