Homestretch

I have stood on three yoga mats in my life. Each one became a home. SunYoga (Berlin). The first mat is thick and red and I bought it in Berlin. It is the year I work at a former concentration camp and with Holocaust survivors in Germany. It is the year I go to yoga almost every day. At work I walk amongst barracks and graves, and hear stories that have not lost their horror over 60 years. Read More

What to wear (and what not to) to a Yoga class

I remember back when I started practising Yoga there wasn’t anything called ‘Yogawear’, or any Yoga clothing brands in the UK. You wore what you wore to the gym, or tracksuits bottoms and a T-shirt. If you practiced Hot Yoga (it was only Bikram back in the day) you did the best you could, and if you were lucky and went on holiday to the US you could pick up a few Yoga tops and leggings. Read More

Yoga for Children

Childhood is an intense period of growth and development - physical, emotional, social & intellectual. Yoga and mindfulness for children has become hugely popular in recent years and has been introduced in many schools. Scientific research continues to provide supporting evidence that these practices address the needs of the whole child and support academic learning. Read More

Teaching the Community Class

Someone told me you never forget your first time — teaching your first yoga class that is! But actually I’m not sure this is true. We did so much practice teaching during the Spiralling Crow Vinyasa teacher training this summer that by the end of the course it seemed a natural progression to start teaching a full class. Read More

Chocolate & Ginger Pancakes

One of my favorite things about weekends is the time for a long breakfast with plenty of coffee and great conversations. I believe some of my best ideas have emerged on Saturday mornings over a long and leisurely breakfast. With the whole weekend to look forward to, I usually feel energized to create a more interesting breakfast. Read More

Shift happens!

I love the light and warmth of the summer months so it’s always a wrench when the days begin to get shorter and I have to dig out my woolly jumpers! From a young age, we learn to expect big changes during the Autumn as the new school year begins and the seasons shift. This stays with us long after we’ve left academia and can make us feel a little unsettled at this time of year. Read More

Managing chronic pain through Yoga

This is my own experience of how I have learned to manage my chronic pain coming to regular classes in YogaVenue. I was very lucky to have both my back and dermoid cyst surgeries done courtesy of comprehensive corporate health insurance 16 years ago. I had the best medical care in amazing hospitals. My husband says that I am a "value-added" wife, due to the high cost of these two medical procedures. Jokes aside, there is yet no surgery that can treat chronic pain. Read More

Practising Yoga with Lord Krishna

Who was Lord Krishna and what’s he got to do with Yoga practice? Do you have to be Hindu to call on Krishna through a mantra like this? Krishna is the Hindu god associated with love and compassion and Yoga. But rather than getting caught up in ideas about gods and religion, perhaps we might think of Krishna as an archetype, a personification almost, of the qualities of love and compassion. Read More

Why I will always practise the Hot 26

As a Hot 26 (Bikram) teacher and student I get asked frequently whether I ever get bored of teaching and practising the same and I can honestly say I never do. Every class is different from the one before and I know the next one will also be different. I have great classes, I have ok classes and I still have terrible classes where I feel I can't balance, feel stiff, dehydrated - all the same things as everyone else! Read More

A story of barefoot (shoes) trekking

My partner Andy and I love walking holidays and each year we try to walk from place to place for a week (or for however long office-slavery and family commitments would allow), with our loyal companions: rucksacks and hi-top walking boots. This year, I wanted to try something a little different… Read More

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