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!

yoga helps the clouds to clear & the sun to shine through

Yoga practice allows us to see the world with clearer vision and more open hearts. Yoga allows the right frame of mind, focus and time to experience calm, joy and wonder at our world in this moment. It is this that allows the chinks of sunshine to peep through however thick the cloud cover may initially appear!
This weekend I have spent in the company of some wonderful people and this has also reminded me of how the quality of what we ingest from the world affects our moods. What we eat, who we spend our time with, the media that we come into contact with…all the things that we take in through our senses are ingested and processed and affect our moods and our potential for living in the moment. Yoga practice brings such rewards, such joy and such long term changes in how we live externally that it is more than worth learning to make time for. It also may provide more lessons for living off your mat than you ever expect!! So take a moment to look at what you are ingesting through your senses, not just in your food, but the company you keep and the activities you spend time on.