Change your body and mind from the comfort of your own home
Yoga teaching was never part of my plan
This time a year ago, I had just finished my yoga teacher training. Becoming a yoga teacher had never been part of my plan. I’d spent 15 years combining children with my coaching work. My yoga teacher training was something for me however. I tried my first yoga class aged 22 and whilst I attended different classes over the years, I mostly preferred to do my own yoga in my own time from the comfort of my own home.
Breaking down yoga poses
My yoga teacher training was interesting and intensive. The lovely group of fellow students and teachers really helped. I initially found the detail of poses difficult. I had never bothered with the names of poses which were now like a new language. As for the Sanskrit names of poses, that battle was lost from the start! Then there was the subtle detail of the poses: Does the back foot face 45 or 90 degrees forwards? Are the hips facing the side or the front? As for the infamous Chaturanga, was exactly was that!
I diligently learnt the sequences, I learnt the pose names, I even learnt the Sanskrit. In doing so, I found there was a lot more logic to it than most realised. By breaking down the parts of the Sanskrit pose names, for example Uttanasana for Standing Forward Fold: ‘ut’ meaning intense, ‘tan’ meaning stretch and ‘asana’ meaning pose, I could learn them just like a language. I also noticed patterns of when the hips should face the side and when they should face the front. I learnt exactly what Chaturanga was – not a multi pose flow from high plank to cobra but rather a single pose of low plank. I learnt how to progress from beginners Chaturanga where most of us in our early attempts collapse to the floor to building the required upper body strength to progressively improve this pose, thereby lowering from high plank to low plank in a controlled, stable and supportive method.
How did I learn these methods for progression and improvement? I learnt them by trying myself time after time after time and paying attention to what worked and what didn’t. I applied my learnings from the world of personal development including NLP (neuro-lingual programming) to my teaching of yoga.
Despite my years of doing yoga, I don’t remember in all that time properly being shown how to do yoga breathing. Teachers would say the familiar ‘breathe using your diaphragm’ or ‘inhale lift your arms, exhale forward fold’ without explaining how this deep abdominal yoga breathing was done. At times I was adjusted by teachers so I was in correctly aligned in a pose. Without being told the reason for this alignment or the pose purpose, how could I go on to self-correct?
From yoga student to yoga teacher
At the end of my yoga teacher training, I felt a strong urge to teach. I set up teaching yoga immediately after my teaching finished. I built up over the weeks and within a few months was running 8 classes a week interspersed with my coaching work. My workspace alternated between a coaching/therapy space to yoga studio. People came to stretch and to strengthen, they came to move and they came to calm. I honed in on the importance of building core strength in yoga and as any who attend my classes will know, forearm plank became my signature pose! These yoga classes were more than just classes, they provided a welcoming, supportive and fun social community.
Building an online yoga community
Enter Coronavirus and everything changed. After spending a few weeks immersing myself in the tech side of video recording (gaining a few more grey hairs in the process! Actually at the moment that’s a bad joke!), I am now teaching yoga from the comfort of my own home to the comfort of your own home. I have realised that I am now providing the very yoga that I would have loved in all my years of home yoga. I have therefore devised my online Own Your Yoga with everything that I wanted from yoga in mind in the hope that this will appeal to you too.
A few things to mention here:
- My yoga is suitable for everyone from complete beginners to those with experience with sequences planned to aid progression
- I have kept the monthly price low to make it more accessible
- Classes are emailed out weekly – all you need to do is click the link and you are good to go!
- Weekly classes include a balanced range to build strength (overall and core), flexibility, balance and stability and inner calm.
- A weekly themed class will include the unique HypnoYoga – the ideal complement of conversational hypnotherapy and restorative yoga for positive change including sleep, stress, digestion/IBS and much more. Email your requests for session topics!
- Yoga once a week is good for you. Doing a short yoga session a few times a week or more however will change your body and mind.
I’d love to help you make yoga a regular part of your life. Click here to find out more about my online Own your Yoga.
If you are thinking ‘ hmmm, I’m not sure’, ‘I like the thought but not sure if yoga’s for me’ or ‘Will I actually do the classes’, you can try out my free 14 day online Own Your Yoga trial here.
What they say
Here are just a few of the many comments I’ve received in recent weeks:
‘Thank-you SO much for this – we need to do all we can to keep ourselves mentally and physically well’.
‘Strength and stretch – much enjoyed today’
‘Really enjoyed the online yoga, looking forward to many more’
‘Just used your recording to do a nice late evening yoga session. Thanks very much, was beautiful. I’m feeling relaxed and less stiff’
‘Loving the Yoga Nidra – totally zonks me out and today’s session well needed’
Photo courtesy of Maksim Kostenko