The Morning Walk for Yoga is an invitation for you to take a metaphoric 'walk' through your body.  I envision this short 3min video (posted below) as something you can come back to time and time again.  This is my New Years offering for 2022 with the intention to support you to be at peace in your body.  At peace in your mind.  I created it so you have something to listen to (although you are welcome to  watch), so you can focus as you begin your yoga practice.  Maybe you only have a few minutes to practice yoga.  Maybe The Morning Walk for Yoga IS your practice for the day.  Yoga, a practice developed thousands of years ago, is about developing a state of presence. We do not necessarily need to be on our mats to practice.    To be present, we simply need to be open to FEEL,  feel everything that arises, just as it is.    Yoga supports you to feel alive and present in your body and not be distracted by the stories a...

  If you find a flower that is closed you don't force it open. You know it's just a matter of time. You would not pull those unformed new petals apart and say: Hurry Up!  Be Beautiful Now!  I have to remind myself (and my students) to be gentle when we approach the body.  If I find that there is some tightness or restriction,  it does not help to force it and say OPEN NOW!  I have learnt from my teachers of  #scaravelli and #kaiut and #yogamais methods that I cannot force my progression.  No,  just as you can't force a flower to bloom before its time, you can't force your body to open before it's ready either. What you can do is make sure the conditions are right.  Our bodies need warmth, sunlight, water, good nourishment,  fresh air and love,  just like flowers do.  When we plant a flower, we know nothing happens for a while, as the plant spends time connect...

Every winter solstice,  when I lived at the spiritual community of  Findhorn,  I would do a walking meditation through a beautifully prepared spiral of greenery with an unlit candle in my hand.  As I walked,  I would reflect on all the months of the previous year.  The people, places, situations I loved, was challenged by, grew from or connected with.  And I would release that old year.  It was a powerful way to acknowledge the return of the light. Then, in the middle of the circle was a huge lit candle.  I would take my little tea light and hold it to the flame.  Walking slowly out of the spiral, holding my light,  I now set my intentions for the year to come.   Finally,  I would sit and reflect, draw and an angel card  (from a deck developed by Findhorn community members) and so welcome that new quality as a guide for the next 12 months.   As I no longer live in Findhorn.  I have started to offer...

Basic Yoga for Beginners Are you  looking for a Yoga practice that is suitable for beginners?  Here are some keys to starting a successful yoga practice that will get your body humming, your mind quiet and your spirit soaring in no time at all!  Yoga Modifications for Beginners Doing yoga safely Drop the comparing Mind Find the right teacher for you  Yoga is about going deeper Keep on practicing Motivation Joint Renewal System(TM) Yoga that meets you Yoga Modifications for Beginners Most people believe that yoga is a practice that has levels of difficulty.  And it can be helpful sometimes to attend a "beginner" yoga class.  However, that gets your mind thinking right away that you start at place A (the beginner place)  in your practice eventually you must get to place Z (the expert). And in between A and B there is discipline and hard work. Hours on your mat.  Slogging away. Pushing, sweating, struggling and working. Want to give up alr...

  Yoga and Plantar Fasciitis Plantar fasciitis* is a condition that lots of people suffer from but don't know quite what to do about it. You know, some doctors recommend surgery or injections or painkillers which are all fine but I believe that those kind of extreme interventions could possibly be avoided if you are willing to invest the time and effort to do some regular and consistent foot yoga that will help you in working your feet and understanding your feet better.   So if you want to understand your feet better and possibly avoid having to go down those routes read on...   So first of all, you need to know for yourself where and how you're using your feet. Most of us, since we were very little, have worn shoes and socks for most of our lives.  Save a few short months in the summer when maybe we go barefoot our feet have been closeted and contained for decades.   And by containing them we are limiting their potential.  We just don't use t...

  Yoga is moving meditation How it can improve your mental clarity and wellbeing I've been meditating for many years.  Having had the priviledge of being on meditation retreats and workshops with many wonderful teachers including Adyashanti, Gangaji, Jack Kornfield, Jeff Foster, Byron Katie and even spent a weekend with the Dalai Lama in London many years ago.  I have to say though that with HH The Dalai Lama,  I didn't meditate much as I kept falling asleep!  For me yoga and meditation are one and the same.  Yoga is a moving meditation. For all the ways in which meditation can help are added to the fact that you move (slowly) too.  As we age however, it becomes increasingly more and more difficult to sit in meditation for some people, especially if they have joint pain.  This makes them unable to cross their legs, in constant pain, such a busy mind.   That's why a yoga practice that is mindful movements of body and mind is so helpful. M...

  Forest Yoga   Doing Yoga Outdoors in Nature Trees are living, breathing partners to humanity. Our inhale and exhale are in rhythm with each other and spending time in the forest, amidst the towering trees; is a wonderful way to reconnect to your own nature.  Forest bathing, also called shinrin-yoku,  a practice that originated in Japan in the 1980's, is becoming more and more popular as a way to go back to our roots.  Reconnecting us to a time when we lived in the forests, spent more time in nature and were more in tune to the rhythm and cycles of life.  How do you do yoga outdoors in nature?  Taking your yoga mat into the garden or a park is a possiblity.  In the summers  teach yoga in my garden and a class for our local municipality in a local park.  I teach about taking time, exploring the body and especially the joints in order to rejuvenate and restore function and mobility.  And if you feel a little more adventurou...