On this wonderful Bank Holiday weekend, a gentle reminder to keep up your yoga practice.

One of my favourite quotes on the infamous question

“What is Yoga?”

 

There are usually many experiential replies.

Yoga is certainly a journey, that begins with a step and understanding develops with life and practice. Whilst yoga can be found in a posture, it’s not defined by ‘a yoga posture’ (my view).

I feel blessed to share my love of yoga as a Yogi and a Yoga Instructor and strive to empower and encourage experienced students towards regular self-practice, with gentle asana and pranayama they’re comfortable and confident with (that we’ve practiced together in Class many times beforehand).

The barrier I find to self-practice is usually the ‘monkey mind’. Having an awareness of those ‘thoughts’ but not attaching to them takes time and practice. Be gentle with yourself, set yourself a short practice time to begin with and persevere.

In our Pregnancy Yoga Classes we share many movements, breathing and visualisation techniques to support you in pregnancy, labour and birth. They’re best able to support you with practice. Students can join our Pregnancy Yoga class from 14 weeks and are encouraged to continue during pregnancy until before labour begins. Experience highlights that different women prefer and use different techniques to one another in childbirth. With time and practice these techniques become natural and effortless, you’re able to identify which work best for you – making them more supportive to you in childbirth.

‘I didn’t really have a ‘birth plan’ just some preferences and I wasn’t afraid to use pain relief if I needed to. In the end, I didn’t need to because of all the techniques I learned in yoga; remaining calm, trusting my instincts and BREATHING were absolutely invaluable and ultimately all I needed. Thank you Sky, your help and knowledge has been fantastic and I’ve learned techniques that I will use again and again, not just in birth.’ Laura, 2016

Self practice for me was a true catalyst on my yoga journey, a huge learning and growing experience which brought and continues to give me great joy. Yoga is life.

Happy practice 

Gratitude to all teachers & students for sharing your love, passion and experience of yoga.