Do you ever find your yoga practice slipping away from what your instincts tell you is yoga? Are you rushing to class in a frenzy, or feeling like practice is yet another thing to tick off the to-do list? If that feels familiar, chances are you might be in need of a little self-care. But […]
New Year, New Me At the end of last year a very inspiring article encouraged me to set myself a challenge: an hour of yoga a day for a year. On the 31st December I began my journey. There were a couple of reasons behind wanting to do it: I want to deepen my yoga
According to B.K.S. Iyengar there are four stages to yoga: commencement, intent endeavour, intimate knowledge and consummation. Following from my article ‘5 Good Reasons To Start Yoga‘ from last week, I’m going to assume that we can tick the ‘commencement’ box — and that’s a big tick as it’s very true that the hardest step
How often have you walked into a studio, grabbed a mat, and settled down to the floor, preparing for the next hour (or so) of time just for you? You may have your own mat, or maybe more than one, rolled up in your yoga corner. Choosing a mat these days can — like most
As much as I love yoga, I’m not just a ‘yogi’. I love so many forms of fitness and in a general week I like to do at least three different types. As an ex-gymnast and dancer, yoga lends itself well to my love of being upside-down and bendy, so on top of doing calm,
Props are really, really great. They are SO useful to keep you safe in class and help you to move deeper into a pose than you could without them. They open up a world of possibilities for making poses more accessible AND more challenging. But let’s start from the beginning… What ARE Props? Props
Ever wondered how your yoga teacher knows when to breathe in or out as you move through a sequence of poses? Do you know how hard to push that stretch – I mean, how much stretch is a good stretch after all? And what is that ‘microbend’ in knees and elbows all about? I know
This week’s practice is all about back and biceps! For most of the general population we all sit hunched over a computer (as I’m writing this I constantly correct my posture, I get lazy too sometimes), so it’s great to move out of our usual range of movement! It’s a common theme that yoga works
I recently treated myself to the phenomenal global bestseller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, written by Japan’s expert declutterer, Marie Kondo. Within minutes of starting to read it, I leapt up and had every single item of clothing in a shockingly large pile on the bed. Three bin bags later, my wardrobe was looking fabulously
You may have heard of the Iliotibial band, aka the ITB. It is an amazing piece of engineering but most people only learn of it when it causes pain!. Usually, knee pain. Here’s what every yogi needs to know to keep the ITB happy, healthy and pain-free. Anatomy The ITB is a tough band of
