About Yoga

Yoga means union. Merging body, mind and soul, it is the oldest and most holistic system of personal development to achieve radiant health.

Yoga is a way of life. In the West, we experience it mostly as Hatha Yoga, the physical path, which purifies the body and settles the mind through a combination of mindful breathing (pranayama) and body postures (asanas.)

It has various benefits.

It purifies, tones and relaxes the body making us fantastically fit.

It promotes the free flow of energy, increasing vitality and maintaining good health.

It stills the mind, developing equanimity within and personal awareness as an individual, who is also intimately connected to a greater whole.

Yoga has a WONDERFUL rippling effect in daily life: it grants a sense of inner well-being and peace which make yogis look glowing and in love!

"What day is it today?" "It's today" squeaked Piglet "My favourite day" said Pooh

The type of Hatha yoga I practice is a personal blend of different styles of yoga.

Hatha combines opposite energies (ha/sun and tha/moon): while strenuously working the body, you feel peaceful and quiet; while reaching your limit, you feel a great sense of acceptance; while focussing on your body and breath, you feel connected to something beyond you.

It is truly a MAGICAL experience.

And it is for everyone, whether you're supple or stiff, young or old, slim or overweight, fit or unfit!

Each session in fact is catered to your level of fitness and flexibility and on your needs.So depending on you, it can follow a strong and dynamic energising sequence of postures or it can be more relaxing. Either way, it is always challenging and the focus is on opening, strengthening and stretching the body.

The process is always underpinned by mindful and deep breathing.

You will find some postures very challenging and when you feel ready to move closer to your ‘edge,' do this slowly and with consideration. Learn to listen and know your own body. Breathe. Focus. Your body will take you there when you open to the experience. But allow for compassion and acceptance when your body is not ready.

Be a true yogi: listen to your body not your ego. If you have any health problem or injury, let me know. If you're not well, practice more gently or not at all. If you're fit, develop awareness, by paying attention to how you feel.

Postnatal Yoga (newborn to sitting)

To live in an enchanted world, we have to assume the role of magician in our everyday lives. Thomas Moore

Postnatal Yoga focuses both on the needs of the new mother and of the developing infant.

For you as the mother, it is as an excellent way to rebalance your body, improve posture, replenish your energies, recover vitality, nurture yourself, and soothe aches and pains. The postures can alleviate some common bodily stresses such as 'feeding hunch' and lower back pain... Breathing, relaxation and meditation can help you to ride the emotional roller-coaster of mothering with equanimity and loving confidence.

Caring for a newborn in fact can be a joyful and exciting experience of intense love but it can also be tainted by sadness and desperation - at sleepless nights, painful colic, feeding problems, or postnatal depression. Yoga provides a very positive approach to the holistic prevention and management of these emotions, enabling you to more easily respond with ease and grace to the physical and emotional demands of mothering. A safe and supportive environment can hold you during a period of major changes and intense vulnerability, so you are invited to share and take part with no pressure and much care amongst other women who are going through similar experiences to your own.

Also, you learn beneficial practices which you can then do at home. Yoga postures-for-two give mums and babies new wonderful ways to relate to each other and enjoy each other’s company! Mum and baby can each delight in the benefits which the practices evidently bring to the other.

As far as babies are concerned, well… they are natural born yogis. They start life as open-hearted, flexible little creatures who live completely in the moment. Mothering a new baby demands that we too move into the now, the better to adapt to the changing needs of our little ones. The practice aids the new baby with their development through passive stretching and rhythmic movement sometimes accompanied by singing and sound effects to which babies respond with evident delight.

Mums often report that their babies are calmer and sleep more soundly after yoga sessions. The practices often provide babies with relief from wind, constipation and colic.

At the end of the class peaceful relaxation comes quite easily and it encourages you to learn to loosen up and let go with your baby teaching you skills for relaxing and self-nurturing. It helps you find harmony and tranquillity at a time in your life which is equally full of love and joy as it is demanding, tiring, stressful and emotional.

Early Years/ Family Yoga (from sitting till about 5)

Movement is the song of the body. Vanda Scaravelli

Practising yoga with children offers the chance to do something beautiful, fun and creative together. It’s a great way to bond at a deeper lever and an introduction to an ancient spiritual practice which can bring the family closer and more in harmony.

Yoga for children is taught through games and stories populated by fantastic animals, magical places, incredible adventures. They involve movement, breathing and sound.

But the process does not forget the moms, dads, or carers. In fact, Yoga promotes good health in both adults and children: co-ordination, balance, strength, agility, flexibility, concentration, mental focus. It encourages better posture and poise.

Through creativity, imagination, intuition and collaboration, it develops self-esteem, confidence, and respect for oneself and others. These qualities will serve everyone very well outside their yoga practice.

At the end of the class, there is always a quiet time which encourages harmony and tranquillity, helping the family come close and teaching skills for relaxing and self-nurturing.

All in all, yoga helps everyone big and small to be healthier, happier and have a more positive attitude to life.

Practical Information about Postnatal and Early Years/ Family Yoga

These yoga classes can be quite unpredictable as each is a unique response to the needs of the students. Some days might be quiet and relaxing, some might be more hectic with a lot of activity, crying and nappy-changing! This depends on how tired or full of beans kids and adults feel on the day.

All needs and experiences are appreciated in the class and integrated into the practice. Feel free to breast-feed, change, soothe your crying baby, rest, suggest something different, etc. This is why classes are flexible and spontaneous.

My beliefs about Yoga

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi

Yoga is not just exercise. It's a personal journey and a spiritual practice. On the mat, you're on your own and you stay within, which brings you closer to yourself, to the meaning of your life, and to the divine, if you believe in it.

When you focus on your body and breath, you enter a flow that's both challenging and grounding. Challenging because it's constantly jeopardised by the worrying chat in your mind (‘did I lock the house? should I leave my partner?') Grounding when you let go of it to enter a state of meditative awareness and inner peace.

Yoga allows you to understand your mental and emotional attitudes. Challenging the body, you explore aspects of your inner self: memories and experiences stored in your muscles and tissues, become dislodged during practice, affecting your state of being, making you aware of them and allowing you to accept them or let them go, freeing yourself from the past.

Your reactions towards your practice (enthusiasm, disappointment, laziness...) are a mirror of your reactions to the world. As you develop compassion and acceptance, you change your approach to life, and find more harmony with yourself and everything else.

- it's best not to eat for at least 2 hours before a class. This is because you will be twisting and inverting and squeezing your digestive organs.

- wear comfortable clothes, so that your body is free to move. Bring something warm for before and after the practice.

- a mat is provided

- drink plenty of water before and after the practice, but not during, since water cools the internal heat generated by your efforts

- if you're menstruating, you might want to rest for the heaviest three days of your cycle or do a gentler practice