epiphany!

Some time in the middle of the night, I suddenly woke up and had the craziest epiphany about my (worst) tendency. The one that ruins a lot of things for me- mainly, my happiness. I am very familiar with it but on this night- i "felt" it. Like, I completely understood it. I guess, i completely understood this one thing about me. It has taken me 24 years to have this epiphany! It comes up in my practice a lot and I have been working on it for a long long time. It feels dizzy that I have this new understanding of it! :-) I guess i want to say, I feel free. 

I know that this will come up over and over again but I think next time, I will remember the trigger and be able to deal with it better. Some things, we have to just keep working at it, and it still takes years to nail (like some yoga poses!) The good and bad things about us take years to lay it's roots, and so it is to be expected that it would take years to undo too. 

Patience and practice pays.
:-)

January News

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! 
I hope you have all had a great Christmas and NY celebrations with family and friends and can't wait to get back on your mats! :-) I am looking forward to see you anyway! I had a great experience travelling in India, with plenty of time to reflect on the amazing year 2013 has been, and the many lessons it has taught me through the many teachers in all forms, including you. I have shared pictures from my trip here if you wish to see them.

This newsletter does come with some bittersweet news. After 12 years in Norwich, I am sadly moving to Surrey some time this Spring-Summer. I have been thinking about this a lot whilst away and know that I will miss you all terribly! I look forward to seeing you guys every week and watching your amazing practices! It is going to feel crazy without you! Having said that, I am not leaving without a replacement of course. I have lined up a few incredible practitioners and dedicated yogin's who will be taking over the classes, whom you will have plenty of time to become familiar with over the next few months; in fact some of you are already friends. I have chosen them with my heart and know that you will enjoy your time with them. The 50+ class has already been handed over and while it was somewhat heart breaking, it was also joyful to see it move forward and continue to grow.

I hope you will join me as much as you can these next few months, in class, in the various workshops and gatherings ahead and perhaps even socially.

Once again, thank you for your support, your friendship, your enthusiasm, your love and all the fun over the years!
 
Keep playing & live life fully
namaste


News

6th January

All classes re-open except Tuesday 19:45
To all those who were attending Tuesday, I invite you to start to come to the Monday session.

starting 21st January

Tuesday sessions will now run as 5 week courses. It is a gentle paced hatha yoga course suitable for everyone. Pranayama will be taught in this class alongside foundation yoga poses. Great for unwinding stress or just slowing down.
Courses cost £35 for 5 weeks
Drop in sessions cost £9


16th February

Forrest Yoga Workshop with Jambo Truong
10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:30

Please click here for more information 

beginners mind

We had someone new joining us in our little intimate late session last night. She was not new to yoga but new to class as she has been practicing through DVD's at home. We played with a few vinyasa krama's, getting into Bakasana, Salamba Sirsasana 2 (tripod headstand) and Urdhva Dhanurasana. After trying each pose, she would look up, wide eyed and say 'wow!!'
It wasn't a "wow, that pose is great" but more a "wow, I am fab! I can still do that!"
:-)
We have all been there- 
when we realise we could still do something- or do it at all.
If only we continue to remember how 'wow' we are, long after those things become 'easy' or 'normal' to us.

Remember, you are 'wow'! 

Latest Class News

December News

last one for 2013

dear friends,

The energy has been explosive at the studio and it has been a joy and a privilege to have been a part of your practice. Your practice has been so inspiring and keeps my own practice, both physical and mental, incredibly motivated. I also feel such deep gratitude to be allowed to share these times with you because I know myself, how personal practice can be; a time when you are working through your battles, internally, or externally. I understand how vulnerable it can feel at times. It is really a "big" thing for me to be allowed to be a part of all that and I thank you from my heart for this trust.

Thank you for another amazing year!

Keep playing & live life fully
namaste


News

Closing / Opening

My last class for 2013 will run on the 6th December. I will be run a list round for cover classes for the two weeks in December and will update everyone on whether there will be class cover or not before i leave. You can check on my website for updates or facebook group.

Classes will resume on the 6th January 2014

Yoga Gives Back & Kirtan

The third Yoga Gives Back event will be running on the 30th November at the studio. The class will run from 15:00 - 16:30 and cost £10, all of which will go towards the charity, Yoga Gives Back. Please let me know if you are able to come along as at the moment, only a handful of people have responded.

Following the class will be a kirtan lead by Lou & I, to welcome Lou's little Lila to the kula and also as a little closing for the year. This will run from 17:00 and all are welcome to join us! Kids too!

Yoga Gives Back link here or check it out on my website

5 Day Immersion 

The 5 morning immersion will be running from the 2nd - 6th December. We will begin each morning at 06:45 and it is recommended that you stay till 07:45 at least. Otherwise, we run till 08:00. There are a few spaces left if you would like to join in.
This year the immersion will be about sequencing for your practice. Immersions are a way to help you develop your home practice and is open to everyone except complete beginners.  No drop in's so please email to book a space if you would like to come along.


Ahead

Here are some dates for your 2014 calendar if you are thinking about workshops or holidays next year:

4th January

Opening class- Sankalpa
10:00 - 12:00

16th February

Forrest Yoga Workshop with Jambo Truong
10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:30
(book early to avoid disappointment)

12th - 17th May

Bali Yoga Holiday

1st - 3rd August (tbc)

Camping Yoga Weekend in North Norfolk
more like glamping - limited spaces

14th - 16th November

Autumn Spa & Retreat, Sweden

Please check for update on the website here


Last but not least, I wish you and your family, a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
May all beings have a peaceful and joyful year.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.

super strength

Every time I stop to hear someone's story, it touches me so deeply how strong some of us have to be in life. Super strength is in fact, human strength. the strength of the heart and soul. 

One theme run throughout these stories though...
We all have our battles, great and small but we also all have our victories, great & small. Our yoga practice illuminates this each time we step onto our mats. We come with expectations, struggles, insecurities, love for our body, hate for our body, envy, admiration, ego, humbleness, hope, fears.... All of life's battle in one practice :-) My practice reminds me every time, to notice and celebrate each little victory; as i feel my body in a new way, find a pose in a new way, defeat a defeating thought or feel a pose for the first time! And it also shows me how each "rubbish" practice (or each "battle" lost) just reveals to me more strength, more determination and more wisdom to try again with sturdy equanimity. It has definitely taught me to notice the finer details of life- not just see a moment as having won or lost, but as many little processes, all victorious! 

That is not to say that I live each day victoriously! Haha! Don't i wish?! But learning to be mindful moment to moment, and not beating myself up when i loose the plot, has definitely been the greatest gift of yoga. I hope you find your gifts too. 

I salut you all super humans! For your resilience, your tenacity and your spirit. 

comfort zones

Comfort zones just creep into our lives without invitation and without prejudice. It takes a hold of us and starts to build this fear fence around us! It's gripping! 

I've noticed in the last couple of years how I seem to have developed more concrete ideas about what I like & dislike and find myself in these gripping comfort zones! I find myself reluctant to try new things or explore workshops that offer new perspectives especially! And I know now that it is out of fear. And anyone who knows me will tell you that this is completely out of character of me!! 

Recently, I attended Ana Forrest's workshop. I signed up for it because my friends were going to be there (to cut a long story short) I had signed up for her firts visit to the u.k. but it did not run as she had become ill. So it wasn't something I had not considered before. I did not read anything about it; just signed up. A couple of days before the retreat, I received a email inviting me to choose the workshops I had wanted to do. How peculiar that those words caused me to cringe & contract! I thought "oh my word! What is this?? But...I had paid, so let's just get on with it and if I really hate it, I can skip the second day" Even writing this makes me laugh & makes me quite annoyed that I should have even thought those things! At this workshop, I received wisdom that was new to me, wisdom that had been forgotten to me & an experience that blew my heart open. Imagine if I had missed it because some words made me insecure! Because it was something unfamiliar to me! Imagine what I would have lost out on! It would have also been lost to all whom I had shared this with immediately after. Wow...

The irony of it all is that in the previous year, I felt the same about another teacher, Rod Stryker's workshop, that turned out to be one of the most powerful yoga intensive I had ever experienced!

I've come to realise this:

In the last couple of years, I have developed comfort zones that I feel really uncomfortable, or unwilling to get outside of. I don't want to say stuck - this is all new so I am still working it out. It's as if when I turned 40, a crazy switch got turned on and now I have to be so aware of this crazy space that I am in. 

I am in Crete on a retreat at the moment- writing this. I am still not afraid to come to yoga retreats alone at least. But..phht yoga retreats are the best places to go on holiday if you have no one to travel with. You always meet great people and you will always feel included and safe. I recommend yoga rocks here in Crete. So anyway. What I did have to do is drive myself from the airport here. Left hand drive and all. Let me tell you, I get lost even following a sat nav! And of course, I got lost....& broke my side view mirror! Aaarrrggghhhh!! But- I got here I could have taken a cab but the idea of driving on my own got me so scared I just had to do it. It never used to scare me, so it had to be done. I'm glad I did it. Whatever. The point is, it sounds so silly- but it is exactly these silly things that easily builds up into bothersome big things. 

How mad that as I purportedly gain wisdom, I lose courage? That as I seemingly gain knowledge, my mind should narrow! That with all this amazing life experiences, I should choose not to experience anything new!? Thank you yoga for giving me the insight to at least be aware of this so that I may work on it. And here I am bathing in beauty, nurtured by the sounds of crashing waves as i share this with you. Something unlikely if this fear fence just got too big! 

 

Shine! Click Click!

I am sat here waiting for my friend, who will be my photographer today...
My hands are sweaty and my stomach is turning..
Last year, during my 'Four Desires' training with my teacher Rod Stryker, it came up in my work that I would make every effort to be in the background so I made a sankalpa to 'shine like a bright star'. I am not sure if I have been doing much shinning since then, but I have definitely become more conscious of my background hiding..

O.K... so he has come and gone!
It has been a good experience for me on a few levels; getting over myself, not really believing I can look anything special, trusting someone with my vulnerabilities, trusting myself?! I thought it was going to be harder doing this with a friend who is also a yogi, but it turned out great as we were completely honest with each other and had the same idea where this was going. You will soon see that I still did a lot of hiding but it was a great big first step for me and I am really so happy I did it. I am also so grateful to my friend for this experience and especially, for making GREAT compositions! I felt comfortable once I saw the first shot. It was no longer about me but about our expression of a combination of things that we both loved - yoga, colours, photography, alignment...The pictures are beautiful and I feel good about them. But... whilst I love them, it was a lot about the experience! I was thinking throughout, i can do this!! I am doing it! I did it!! :-)))))

At the end of the session, we tried to shoot a portrait and I have to say... epic fail on my part. Ultimately... when it is just about me, the challenge continues. Frustrating!
But I am on it.