Our breath is a pretty powerful tool to support our mental and physical wellbeing. It’s fundamental to our yoga practice, and it’s often said that without the breath there is no yoga; the asanas become just shapes. However, when thinking about the breath it’s the exhale that plays a major role in how we feel and it can be really helpful for us to focus on it! When we inhale the intercostal muscles contract to expand the ribcage, the diaphragm contracts to move down, and the lung cavity increases. Air moves in due to the change in pressure. This is an ‘active’ part of the breath and it’s linke ..read more

Why is it so beneficial for teenagers to practice yoga and how can you help? We know yoga helps us, right? That's why we practice it! Some of us may have been lucky enough to get into yoga at a young age, but for me (and most of my students) I found yoga in my 20's, after quite a stressful time as a teenager. During adolescence I felt a lot of feelings, but I didn't really understand them very well. I remember commenting that my chest felt tight and it was hard to breathe, but I had no idea that this was stress or anxiety. I also struggled a lot with confidence in my body, and it wasn't ..read more

Before the pandemic most of us had never heard of Zoom, but we now seem to have been catapulted into a totally new way of working, learning and living. For some people it still feels alien, and that’s ok, but for many of us the freedom of being able to do so much more online has opened up lots of possibilities we’d never thought of before. Online learning is one of those possibilities; whilst they have been around for a long time, there have never been so many distance learning courses as there are today. This is largely as a result of us all having to move online in 2020. Zoom (and similar ..read more

enquire about yoga teacher training New Form Name * First Name Last Name Email * Subject * Message * Thank you! For those of us who practice yoga regularly, we feel it’s benefits; that’s why we practice. Some of us reach a point where we want to deepen our understanding of yoga, perhaps sharing it with other people so they too can experience all the positives it has to offer. This is where the Yoga Teacher Training comes in. Training to become a yoga teacher is about more than gaining a qualification or a new career. Yoga is a way of life, and the more we practice it the more we start to rea ..read more

Life for teenagers can be challenging enough, but with exam time upon us stress levels are rising.  This invariably takes it's toll on family life which isn't fun for anyone! We thought we'd share our top tips for overcoming this stress and helping to bring a little calm back into your homes.  1. Belly Breaths - Place your hands on your belly and close your eyes. Feel the movement of your belly in your hands as you breathe in and out. Allow your belly to rise towards your hands as you inhale, releasing back down as you exhale. Practice 5 minutes of belly breathing every day. Ov ..read more

My love affair with yoga began 15 years. You'd think I'd know all there is to know about yoga by now, but I am constantly amazed at how the practice keeps unfolding and revealing a little more, both to me and of me! Over the past few months I have been journeying along the 'yoga teacher training' path with a group of incredible women, all studying for different reasons. I have no doubt that the experience of learning about yoga has been transformational for them - there's no way that it can't be when you are learning so much about such a wonderful subject! But I have been surprised at ho ..read more

As the year comes to a close I always look back and reflect, whilst looking forward and setting goals. This year I have thrown myself into 'adult' life by getting married and having a baby. Added to this, I started to run my 200 hour teacher training course, something I've been planning for years. Suffice to say, life goals have been ticked off this year! It's been easy to count my blessings, however life isn't always this full and with the ups there invariably come the downs. I've decided to start a gratitude, or happiness, jar in January and I'm inviting you all to join me on this. All ..read more

The summer holidays are here, which for many means a juggling of work and childcare, entertaining bored kids whilst trying to maintain a job, cook, shop, wash, think, breathe....  So how do we find the balance between looking after our family and looking after ourselves, especially when the time we have is stretched even further during the school holidays? Here are a few things  I try my best to do so that I can truly enjoy the precious time I have with the people I love without feeling stressed!  Put the phone/laptop down! This is easier said than done, especially when you are ..read more

One of my first yoga teachers said to me that I would never be completely content. I thought she was right, but I've come to realise that we all have the ability to be content and that this is the heart of true happiness. Santosha, the sanskrit word for contentment, is an important part of yoga practice. Being present, mindful and OK with what we have right now allows us to enjoy this moment. But it can be hard to cultivate or to maintain.  I draw a lot of my lessons in life from surfing, sometimes it's a cliche but it works for me! I used to sit in the line up and look down the beach, a ..read more

A few days before I left for my yoga teacher training course I decided I didn't need to do it. Yoga was something I loved but I couldn't envisage how it would bring me  in an income and so it seemed like an extremely indulgent way to spend a lot of money that I didn't have spare! Thankfully I pushed my doubts to the back of my mind and convinced myself that, if anything, it would be a good holiday and chance to travel. Not only did the course open my eyes to the many facets of yoga, by the time I returned home I was filled with a new enthusiasm for something I loved. Over the last few ye ..read more