Welcome TO
Health and Wellbeing with Mindfulness and Yoga
The ancient wisdom of yoga
and scientifically proven mindfulness
in powerful combination
Accessible yoga
New Chair Yoga Class, Wednesday 10am
One of my long standing yoga students was feeling poorly and hurt her knee. She requested some gentle, seated movement to aid her recovery so I created the chair yoga class.
We start with 5 minutes pause, to find stillness and check how we feel in the moment. After that we have a series of seated warm ups that get our body used to moving, neck, shoulders, arms and spine. We can move our lower legs and ankles while seated and even open the front of the hips without getting out of the chair.
After the warm ups we have a series of poses based on a theme, for example easing or preventing sciatica, gentle rotations to mobilize our spine, or releasing shoulder tightness. Its different each week unlike the warm ups which tend to follow a similar pattern. The movements are slow and careful, and they get a little more demanding as we progress. Because they are offered in stages you can work as much or as little as suits you, and I always adjust the class depending on who is present and their ability. I've been surprised how much you can do in a chair.
We end with a meditation, this tends to be everyone’s favorite part. I guide you to relax your whole body and we give our mind a job to do so it doesn’t spoil our physical rest. Our mind can create all sorts of trouble! Equally it can be our most powerful ally when pointed in a positive direction.
Join in person or on Zoom, this class is very accessible, even for those who thought they would never be in a yoga class. 10 till 11am Wednesday morning, you can makes your Wednesday really good for you. £10 per class or £40 per month, concessions are available.
Email yoga4health@yahoo.com to book a place or find out more.
Photo by Vincent Botta on Unsplash
What is available?
Saturday morning magic
More in depth than other classes. You don't need to be fitter but we go deeper into pranayama (yoga breathing techniques) and work with directing prana (Universal energy). Ending with pranayama or sacred space meditation in which we connect to the cosmos.
Suitable for open minds.
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Extra Gentle Yoga Thursday 2pm at Serenity Studio
Relaxation has always been the aim of my practice, building strength and flexibility I consider to be a bonus (altho its a great bonus). And so the classes have always been gentle.
Due to illness or injury, some folks struggle with some aspects of the gentle yoga classes, for example bearing weight on the wrists on all-fours or stepping in and out of lunge. To make the practice more accessible, I'm developing a version without those triggers.
You'll still feel relaxed and energised at the end, still building and maintaining a healthy body and peaceful mind.
What's The Difference?
Gentle Yoga
- Five minutes relaxation, about 50 minutes movement and 15 minutes relaxation meditation at the end
- Seated poses are on the floor for short periods
- We use all-four positions like down dog to build upper body strength
- We move slowly with the breath from stretching up to the ceiling, into forward bend, lunge, all fours and back again.
Extra Gentle Yoga
- The same structure: five minutes relaxation, 50 minutes movement and 15 minutes relaxation meditation lying on the floor
- We use a chair for seated poses
- Small weights are used to build upper body strength instead of lifting the body weight
- Only get up and down once per class! Forward bends are supported by a chair, balances supported by a chair or wall.
what are we doing here?
Grow Towards Mental and Physical Health
In my book, mental health comes first. Without mental health you are unlikely to keep physical health in the long run. Conversely, strong mental health can bring us thru any illness.
Most of us have habits that turn out to be negative. For example, there is lots of evidence that stress is very harmful to your health, but our belief is that stress is unavoidable. Is it? Pressures are unavoidable but your reaction to stress can be transformed. Stress causes illness FULL STOP Fortunately there are many ways of increasing our awareness of our own stress responses and doing things differently. As we practice and our awareness expands, we become a more effective guide to what is healthful for us.
Use the tools to increase relaxation. Relaxation doesn't sound powerful, but its the opposite end of the seesaw to stress. We can turn up our 'rest and digest' biology and this improve our immune system, digestion, cell reproduction and mental focus.
Can it really be that simple?
Yes and no. Yes, you will almost certainly feel more relaxed and happier after a mindful yoga class or guided meditation. But its going to take a while to overcome major life problems like addictions, difficult relationships or longstanding anxiety, for example.
But an avalanche starts with just a few flakes of snow...
Your Choice Matters
When you are run by repeated worries, rushing between deadlines, feeding yourself bad news and junk food, angry at the world, or struggling to make ends meet, we have little choice. We merely react.
As we grow our self awareness, we make conscious what was previously unconscious, and give ourselves more choice. We learn to respond.
I am doing this, and so can you. You need the right tools.
What do I choose?
As well as addressing the negative we also increase the positive choices in our lives. Too simple?
There are reasons we choose to forego rest and recreation sometimes, like when we are under pressure - but this is when we need self self care the most!
We can learn to love ourselves through our difficulties.
We decide that we can best serve those we love by looking after ourselves and taking a rest when we need it, saying no if it feels like we are overloaded. We deserve the time to lift ourselves with the things we love.
Everyone around you will feel better when you feel better!