yoga journal Tadasana

I love to practice every day...
bit extreme some people might say....
I havnt got time...i hear you say
But yoga practice does not only mean spending an hour or so on the mat at a class!
it can be very beneficial to spend 10/15 mins each day. It can be 1st thing in the morning or evening or lunch time..in fact it can be anytime that is good for you It is your practice
So pick a time that works for you...
if you are a busy mum/dad with youngsters maybe 1st thing in the morning is never going to be an option 😟 ( early morning is a fab time to practice ..so may be putting the alarm on for 15 minutes earlier...and beating the mayhem that comes with having a young family, is an option....just a thought 😉)
I like to start my day with a glass of water ( this has many health benefits which I will go into at a later date )
My yoga practice starts with a few deep breaths..like so 
stand tall and straight in tadasana ( mountain pose ) as shown
Experience the complete stretch as you take a full body stretch from feet through hips/abdomen/chest/throat/arms/ head.....fill your whole body with breath as you breath in through the nose, whilst raising the arms above the head... out through the mouth lowering the arms back to the side of the body..as you breathe out...
I repeat this several times.
I personally like to keep my feet a few inches apart allowing me more stability.
There are many variations and can be modified to suit each individual.....most importantly do what is good for you...work to your limitations...It is your practice 
I will then follow with other asanas (positions) usually depending on how i feel at the time and what i think I will benefit most from on any given day...... ( more on these in next blogs 😍)

Enjoy your day

Namaste

you just got to ..it makes sense

its the way forward 

😉

Meditation after yoga

Yoga goes hand in hand with meditation
I'm very new to this and already enjoy some of the benefits

 I think its fair to say that some meditation sessions go better than others

( sometimes my mind can be all over the place and thoughts jumping in to my head one  after another and all I can hear is a clash of voices in my head....and then another time I can listen to the instructor and feel very calm ) 

Today was one such day.....

The instructor was fab..as usual

The class went really well and at the end I was well ready for the reward which came in the form of a 10 minute session of beautiful calm stillness..

10 minutes dosnt sound long but when its spent being still and listening to your breath it can be very beneficial and very beautiful..

it gives us the opportunity to forget our worries and stresses ..even if only for a few minutes

it gives us the opportunity to completely relax

to take a mental picture of our bodies

to slow our breathing and extend our relaxation

And the more we practice it ..the better we become ...and if we practised it for a life time... there would still be more to know

          Our instructor always ends the session, reminding us to remember the moment, the feeling, the calm...

And to take it with us ..to recall it when our next stressful moment looms....and it will

it could be tomorrow..next week..next month

Remember the calm..... And return to it 

Adho Mukha Svanasana,

Namasta ....respectful greetings to you all..

pleased to say my back is feeling a lot better and I am grateful to be able to get back to some exercise...
although its fair to say that I did exercise and stretch whilst I had back ache, and I do believe it helped a lot... although it has to be done very carefully and not to a point where there is acute pain..
( but that is just my personal way of dealing with back ache..and it might not suit every one )

I am back to my Yoga and Body Balance and I am loving it....dont really know how I got along without these in my life...I am very keen ( and a little impatient)  to improve ..and yes I know thats NOT what yoga is about 😉

my 'Adho Mukha Svanasana' downward dog is still presenting me with a few problems... ( as are a lot of the asana's..lol )
very keen to get my heels down close to the floor but this always gives me pain in my right heel!!!
and I am trying to be really good and patient ( lol ..me patient..😉)
as I know that if I try to get my heel to the floor then its never going to heel....so little and often is the course of action 
I am hoping that this course of action will allow it to heal ( no pun intended ) completely and although it will definitely take longer, i will eventually be able to work on getting those heels down....

In this instance... Pain would not Gain me anything....

Breathe..

Yoga day

Loving my Yoga ...loving our new Yoga instructor....loving how it makes me feel...

so after we lost our body balance instructor its fair to say that I didnt think Id feel the same about any other class..

BUT...

here I am ...couple of months on and I am loving my Yoga classes

Its tough .. but our instructor is awesome... she makes us feel anything is possible

I am not just enjoying the asanas..but also the meditation...

I feel I am a lot more relaxed, that I can really get into the mode...

I know its just the beginning of my yoga journey and I am looking forward to it...

So in the word of our instructor......BREATHE

(lovin it)

stay calm...its yoga

So it would be fair to say we were devastated when we lost our body balance class...not just because we ( me and all the girls in our class )  loved the class but we also loved our instructors..they were so passionate and encouraged us to be the very best we could....
so the thought that we woudnt have them again was very sad...
and we didnt think we would get a replacement any time soon!!!!
But amazingly we had a new instructor start within about a fortnight....
And she is amazing...how lucky are we...
she is a yoga instructor ..and our 1st class was last night....and it was damned hard...
but what a lovly lady.... hopefully she will stay

And as they say...no pain...no gain.... ( and breathe )

Yoga goal ...

i am enjoying yoga so much...even though it isvery early days yet..

I am so passionate about

 getting balances..stretches..balances..correct

even though some are really tough

even simple stuff like the above position ( seated forward bend )

I could not get my forehead anywhere near my knees 12 months ago... i have improved but there is room for so much more improvement...

through listening to my instructor and following people on line I have picked up several really good tips...

• breath..always a good idea ...into the stretch
• relax...try to release any tension
• some times are better than others...
• dont compete with others..everyone is different
• left n right side of body can be different... eg you may be more stretchy on left than right

I will keep trying....