Yoga nidra for vata in the morning

I am certainly feeling the effects of the vata season.  Vata is one of the Ayurvedic doshas (combination of elements) and governs movement in the body.  Movement, change and activity are aspects of vata.  Autumn is the vata season with changing temperature, increased wind and a dryness in the air.  The season being of vata qualities makes it much more likely that the vata in each of us will shift into excess.  This likelihood of excess is increased even more if you are busy, over active and have some stress during the autumn.  Which can manifest itself as anxiety, insomnia, digestive challenges and weakness, among others.

I have been sleeping less than usual and which leaves me feeling more prone anxiety, worry and feeling weak.  So this morning after the clocks changing and waking up at ridiculous o’clock I decided to deeply rest my body and mind with a yoga nidra practice.  It was soothing, calming and restorative for my body, afterwards I feel my energy is smoothed and softened rather than jagged and angular.  This helps me to be more soft and open as I go about my day, rather than spiky and haphazard.  It was the perfect practice to prepare me for my busy ahead.

xxx

Hard-core hour with Georgie!

Wow our Georgie is one strong lady!  This is a fabulous hour long core focused class which is certainly challenging, although she always offers modifications and emphasises listening to your body and not doing too much.  Obviously as a ‘yoga teacher’ I SHOULD do all the hardest variations and ALL of them!  This was my first thought realisation, so I worked to remove the dreaded SHOULD from my thought vocab and be mindful of Georgie’e encouragement not to do too much too soon.  Which was not difficult as I find Georgie has the lovely teacher quality about her that makes you want to please her and do everything she says just as perfectly as you can 🙂

The instructions are incredibly clear and it was refreshing, if not challenging, to bring the focus to such small, and at times tricky to connect to, areas such as the pelvic floor.  If ever a question popped into my head like; where exactly is the pelvic floor again?  Georgie was quick to answer it in full with examples.  Another realisation I made about my own practice is I use plank pose as a transition in the flow, rather than giving it space to be it’s own pose.  I struggled with holding plank and as soon as I was in it my mind said ‘What’s next?’.  I think this is reflected generally in my practice, and in my life.  I am a future thinker, always having ideas and planning for what is coming next, so to learn to hold a strong pose in stillness was an excellent practice for me.

I learned so much, lots of which I hope to incorporate into my practice and inspire my teaching, about how to effectively bring the core strengthening into the class and maintain centre and focus.  Thank you Georgie – much love xxx

Early morning vinyasa with Alexia

A perfect way to prepare for a busy day ahead by moving in every direction and flowing through a range of standing, seated and supine poses.  A very rounded 25 minute practice left me feeling balanced and energised – the cobwebs from my night’s sleep swept away.

Today is the first day at the Yoga Show and I am teaching a beginner flow class – which is quite scary as it will be my first class I have taught in London and at quite a big yoga event! I am also so excited to meet new yogis and learn about all the fun and fabulous projects which are going on in the yoga world.  I am prepared to be inspired and inspiring!

Fascinating intro to Ashtanga Vinyasa with Chris

This was completely perfect for me today – I have had such a long day setting up for the Yoga Show (woohoo!) and got home wanting to check in with my practice but physically and mentally completely drained.  Which is where Chris comes in…

An interesting and detailed intro to Ashtanga Vinyasa, as yoga teacher myself I learnt a lot!  It is so lovely to come back to the history and the oral teachings of yoga to remember how much more there is in addition to the asana practice.

Thank you Chris x

Flow with Alexia on the beach

So refreshing to practice and flow with Alexia on a very similar looking slightly grey day, of which are so fond here in the UK 🙂 A much needed wake and up and get moving encouragement from the ever energetic and motivating lady that she is.

I am just about to make my way to London to prepare for the Yoga Show this weekend and I will be continuing my 30 day challenge – probably mostly on my iPad which is so super handy.  I stay at my sisters so will try to time my practice so her housemates don’t have to clamber over the yogi on the floor on the way to get coffee in the morning!

Have a great day! xx

Relaxation with …. myself!

There was going to come a time when I practiced with one of my own videos, as in a video that I am featuring in and teaching.  It has intrigued me as a couple of my teachers have recommended following your own practice as a very good way to learn and grow as a teacher.

I started small with a 15 minute relaxation, called Savasana with Gemma.  It was interesting and a couple times my mind did wander to judgement of myself, but to be honest I was so wrapped up in the relaxation that 90% of the time I completely forgot it was me!  The practice originated with the Sivananda tradition and is very effective at encouraging deep relaxation in a short period time.  In a Sivananda class savasana is at least 15 minutes long to give the body and the mind time to rest and restore, which is easily overlooked in many asana classes.

My experience of the practice today was so effective that I fell deeply asleep for a whole hour, luckily waking up with some time to spare before I need to head to my next class.  It was the kind of sleep my whole being so desperately needed, when I awoke I was a good colour, all my muscles felt like they had been reset and my skin feels smooth and soft.  I didn’t realise how exhausted I was until I tool the time to properly and deeply relax – I must I recommend it!

Love xxxx

Flowing in the morning with Alexia

A balanced and energetic way to start the day with Alexia.  I have not practiced very much with Alexia in the flesh as she is based and teaches in London, however I found the start of her morning practice is very similar to mine – which is lovely!

It was a challenge to get up at 6am to practice before my morning class at 8am, but oh it was so worth it!  I love how vinyasa can start slowly getting you in the flow and then before you know it you are moving and breathing and opening up.  It also takes acceptance to really listen to your body in the morning with all it’s stiff areas and maybe even a few creaks!

I love Alexia’s light and bright voice which makes you feel like you can do anything and no amount of warriors is too many 🙂 Her very clear and concise alignment cues are so helpful to feel more space and grounding in the poses.  Having set my intention, as she suggests, not to take life so seriously, I am ready for my day and my week.

xx

Sunday evening free flow

This has been a stunning Sunday here in Cornwall; the sun shining, the sea pumping (surfers loving it!) and warmth in the air.  I have been doing chores and cleaning my house, which is very much in line with the autumnal spring clean and the clearing of the inner and the outer of the Navaratri festival.

This evening after a long and physical day I chose to be inspired by Nat’s wind down sequence.  And I found, as I’m sure we all do sometimes, that my body wanted to move in ways different from Nat’s sequence, in some cases different even from classical yoga poses.  So I allowed my body move in what ever way felt and releasing and relaxing.  It was so sweet to have Nat’s gentle and encouraging voice in the background.  It made me feel like I wasn’t practicing alone, even though I was not following her instructions the whole time, it was still like were hanging out.  A very supportive experience and I love that we don’t always have to do everything the teacher says, the teacher is there to open you up and inspire you get on your mat – job done!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and are ready and looking forward to the week ahead.

Love xxxx

Shoulders and Cats

As you can see my cat Max was just as enthralled by Rhoda’s shoulder opening class as I was!

I left my practice right till the very last minute today, partly because I did my run as my morning practice, and partly because my mind is very convincing as it’s telling me that I won’t enjoy my class today, I don’t need to do it, I should have a cup of tea instead etc etc.  Whereas as soon as I get on my mat I feel so better already!

I learnt from my practice with Kirsty earlier in the week that my shoulders and upper back are very tight at the moment so I decided to stay with the shoulder focus this evening with Rhoda.  I love that on the day of filming, and maybe generally, Rhoda has tight shoulders and really finds some of the stretches very painful, but she is comfortable enough with herself to admit that and teach the class anyway.  I think it’s very easy for a teacher to stick to what you know you can do so you look good at all times and leave what you find challenging – the ego loves it!  Respect to Rhoda for her openness and a good lesson for me as a teacher.

On a personal note, you wouldn’t believe it by watching that video, but Rhoda is just about to give birth to her second child which is so exciting!  As you can see she is warm and gentle and such a lovely mama – wishing her all the love in the world.

Happy Weekend xxx

Day 5 – A heartfelt meditation

Well what I can say about my experience with Clare’s Heart Chakra Meditation? Challenging when struggling with feelings of sadness of having been disconnected from my heart, which I have been lately.  I am going through a period of transition, which is challenging in itself for those of us who like to be in control!  And I have been dealing with it this week be marching on with a hardness and determination that I felt I needed to maintain in order somehow get through.  Gone were all ideas of being on the journey and experiencing all the elements – I was on a mission to the end of it as it felt uncomfortable and scary.

I had my session with my incredible Life Coach from the Handel Group (recommended by awesome US yoga teacher Elena Brower) today and she helped me realise that I am scared and I have been getting angry and shutting down to stop feeling the discomfort of being scared.  So for my practice today I knew I needed to reconnect with my heart and sit with my feelings, no matter the discomfort.

The meditation was wonderful!  Clare is an inspirational spiritual teacher, she is my Reiki teacher, and she has a confidence and a knowing which allows you to relax and fully be present.  It was a very powerful half and hour which allowed me to move past many of the layers of avoidance to reach my heart centre and reconnect.  It was emotional and intense, it was exactly what I needed to prepare to move through the coming days and weeks of transition staying in my heart and acting from that place of deeper wisdom.

Bit of a heavy one today folks!  Just right for a Friday night 😉

Happy Friday!

Love xxx