Hiiiiiii! Ok so lets just slide very quickly past the fact my last #blog was (ahem) Dec 10 2018. Whaaaat! I was going to apologise but that's maybe a bit weird as I'm not sure anyone is really that bothered lol, and in reality Iv'e never quite got into a regular swing of blog writing... which is something I would definitely like to work on. I mean where to even start again. What's happened this year? I've moved house I've left a #yoga studio Iv'e continued working at a yoga s

I have to be honest, there were many years where #Christmas just really wasn’t my favourite time of year at all. Not because I’m a miserable #grinch lol, but because I worked in retail where the time off was a blink and you miss it scenario, and generally speaking with no thanks, #kindness or #compassion from many of the customers you were serving or the company you worked for. There was another Christmas or 2 on the back of a really bad time for me personally, and thinking b

Self care seems to have been a bit of a "buzz" phrase from 2018- but what does it even mean? It will in fact most likely be very different for us all, but the overall premise is of taking actions or creating #healthy habits (even just very small & simple ones) that help us to maintain or work towards a #happier and #healthier us. "The practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health." "The practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being a

So, you’ve read or heard some good things about #Yoga, or even some things that you aren’t sure about. Maybe you are keen to join a class OR you are still on the fence about it all due to one, or several reasons? Sound familiar? Keep reading and maybe something below will resonate, and hopefully help you to feel that you CAN AND WILL come along to a Yoga class. I remember the first ever public Yoga class I went to, and believe me I talked myself out of it many times until I e

Maybe you’ve heard of the more common benefits of a regular #yoga practice; improved flexibility, weight loss, better breathing- but what other benefits does it have that you might not have considered? Yoga is much more than some physical movements and #breathing on a mat, and you might have started to, or start to notice how a regular practice can have a #positive impact in different ways in your everyday life off the mat. 1. Perspective! Taking that time out to yourself, to

So, you are considering joining a #Yoga class, or you already have BUT you aren’t really sure if all this #mindful #breathing, twisting, folding and stretching is really worthwhile...IT IS!! Here are just 5 benefits of Yoga- there are so many more (which I will tell you about in future blogs)! All the time and literally as I write this, Western science is looking to and finding out more about Yoga, and the huge physical and emotional benefits it has. Don’t expect to see or fe

Breathing can and does have such a huge impact on the way we feel both physically and emotionally, and sometimes we aren’t aware of this, or the way we #breathe until we take a moment to STOP and BE AWARE. When we may feel there is too much going on at home, at work, we feel stressed, too tired, don’t feel like it- this is when we should STOP, go and take some time to ourselves to re- centre with a #yoga class, or a simple #mindful breathing exercise like the one below. Then

My last #blog post touched on the topic of home #yoga practice, and was intended to be about how to create a nice space in which to dedicate time at home to practice (asana, #meditation, #chanting, #relaxation- whatever it may be that forms part of your Yoga). This thought came to my mind after realising that my own home practice has taken a real hit lately (and I currently can't always fit in going to a studio class), and also because I saw quite a few articles/social media

How often do you practice Yoga? Do you have a regular home Yoga practice? As a Yoga teacher I am quite often asked these kind of questions. I think by some it is assumed that as a #yoga teacher I practice #asana every single day for hours on end. I hate to break the illusion but this isn't true, and I will be honest its not true for the majority of Yoga teachers I know. That's not to say I do not have my own personal practice, I do. And I also feel that maintaining this is in

noun: yoga 1. a Hindu #spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple #meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practised for #health and #relaxation. (Source: Google) Yoga has certainly become big business over the past few years, and it could be said that what #yoga actually is or the true meaning of Yoga, has become somewhat blurred. In a broader sense, is there really an answer to "What is Yoga?" as for each

Well it's been a while since I posted (understatement), and I'm sure I mentioned somewhere in a previous post about writing more often- oops! I suppose there has been a mixture of reasons that I haven't written a new post; the age old lack of #time, lack of #energy, and maybe a little lack of #inspiration- and I'm a believer in not forcing things but rather letting them #flow naturally when it feels right (convincingly got out of that one right)?! If I'm honest the start of t

I can hardly believe that it's nearly #christmas Day- literally where the time has gone I have absolutely no idea, the past month has flown by in a total whirlwind! I'm aware my last #blog post was about soup, and honestly this one might not be much more #insightful. In fact maybe stop reading this now and just go make the soup- far better use of your precious time. ONLY JOKING, please carry on and read my ramblings! So yes, Christmas, it's pretty much here and I must be hone

If you are a regular #yoga class goer, or have been home practising and learning about Yoga yourself, you will no doubt have heard, and also know of #mantra and #chanting. Possibly the most well known of all being #AUM or OM. But what is it all about? Is everyone a bit loopy sat there saying these strange foreign sounding words and phrases with their eyes closed, some swaying from side to side?! Mantra is #energy, #vibration, #sound. Simply put, Mantra is chanting of words or

I've been to many #yoga classes in the past few years, some with #music and some without. Some with some quite interesting music choices (in my opinion), but should Yoga really be practised to music? For me it's a personal choice and opinion, and as with #life, in classes as a teacher, you can't and won't always please everyone and be to everyone's taste. Music is very #emotive, it can take us back to and remind us of certain places, times, people. Some that may invoke #feeli

So, if you read my last #blog you will know that firstly, I ramble a lot, and secondly it was originally going to be what is now this blog post. Again, sorry about that BUT great news- here's the actual content. If you didn't read my last post (shame on you), then in a nutshell this is the first essay that I wrote when embarking on my 200 hour Yoga# teacher training course, over 2 years ago now. It seemed apt when racking my brains about how I should start blog writing for m

noun: blog a regularly updated #website or web page, typically one run by an #individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style. Ok- great! I know exactly by definition what a #blog is. Hmmm, so all I need now is to know what to write my first blog piece about- bit more tricky than googling a definition! I must admit, as this is my first 'real' venture into #blogging (I've dabbled in the past with articles for other sites, but never for my own