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.

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.

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.