Thursday 2 December 2010

Ina May's guide to childbirth

As part of my continual study and yogic journey through life I recently read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. It was a great read and one I would recommend to expectant mothers, fathers, daughters - anyone really interested in life. The first part of the book deals with inspirational stories from women who have given birth at what sounds to be a huge birth centre-come-village in America. While you could say - what has a woman who's hugging a tree, smiling her way through orgasmic labour got to do with my experience - it's so far removed!?  Well, it just goes to show you that birth is beautiful, we've just forgotten this and instead focus on the negative. Whether you're hugging a tree, your partner, a chair, ball or wall you can moan, groan, laugh your way through labour but you need the right environment and support and most importantly, self-belief. We need to reconnect to ourselves, our own beauty and inner strength. I won't say more on this for now but maybe put this book on your Christmas list and see for yourself!

Happy reading.

Thursday 28 October 2010

Eye bags

I'm pleased to announce the arrival of these beautiful eye bags to my classes, made by the caring hands of my mother. We'll be using them in class as of next week (just waiting on the little cases to be finished off).
If anybody would like to purchase their own to get maximum relaxation and rejuvenation at home then drop me a line and you can have your own eye bag made up and sent to you. 


When placed over the eyes you can rest easy and take in the sweet smelling camomile and lavender and let the bag soothe tired eyes and mind. Each bag comes with its own washable case (not shown in photograph. Currently orange but if you would like an alternative colour this can be arranged). The bags are filled with dried lavender, camomile, pulses and rice.
£8 per eye bag plus p&p.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Monday's classes

I'm sorry to say that my Monday evening Hatha class has come to an end. My original plan had been to run two classes on a Monday; one for pregnancy and one for Hatha. In reality it seems this was a bit more than I could manage timewise. So rather than have an exhausted yoga teacher, who's no good to man nor beast, I've decided to close the Hatha on a Monday (having the next two Mondays off, so no classes on Mondays for two weeks) - then start pregnancy yoga on the 1st November at 7.15pm - 8.45pm.


I hope that those of you who attended or were interested in attending my Monday evenings might be able to try my Thursday classes. They are running as per usual.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Pregnancy yoga

This weekend, I had the first part of my training for pregnancy and post natal yoga. It was incredibly insightful and much more moving than I had expected.


To be in a room with 20 odd women, all in support of each other and wanting to empower the women who they teach was an inspiration. 


The notion that women have within them the ability to birth their babies naturally and without fear is one that should be more widely discussed rather than the hundred's of scare stories we can find by speaking with people or doing an online search. My own baby's birth was an enjoyable and mind blowing experience and by letting my instincts take over (allowing myself to break into weird chants, sound vibrations that overtook my body) the labour and the birth was a positive experience, one of elation and joy. There wasn't any room for fear - except that of my partner when he felt my wrath towards him not giving me a glass of water quickly enough (tip it, TIP IT!). 


Obviously, there are cases when the situation needs medical attention due to the baby's position, strength of contractions etc etc - but still not enough is said about the positive stories. I'm not placing any judgement on anyone's experience as no single story is the same I just want to give an alternative, positive view to those you'll find when you google 'labour'.
(I had my baby at Chase Farm hospital in North London, delivered by a lovely midwife called Rose.)


I can't wait to start teaching pregnant women! 

Monday 27 September 2010

Special offer

Online yoga shop Yogamatters have kindly agreed to offer my friends and students a discount on all retail items (excluding wholesale).

Simply use code EMMA on any retail item before midnight on Sunday 31st
October to receive your discount of 10%.

Yogamatters.com is the online yoga shop that offers everything you need
to support your journey through the world of yoga. Choose from mats,
props, clothing, books, DVDs and more. Buy online at
www.yogamatters.com or visit their London store.

So if you're looking for mats, books, CD's, go and browse their online store now.

Friday 24 September 2010

Treat yourself

The rain has been beating down for the past hour or so but all is now quiet. My baby girl is napping, I've just eating a ridiculously chocolatey pudding and all is well.

For me there won't be a yoga retreat in the next year - my retreat will be these moments of calm we get every day, we just don't always recognise them or appreciate them. For those of you with a little more time there's a yoga retreat I went on a few years ago in Spain that I would recommend (it was quite a few years ago now so I don't know how much it has changed). The retreat is called Kaliyoga in Andalucia and it is beautiful. The accommodation is perfect - one year I was in a tipi and the next I stayed in a room in the main house. The food is inspirational, and would tempt even the biggest meat eater to turn veggie.

The yoga classes were twice a day and if you can manage to go for a week you are sure to see an improvement in your yoga practice and hopefully feel the positive effects of this long after you fly back to London. There are treatments on hand, a pool to swim in, a hot tub to bubble in and a hammock to snooze in.
http://kaliyoga.com/yoga-retreat-detox-retreat-spain.php

It's also an ideal trip to combine with a weekend in Granada, a relaxed city with meandering streets, amazing tapas and the awe inspiring Alhambra. We stayed at the Casa Morisca http://www.hotelcasamorisca.com.



Saturday 18 September 2010

More than striking a pose

I began to consider learning to teach essentially to broaden my understanding of yoga and I like to study so thought this could be worthwhile. This led me to study for my British Wheel of Yoga Foundation course with Mara Musso and then on to studying for my British Wheel of Yoga teacher training diploma with Triyoga. 


I was inspired during my foundation course at just how much yoga is a way of life. We mainly think about it as the postures (asanas) we create on our mats but it is so much more. Without setting any intention I began to approach situations in life in the way I approached postures on my mat. On the mat we're taught not to judge ourselves or those around us. If our balance isn't great today then being annoyed at this, judging ourselves as incompetent on any level will be a sure fire way to fall over. So don't judge, instead, pause, take a moment and try again. Be happy with the one, two or three seconds that you did balance for. Accept where you are today and know that this may be different tomorrow. If you focus the mind you can accomplish what you need to accomplish. Off the mat we can see that this focus can help us in daily life. Pause for just one moment before you act (in the same way there's a natural pause at the top and bottom of our breath). As for judgement of others well we can refer back to the old adage, if you haven't got anything good to say don't say it. Project positivity to receive positivity. I certainly don't want to preach, thats definitely not my style. Everyone has times (hours, days, weeks, months), when it feels incredibly hard, actually pretty impossible, to be positive. I'm just saying try, and keep trying.

I try to bring a focus to each of my classes that can be continued off the mat, it's my students' choice whether they actively want to do this or not but I do hope that the class will leave you feeling more positive in general and this will then naturally have an effect on your perception of yourself and those around you.

If you do one thing this week do Savasana, (corpse) final relaxation pose, after a long day at work. Lie on your back (legs straight or bent), get comfortable, broaden across the shoulder blades, lengthen the spine, keep the neck long (maybe use a folded towel under your head). Enjoy the ground supporting you in this restful, regenerating pose. Eyes softly closed, focus on one point such as your favourite relaxing music, the ticking of a clock, the sound of your breath or a visualisation.
Stay here for at least 5 to ten minutes allowing yourself the time to relax and try not to think about the washing, cooking, whats on TV etc.
To bring awareness back in to your body wiggle your fingers and toes, slowly draw your knees in towards your chest and roll over to your right. After a few seconds slowly come up to sitting. Finish your relaxation with a gentle smile and audible exhale.

Wednesday 25 August 2010

Chicken Pie


So, here I am writing my first ever blog post, while waiting for my pie to finish cooking. I admit it is a chicken pie - I was vegetarian (practising ahimsa, non-violence) but since the birth of my daughter meat is back on the menu. Anyway, I digress.

I started to teach yoga professionally this year after qualifying with Triyoga in London. The last four months have been somewhat of a rollercoaster but, a good one (probably the little caterpillar one, I like that, not the black hole type). I've gone back to work as a publisher after a year off on maternity leave and I teach two yoga classes a week on a Thursday evening - soon to be two evenings when I add Mondays to my timetable on the 20th September.

Meanwhile my little girl is growing at full pelt, with bigger and better tantrums every day - she is a wonderful joyous creature and she brings an amazing amount of light and happiness to our lives, as well as a lot of hard work (and shoulder ache, must remember to put osteopath's appointment in my diary!).

I intend for this blog to add to my students' experience of yoga, provide perhaps a little bit of inspiration and act as a reminder that we're all human, life can be hard but go easy on yourselves and each other. We can discuss the history of yoga next time, perhaps, but one of the biggest things for me about yoga is the practice of non-judgement. Many of us are often guilty of judging ourselves too harshly, "I should be better at that posture!", "I'm not good enough/pretty enough/strong enough/clever enough". Give yourself a break, think about who you truly are, what you have done, where you have had an impact. You are as you see yourself so see yourself as bright, loving, generous and amazing!