These days.. they are always so busy... when is there time to fit in a yoga practice? I seem to spend my days standing right up until I go to bed... and when I lie down, the small or my back feels compressed.. so I’ve made it a practice, without judgement or necessity, but because it feels nice to loosen my back when I get into bed, settling into bed like a cat might, bringing my knees up into my chest and holding around my feet, lengthening my spine, lying twist, wriggle eac

I was in the park the other day with my kids... there was a mum wearing a beautiful woollen sweater with a lovely set of colourful patterns around the neck. Her little son was wearing a similar sweater in cream. I said to her as I passed how lovely both their jumpers were and she suddenly smiled saying she hadn't noticed at all that she had put them in matching clothes. It got me thinking how often I've done that - subconsciously dressed my sons and I in similar clothes - eit

When we sit, all sorts of things happen. Things occur to us that might never have come if we kept running in our busy lives. It's where yoga started, in a comfortable seated position. Drawing inwards, meditation, but sitting very very still. We live in a culture where sitting on the floor isn't common for us, and we find it uncomfortable.. Sitting cross legged pulls in all sorts of places. We are used to sofas, office chairs, cars... seats which tighten our hips and shorten o

I’ve always found it absolutely fascinating with yoga that the differences between the left and right side of your body become so clear. Because yoga separates each asana into left and right, you're able to immediately feel in your body how differently each side functions. It can be down to being left or right handed, carrying children on one side, the body just being made differently each side, the type of work we do.. yoga really brings an awareness into the body of varying

Something I've noticed is that often during our busy days, and busy lives, we only notice our body when it gives us pain. When it tells us something specific. A headache, sore shoulders, your back hurting, the feeling of bumping into a table. At that point, our body is determined to get our attention and focus - and pain is a surefire way of getting us to notice. And it made me think how perhaps we could take a moment or two each day, or more if we have time and want to, to n

I've always found with yoga that an interesting thing happens when you think too much. Often it means I 'can't' do what it is I want to do. I remember really first finding this out with bakasana, or crow pose. It looked like a crazy impossible pose requiring untold strength and balance. The fear of falling forward onto my face was palpable. I tried and tried, getting my knees as high up under my arms as possible, leaning forward, but never being able to lift more than one foo

Yoga props... yes or no? The thing about props is they're often seen as being for beginners. Perhaps for less flexible people, perhaps for people with injuries. But what if we look closer and see how they can be used in many practices and for the most experienced of yogis. Sitting up on a block is, I feel, seen to suggest your hips are closed, legs are tight, knees sit high away from the floor if you sit cross-legged. And I notice when I'm teaching if I suggest to a student t

It's interesting how a theme starts up.. in both my Thursday classes last week, people asked me why it was they can't fold forward at the hips. It interested me as of course there is no one clear answer. It can be a myriad of different tightnesses in people's bodies - tightness in the hips, the back, the hamstrings. It's only by exploring each of these areas in different poses that we begin to discover in ourselves what can lengthen a little, and by practising regularly, perh

I remember once in an Ashtanga class - afterwards my teacher approached me and asked earnestly if I was ok. I was surprised, and said actually after that class I had felt euphoric!! Much more than ok. It turned out that during class my face had not in any way indicated euphoria, and she’d been really worried about how unhappy she feared I was. It made me think.. what we show on the outside, often unconsciously, doesn’t tell the truth of how we are feeling on the inside. As a

What is a mudra - it's a Sanskrit gesture mostly performed with the hands or fingers. They carry specific goals of drawing yourself inwards. While the practice of poses and asana use the body, the use of mudra can really help in accomplishing the goal of drawing the focus inwards. When I don't have time to practice, I find doing a really simple mudra practice which only takes a few minutes can really help calm the mind, focus the attention and intention and allow some clarity

I'm often asked what the difference is between yoga and pilates. Actually in truth I've never done pilates, but understand that it is an effective exercise for everyone, incredibly challenging when it needs to be, and really builds strength and core. And yoga too of course when you want it to. But when I think about the difference between the two, it's about the 'yoga' of yoga that differentiates it. Pilates is exercise, where yoga traditionally isn't. Yoga is breath, focus,