What do you think or feel towards your own body?

Do you have a good relationship with your body?

Do you look after and nourish  your body?

Are you grateful for what your body does for you?

Recently I have been doing a lot of working on gratitude. I has helped me redirect how I think about myself, life and the world around me.

Today during yoga practice with that gratitude process on my mind it popped into my head that despite everything my body does for me I am pretty mean to it.Even before looking at how I judge my body aesthetically, I work my body hard through yoga, walking, occasionally running, staying up late, not giving it enough rest and recently it has not been nourished as my food consumption has not only been poor but excessive.

And despite this it keeps going, achieving all of the above as well as all the little things I take for granted.

Do you take your body for granted?

Think about it what do our bodies do on a daily basis?

We all are more aware of important body functions such as heart, lungs, kidney, bowel, bladder liver function but are we grateful for it? Do you think about it?

The same can be said of our bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments? Perhaps not as intrinsically important as your inner workings but you can’t drink a cup of tea without needing to lift your arm and when broken down the mind to muscle movement is complex… are you grateful for that?

My thoughts during yoga this morning were that my arms will never be long enough to do certain poses. Blessed with the arms of a T-rex sometimes I find it frustrating at not achieving certain poses however instead of judging myself I turned it on its head and began to think what do my awesome T-rex arms do for me?

My arms are strong, so much stronger now than when I started yoga and as a result there are many yoga poses I can do and do well. My arms help me keep balance, they can lift, push, pull, reach. They help me play ukulele, do gardening, crafting, read a book, type, cuddle, climb, cook, eat and as I said earlier and very importantly let me drink tea! The list is endless. I am grateful for my arms.

Now that I applied my gratitude to my arms I considered this thought about the rest of my body, about all bodies. About how we treat ourselves. About how we think about ourselves. How we judge ourselves.

Big, small, short or tall, are you happy with what you have as a body?

Do you judge your body on how it looks or on what it does for you?

If you broke down what your whole body does for you on a physical level everyday and were grateful for that, do you think you would start to see your body and therefore yourself differently?

Do you think if you were grateful for your body you would start to treat it differently?

Could you hydrate it more? Nourish it more? Rest it more? Stretch it with kindness more?

what would happen if we said thing like

Hey body we just worked a 12 hr shift and you never failed me once!! Thank you

or

Great yoga practice, I know you were tired but I could really feel what you needed and we did it!!

or

Thank you for getting me up out of bed and making me my breakfast!!

What happens if we apply the same care to our bodies that we are beginning to use in our minds. Gratitude and gentle awareness

Anyway those were my morning yoga thoughts!

Do I have a conclusion to these thoughts?

Maybe, sort of and kinda… We are all (hopefully)getting better at looking after our minds with meditation and mindfulness. Yet we still very much take our physicality for granted. No matter how hard our bodies work through exercise or as a normal part of our daily lives there is very little acknowledgement, it is expected. And then we are mean, we call it names like fat or scrawny, we fill it with unhealthy food and we ignore it. Why? Our bodies never stop working for us day and night so what happens when we start saying positive things and begin loving our physical selves? What if we stop saying I will love my body WHEN……. and instead choose to love it NOW for what it can do/did do today.

Try to be grateful to your body today even if it is for the amazing muscle motion that makes you a cup of tea!

Its a New Moon today and not only does that give me an excuse to do some gentle moon salutations (Chandra Namaskar). It lets me set a new intention and affirmation for the coming few weeks. Clearly you can set an intention or affirmation anytime but for me the New Moon is best.

Since the beginning of time the moon has inspired humans. It has set the scene for romance, magic and horror within literature and art.

The moon has great energy not only symbolically but in reality. What would happen if we did not have a moon?

Scientists have known for centuries that the moon alters Earth’s ecosystems through gravity. As it spins around our planet, warping space-time, the moon contributes to a complex contortion of the oceans, producing twin bulges we call the tides. In turn, the daily marriage and separation of land and sea transforms the topography of numerous species’ homes and the access they have to food, shelter, and each other.

(…)
The moon also stabilizes Earth’s climate. Earth does not have perfect posture; it is tilted along its polar axis, circling the sun at an angle of about 23 degrees. The moon acts as an anchor, preventing the Earth from varying its axial tilt by more than a degree or two. Without the moon, our planet would likely wobble about like a dreidel, tilting a full 10 degrees every 10,000 years, and possibly oscillating the global climate between ice ages and hellish heat the likes of which no species has ever endured.

Excerpt from an article by Ferris Jabr, Hakai Magazine. Read the full article here Smithsonianmag

The act or an instance act or an instance of affirming; state of being affirmed.

Something that is affirmed; a statement or proposition that is affirmed; a statement or proposition that is declared to be true

On a New Moon before my yoga practice I write a note simply stating what I want to believe of myself. Sometimes a simple ‘I am Strong’ other times something more specific. I put it under my yoga mat before and bring it to mind when I need it. I always feel my practice is stronger. When I am finished practice I put the note on my notice board or under my pillow a visual reminder of my affirmation.

Thats as simple as it gets.

Is it strange that I believe that by writing something positive down it can happen? That I can change? Its no more wierd than listening to the voice in our head that says something negative. We all know the damage that we do by talking negatively to ourselves.

What happens if we change that around? What happens if we believe in ourselves?

Some simple affirmations are;

I am Strong

I am Brave

I am Enough

But you can write anything. You can be more specific to personal growth or a life goal.

The world is your oyster

Its been 4 weeks since I got my beautiful new yoga pants and top from wildemode and thought it would be appropriate to give an update.

I first met wildemode last year as part of a business training course. I was working on allnewyogalife and she was making beautiful pants as wildemode. Straight away I was inspired by her fresh approach to underwear. Big bright and beautiful pants that were comfortable (I know because I bought & wear some) Even then I thought she could make the most amazing yoga pants and that there was definitley a future for her inspired designs. What was also inspiring was her determination to work for herself, support her family and create something new and cool in an industry that is mostly led by negative body image. Wildemode designs are for everyBODY and reminding me of my ethos that yoga should be for everyBODY. Products are also eco-friendly, fair-trade and supply sustainable.

Unfortunatley at that point and time I didn’t need new yoga pants and chose to make do with my mostly plain black lycra. Dont get me wrong I love black and wear it a lot but for my yoga practice my heart yearned for something fresh and exciting, colourful and supportive.

Then over Christmas and New Year I was poorly and lost a lot of weight. My Yoga practice slipped with a lack of stamina and strength and I generally felt rubbish. When I finally got back to regular practice and teaching my usual yoga pants didn’t fit. Not very professional to keep hitching up your trousers while teaching a class.

However every cloud has a silver lining! I needed new yoga pants and something to help get me back to being 100% yogi again, wildemode had the perfect solution. All it took was one message and one meeting to choose fabrics. Two days later I had perfect bespoke leggings well worth what I paid for them. So colourful, comfy, supportive and made to fit me, my body! And due to a new design at wildemode, two days after that I had a yoga top to match. Clearly they would not actually give me strength but I felt good in them and feeling good is half the battle.

On a practical side the products are wearing well. I practice yoga daily and since my new yoga togs are my favourite I have been wearing them alot. Both items wash well and have not lost colour. They have kept elasticity, no sagging or bagging, the stitching is still strong and they let me move freely in and out of poses.

Conclusion:

Fantastically handmade clothing by an amazing lady I would definitley recommend wildemode to anyone looking for something special as part of their yoga (and pant) wardrobe.

Check out http://www.wildemode.com

for perfect pants and get in touch to design your own yoga pants.

Today I set myself a challenge. Having been doing Yoga for four years now and enjoying every minute. There are very few poses that I won’t try even though I am far from expert. However I have to be honest and say there are a set of asanas that I have been avoiding.

Inversions

Even the word makes me uncomfortable.

Inversions include Headstand (Sirsasana), Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana), Forearm balance (Pincha Mayurasana) and Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana).

There are many more inversions and variations of each inversion. However not being able to get past these four has left me limited.

When I was doing my YTT we had to do headstands and handstands every day. It was my least favourite part of the course and actually dreaded it.

So why am I pushing myself to do it now?

Because that is what life is for.

Challenging ourselves.

Right back when we were babies we challenged ourselves, sitting up, walking, eating, talking every step a huge goal and totally amazing.

This led us to school where we challenged ourselves through education, exams, joining clubs and social interaction.

Then as grown ups we become a little less eager to push our boundaries, finding comfort in the familiar. The quest to find something new becomes hard work and this can make us blinkered or insecure.

I am blinkered and insecure about Inversions.

Its not because I can’t do them, it is the fear of what happens if it goes wrong, fear of what I look like and fear of not acheiving the perfect pose which is crazy because my yoga ethos is that everyones own pose is perfect for them.

Some Yogis can handstand all day long finding perfect balance with no wall for support. It can be a beautiful and graceful thing. It is good for blood circulation, lymphatic drainage, it helps develop focus & patience and generally can help you feel uplifted!

Sounds great doesn’t it?!

So here starts the challenge. For the next month my personal yoga practice will revolve around inversion prep work and inversions. I will be kind and patient with myself, take time to find my own pose and not worry if it all goes wrong.

For all of you I will post daily on allnewyogalife Facebook & Instagram. And at the end of the month will do a before and after photo.

After 30 days if I still feel the same way then I will know that inversions are not for me.

But at least i can say I tried.

I love yoga…

Yoga provides me with a different way of looking at life, a different way of breathing, different ways to move my body and mind, helping me to switch off or switch on to everyday living. Since beginning yoga, I have become stronger physically and emotionally. Every single practice brings a fresh experience. For a short while this was enough but after helping friends with their practice, it was easy to realise I love yoga more when I share it. Therefore, I teach.

It is important for me to teach yoga the way I love yoga and it is so important for me to get each class right for my clients.  

Yoga is based on the natural world with most poses being named after Flora and Fauna because as yogis we are trying to mimic the physical and emotional strength and resilience that is found in nature. We then use this movement (asana)and breathing (pranayama) to try to balance the mind and body.

Each yoga brand, style or class has its own way of doing this.

So how would I describe my classes?

The goal of my class is to take you back to simple movement and then find strength in that movement. As we get older, we stiffen purely because we restrict ourselves. As babies we moved constantly while learning to sit up, crawl, walk. The floor being our mat. Children still move freely but already restricted by desks at school, dinner at the table, tv watching on the sofa. Nothing wrong with all these things but imagine if we kept as active and as curious as babies all our lives?

Every class begins with a breathing practice and a slow warm up of the spine, neck and hips. These are key points for pain and injury and for me it is important that they are warmed up properly before any further poses are considered. The class will gently pick up from here using a sequence of poses (flow) designed to focus on a specific body area; Back Bends, Hip Opening, Twists, Inversions etc. before coming to a peak pose then winding down towards a blissful ten minute rest in Corpse Pose (Savasana). Corpse Pose is how we close a yoga class. It relaxes the body, mind and nervous system allowing it to process your practice before having to get on with the rest of your day.

So far most of my classes have consisted of beginners. This is brilliant. Beginners are keen to learn and have formed no opinion of how yoga should be done. They are open to find what yoga can do for them.  In class we never assume poses with rigidity, we take time to find our way into them. Everyone has a different body shape because our bones and muscles will have developed differently as we have aged. When we achieve a pose, it is our own personal version of that pose, very rarely will there be an adjustment. working with these ideals provides a safe and comfortable class for everyone.

Come and try for yourself and if my class is not for you I will happily recommend one that will be.

Namaste