What is Vision Yoga?

What is Vision Yoga? 

Vision yoga is a holistic vision therapy that combines the transformative effects of Yoga, Somatic Movement and Natural Vision Improvement.  

Vision is a process which involves our eyes, mind, and body, so we will be exploring how to bring harmony and balance to our whole being.  

Vision Yoga uses simple and easy movements and techniques to release tension and promote relaxation.

Who is it for? 

Vision Yoga is especially useful people with vision issues, but it is also beneficial for those who want to maintain healthy eyesight.  

It’s excellent for developing hand-eye coordination for dance, sports and improving Yoga practice. It is also beneficial for creative people that want to harness their imagination and expand their way of seeing. 

Naomi has 20 years teaching experience and will be able to accommodate the class to suit your needs.  

Vision Yoga is suitable for all levels of students, including beginners. 

What’s the benefit? 

As Vision Yoga is a holistic therapy, you’ll notice clarity and improvement in your overall health and wellbeing. 

Through this practice, Naomi has improved her Myopia (short sightedness), Astigmatism (blurry vision), dry eyes and avoided getting Presbyopia (old age sight). She’s also gained many other health benefits such as better memory and imagination, and co-ordination.  

People have also reported seemingly unrelated benefits such as release in tension around neck and shoulders, improved mental clarity and better sleep. It has even changed the appearance of wrinkles, as they’ve learnt how to relax their face.  

 How can I lean more? 

 There is a Vision Yoga class every Friday from 12:15-1:00pm at the Bristol Yoga Centre, in Bristol UK. You can also join this class online. Please book via our booking system.

You can also check our Vision Yoga website for upcoming events.  

If you have a specific issues or problems that you’d like to address, you may want to arrange a private class. Please feel free to contact Naomi for more information. 

Our 1-2-1 classes are available online or in-person at Bristol Yoga Centre or at Naomi’s home practice room. For more details on price and locations, please visit Vision Yoga, private class page.  

Natural tips for Better Sleep

Sleeping well is important for our mental and physical wellbeing, you feel so wonderfully refreshed and energised when you’ve had a good night’s sleep. However, when you haven’t slept well, it can be a slog to perform even simple tasks. 

Since going through my perimenopause, I started experiencing sleep problems more frequently. Sometimes, I find it difficult to fall asleep at night and other times wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. I noticed that lots of people (regardless of gender or age) were having similar issues, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of my experiences and some natural tips on how to get a better night sleep. 

I began researching sleep because of the impact it was having on my life. One of the sleep experts that I heard pointed out how important it is for us to feel safe before we can fall asleep. This makes complete sense as it’s essential to stay awake if you’re in danger. But nowadays most of our worries and anxieties are not physical threats but more often stem from mental or emotional causes. We can even become distressed over lack of sleep, which really compounds the problem. 

Relaxation is fundamental for letting go of our worries and helping us to get better sleep. As usual, I suggest that you take a holistic approach and experiment and see what works for you. Here’s things you can explore and see what makes you feel most relaxed and calm:  

Breathing 

Connecting to your breath and slowing down you’re breathing. It might be helpful to place your hands on your chest and belly to feel the breath more easily. Check out my previous blogs on breathing for more tips.  

Eye Mask 

This was one of the most effective tools to help me to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night. I recommend that you buy something breathable and ultra-comfortable like this one. I’ve tried different masks and this was by far the best because you can make adjustments to fit your face well and it felt comfortable and natural.  

Visualising 

Using visualisation techniques can be helpful when our minds are racing and won’t stop. Involving your senses is often very effective way to help your mind towards sleep. Perhaps remember a familiar place that you’ve visited and walk through the entire place, room by room slowly remembering all the structures, furniture, and objects in the building. I would recommend choosing somewhere neutral that doesn’t have too much emotion attached.  

Palming eyes and ears 

It can be incredibly soothing to place your palms over your eyes and ears before bedtime. You can read how to palm your eyes on my previous blogs. For palming your ears, simply cup them like you would for your eyes and hear sound of your breathing. It’s said to be healing for your eyes and your ears, and it’s very relaxing.  

Gentle movement 

Gentle non-stimulating movement can do wonders to relax the body and mind. I recommend doing some down to earth practice such as Pawanmuktasana (joint releasing movement), Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep). You can get many different recordings to guide you through Yoga Nidra on the internet.   

Warming up and cooling down your body 

My favourite way to prepare for bed is to take a bath, you can also take a shower or a lovely foot bath. I also love a warming herbal tea, camomile and lavender are both excellent natural sleep aids. Wearing socks in bed can also help if they’re cold in the winter, as the body has difficulty in sleeping when the extremities are cold.  

Read a book 

Reading a book is far better than using any devices before you your sleep. Try reading easy-going books to relax the mind. Sometimes reading a very absorbing book can be helpful to shift your focus away from anxiety and worries.  

Journal 

Keeping a journal or a diary can help you to digest and let go of your worries. It will also help you to connect to your feelings and emotions better. Some people find it useful to have a notepad and pen near bed side table.  

Circadian rhythm 

To regulate your circadian rhythm, try to go outside in the morning to get some sunlight and use low lighting at night to experience darkness. If you need to use device in the evening, you can use an app to filter out the blue light. You can also install black out curtains which are very useful in the summer.  

 Holding your thumbs 

One of my vision improvement teachers who specialises in Jin Shin Jutsu, taught me this technique that’s surprisingly very effective. You simply hold your thumb with your other hand and connect with your breathing. If you’re still awake, do the same thing on the other thumb. You can also go through all your fingers as well. Incorporating slow, relaxed breathing will double the effects.  

---

There will be times when you simply won’t be able to get to sleep. In those times, take naps and Savasana (full relaxation) during the day. Meditation is also a wonderful way to connect with what’s going on in your life, helping you digest and let go of your experience. These practices will help with your energy levels and mental clarity.  

There are further things that you can do such as drinking less alcohol and to stop taking caffeine in the afternoon and evening. Before bedtime, try to do less activities that stimulate you and instead find relaxing things to unwind.  

Ironically, we often experience these problems when we need our sleep the most, but hopefully these tips will help you on the path to a better night’s rest.  

Yoga for Eyes: 5 tips for relieving Dry Eyes

Many people experience dry eyes, I used to get them frequently when I wore contact lenses and glasses. There are many potential causes of dry eyes, which can be found on the NHS website.

Instead of opting for expensive solutions like eye drops or laser treatments, why don’t you give these suggestions a go first? These tips are easy to follow and best of all, they’re free! I recommend that you try them without your glasses or contact lenses.

1.     Palming

Palming is great for relaxing the eyes and calming the mind. It’s wonderful if you’ve been starring at a screen all day, almost like savasana (full relaxation) for the eyes. Simply cover your eyes with your open palms. You can look at my previous post on palming for more information and details on how to do palming.  

2.     Face Massage

Give your face a lovely face massage regularly. It’s also great for improving your skin and reducing lines. You can also gently tap and stroke around the eyes, and even your eye lids. Your eyes are sensitive so be soft and gentle.

3.     Blink

When we spend a long time on screen, our blink rate is reduced which can explain why dry eyes are common for people who work on computers all day. You can try blinking as much as you can in a minute by fluttering your eyelids very quickly like the wings of a butterfly.  It's also very effective to squeeze your eyelids closed for couple of seconds to encourage the tear ducts.

4.     Spend time outside

It’s now common knowledge that spending time outside is great for your overall health and wellbeing. Exposing your eyes to the air and wind can get your tear ducts working and help to lubricate your eyes. Perhaps you can even do butterfly blinks or squeezy blinks outside to get double the effect.  

5.     Eye focused meditation

Have a go at the following eye focused meditation. Close your eyes and soften your facial muscles. You can optionally do palming or use an eye pillow to help settle the mind and relax the eyes. Notice your breathing and start to encourage your breath to become slow and smooth. Relax your forehead and muscles around your eyes. Feel your eyes resting quietly in its sockets and imagine two round balls gently floating in water. Allow your eyes to soften, feeling into them as you continue to breathe slowly and easily. Imagine breathing into your eyes with the rhythm of your breath as the two balls gently move. Try doing this meditation for 5 - 10 minutes regularly. 

A bonus tip would be to try using a heated or cold compress or an eye mask. These can be really soothing and nice when your eyes are feeling irritated. It’ll also helps to keep yourself hydrated and take regular breaks from the computer or devices.

Having a holistic approach is often very effective so have a go at these suggestions and see what works for you. If the problems persist or becomes worse, do visit your GP.

You may find that your eyes will become waterier than you’re used to through doing these practices but I’ve found that this will balance out over time.

The Benefits of Palming

In the winter months, we tend to spend more time indoors and doing things on screens, especially in lockdown. Whilst it’s amazing that we have the technology to communicate with our friends and family and be able to work online, it can be straining for the eyes and mind.

According to the Concise Human Body Book, eyesight provides the brain with more information than all other senses combined – more than half of the input in the conscious mind is estimated to enter through the eyes. With so much information coming in, it can do wonders to take a break and give them well-deserved rest.

Palming is sometimes taught in yoga classes to refresh and relax the eyes and mind. It can also help to release facial muscles and naturally reduce frown lines.

In the Bates Method, palming is used to restore natural vision through relaxation. Nathan Oxenfeld, a Bates Method and Yoga Teacher said,

‘Palming is the most important and beneficial form of relaxation in the Bates Method. The warmth of your hands relaxes the six muscles around each eye and attracts more energy and blood flow.  The darkness relaxes the ciliary muscles, retina and optic nerves.’

Nathan recommends doing palming from 3 to 10 times a day for 30 seconds to over 30 minutes. Give it a go and see how your eyes and mind feels after palming!

How to do Palming

Wash your hands before the practice

Short Practice

Rub your hands together to create some heat. Cover your eyes gently with the palm of your hands. You can either keep your eyes opened or closed. Let your eyes naturally move, as they want to. Breathe in and out slowly and mindfully. After couple of minutes, slide your hands off. Repeat again couple of times if you have the time.

Longer Practice

Choose to lie down or sit up. Make sure that you’re comfortable by using cushion or pillow to support the arms and blankets to make sure you’re warm.

During a longer session of palming, you can listen to your favourite music, radio or podcasts. You can also try visualising pleasant happy memory, using all of your senses. For example, sunny day out on the beach.  You can recall the sounds of the waves, smell of the sea, feel of the water on your skin and the taste of ice cream.

When you’re ready to come out of palming, slowly take the hands away and open your eyes slowly to adjust them to lights. Try blinking your eyes softly few times.

You can use eye pillow or masks instead of your palms but it can be very therapeutic to use your own warm hands. 

It’s best to gradually lengthen the time of palming so that your arms and hands do not over tire.

Differential Relaxation Technique

Differential Relaxation Technique

Differential relaxation exercise is thought to be one of the easiest and most effective ways to learn how to reduce tension. It’s commonly used as a stress management tool and for improving overall physical performance.

We tend to tense and over work many muscles that could be in a state of relaxation. In this technique, you’ll learn how to relax the muscles that you’re not using and only use the muscles that you essentially need. For example, if you’re typing, you need to move your hands and arms but you can relax the shoulders, neck and facial muscles. This will help you to feel less tired and more energetic throughout the day and help you avoid building unwanted tension. This concept can be applied to many activities including walking and running.

This principle can also be used in your yoga practice. In any posture, some parts of the body and certain muscles are actively involved in achieving and maintaining the posture, while others are involved to a lesser extent or completely relaxed. For example the tree pose; your legs, hips and trunk of the body need to be engaged but you can relax other parts of your body such as shoulders, neck and facial muscles. This relaxation technique will assist you to become more conscious of your body and improve your practice. Try using this method next time your on you’re yoga mat. 

It’s thought that elite athletes can achieve a state of differential relaxation more easily than other people. The method avoids creating unwanted tension, which can interfere with the performance of skilled movements. 

Try and incorporate this technique in your everyday activities and learn to keep your body relaxed. Remember to:  

•     Use only parts of the body that you need

•       Relax the parts of the body that are not being used

Exercise

1. Lie in Savasana (full relaxation pose). Try tensing one part of the body and being aware of all the other parts of the body being relaxed.

2. Sit up and feel the whole body. Be aware of parts of the body that are working to keep you upright. Try and relax parts of the body that are not being used.

3. Now try standing up and doing the same

4. You can also try walking around and see if you can keep yourself as relaxed as possible

Awareness is the greatest agent for change - Eckhart Tolle

Insomnia and Yoga by Meera Watts

Yoga offers many health benefits and one of them includes alleviating insomnia. Through stretching, breathing, and mindfulness yoga improves your strength and flexibility, breathing, reduces stress and enhances brain functions. A recent study has also found that yoga can help you sleep if you have chronic insomnia. The Harvard Medical study looked into how doing yoga every day could affect people with insomnia.

The study conducted began with subjects learning how to do basic yoga. They were then asked to maintain the daily practice for eight weeks. Diaries were kept before the yoga began for two weeks before. They also took notes during the eight weeks of daily yoga. In total, twenty people completed the eight week study. Researchers then analyzed the information given to see if yoga helped with their chronic insomnia.

Types of Insomnia

Primary insomnia is the inability to sleep that occurs on its own. It is dependent on health problems or a sleep disorder. Secondary insomnia occurs as a system when there is another medical condition within the patient. This can be anything from cancer to chronic pain to depression. Some of the medications taken for acute health conditions can also cause insomnia.

How Yoga Helped Patients with Chronic Insomnia

The study found that for those who finished the eight weeks of yoga, they experienced improvements in:

•    Their sleep efficiency
•    Their total time of sleeping
•    Their total waking time
•    How long it took them to fall asleep
•    When they would wake up after falling asleep

While there hasn’t been a lot of research conducted on yoga and how it affects sleep, it is possible that yoga can be used as a treatment for sleep issues.

A Yoga Practice Before Bed

The reason you’re not sleeping could be for many reasons. Some have fibromyalgia so their chronic pain keeps them up at night. Some people just can’t seem to ‘switch off’ and they lie awake ruminating about things. Whatever the reasons, there is a yoga pose for pretty much every issue that is causing you to lose sleep. These basic poses are specifically to calm the body and mind before bed. You may also want to incorporate poses that help your specific medical conditions also.

Start with a Meditation

To get ready for bed, put you pajamas on. Turn the lights down and get yourself comfortable. Sit cross legged or in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and start to focus on your breathing. Do this for a few minutes. When thoughts come up, don’t hold onto them. Go back to the breath. This is to bring you to your center and to quiet the mind.

Simple Spinal Twist

As you sit cross legged, inhale and make yourself as tall as possible. As you exhale, you will twist your midsection to the left. If you have something to grab onto, you can use this to go slightly deeper into the stretch. Remain in the twist while breathing a few times. As you exhale, return your torso back to center. Inhale and then exhale your twist to the right side. Repeat this a few times. Take it slowly.

Cross Legged Bend

With your legs still crossed, bend forward from the hips and stretch your hands out in front of you. If you can get your belly to your feet and your head to the floor, that’s ideal but this may take some time to master. Stay here for a few breaths and notice the stretch your experience in your hips and back.

Seated Forward Bend

Bring your legs out in front of you so they’re straight with a slight microbend in the knees. Sit up high as you inhale. When you exhale, reach your hands out to your feet. You want to keep your back flat which means you may have to bend your knees. This pose stretches out the hamstrings which alleviates pressure in the lower back.

Knees to Chest Pose

Lie down on your back and put your head on your pillow. Bring one knee into the chest and grab your shin to pull it closer to you. Stay in this pose for a few deep breaths. Switch legs and repeat a few times. Then head both your knees into your chest. Rock side to side onto your back, allowing your whole back to relax and release. Knees to chest pose lengthens the extended knee while loosening tight hips. This is where stress lives so releasing it before bed can be quite helpful in relaxing you.

Doing these poses before bed can help you sleep. They are deeply relaxing and help to calm the mind as you are doing something physical. When you do yoga daily, you are also going to alleviate some of the pain or discomforts you’re experiencing that are the cause of sleep loss.

Bio:

Meera Watts is a yoga teacher, entrepreneur and mom. Her writing on yoga and holistic health has appeared in Elephant Journal, CureJoy, FunTimesGuide, OMtimes and others. She’s also the founder and owner of SiddhiYoga.com, a yoga teacher training school based in Singapore. Siddhi Yoga runs intensive, residential trainings in India (Rishikesh, Goa and Dharamshala), Indonesia (Bali)

Website:  https://www.siddhiyoga.com

Back from a yoga retreat in heaven!

‘It is the eye that discovers the mystery of light, not only the moon and the stars and the vast splendours of the Aurora, but the endless changes the earth undergoes under changing lights’ - Nan Shepherd

I’ve just come back from teaching in an amazing 7 night yoga retreat in Chamonix, France. This year we’ve teamed up with Bluerise Retreats and organised a yoga, hiking and spa holiday in a luxurious chalet with a stunning view of Mont Blanc and the Bossons glacier.  The weather was so great that we practiced yoga outside overlooking the magnificent mountains next to a stream with lots of wild flowers. Spring is so magical in Chamonix!

The chalet had large outdoor Jacuzzis, a steam room and sauna which was especially nice after the alpine hikes. Suzi, our hike guide was lovely and very knowledgeable about the local wildlife. I even managed to see ibex and a golden eagle! We also practiced yoga in the mountain during one of our hikes.

We had a lovely mix of people from different age groups, nationalities and experience of yoga. Some people were training to be a yoga teachers but we also had a beginner that’d never practiced before. He said he really enjoyed yoga and wanted to do some more when he got home. We did an energetic class in the morning and restorative session in the evening. We had time to explore different practices such as Yin yoga, Yoga Nidra, Pranayama, chanting and mudras. I really enjoy teaching mixed abilities students and knowing that everyone can do yoga together.

The food at the retreat was exceptional. Lisa, the chef is a vegetarian and lovingly prepared 3 course meal for us every night even though she was heavily pregnant with twins. You could see that she loved cooking! I don't think I've had such a creative and delicious vegetarian food before. Her breakfast, lunch and snacks were equally exciting and tasty.

Bluerise retreat team made every effort to make us all feel at home. They were so friendly and delightful people to be around. They even arranged a luxurious Spa day out in Italy and a movie night with popcorn!  

There were lots of organised activities but we also had free time to do other things. Some people went climbing together or just relaxed and enjoyed the Spa facilities!

On the last day of the retreat, we had an air hockey tournament and they organised some live music for us too! Eleanor, the founder of Bluerise Retreat, is a well known musician in Chamonix and sang and played guitar for us. Anna who looked after our every need also had a fantastic mesmerising voice too. It was such a perfect way to end an amazing holiday. Suzanne, one of the retreat goers said ‘this has been the best yoga retreat I’ve been on and I’ve been on quite a few!’ Uta, another student said ‘thanks for all the laughs!’

We talked about doing another yoga retreat in Sri Lanka together so watch this space! It will be lovely to work with Bluerise Retreat again.

In the meantime, Bristol Yoga Centre has organised another wonderful yoga retreat in France from 20-27th June 2018. We are currently offering 10% off, please see here for details.

Therapeutic Yoga

“The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.” - TKV Desikachar

We have just started a new therapeutic yoga class at Bristol Yoga Centre. Therapeutic yoga is a slower pace class, which focuses on mindful movement, breath awareness and relaxation practices. Space is given to explore postures and to encourage a deeper awareness of body and breath - which has many benefits for physical and psychological health and wellbeing.

One regular student commented, ‘Since I started yoga classes, I have gained more mobility, can deal with my painful joints better and am sleeping better at night’.

Therapeutic yoga class is great for beginners as well as those returning to yoga after a break. It’s also beneficial for people with injuries and those wishing to improve energy levels and combat insomnia. Regular practice can help to reduce pain, lessen worry and manage stress levels.

Rather than pushing and forcing, more gentle purposeful movement is used to heal the mind and body. Relaxation is the key to opening and letting go, and it’s one of the most important aspects of yoga practice. When you’re relaxed, you are able to remain calm and focused, and pay greater attention to your alignment and posture. As Josie’s student Roz commented:

‘When I go to a yoga class I don’t just want a work-out, I want to connect my mind and body. After Josie’s classes I can tell that I’ve stretched and toned pretty much every muscle in my body, but at the same time I’m totally relaxed from the inside. I don’t know how she does it but it feels amazing!’

By practicing slowly and mindfully, you will naturally get incredible results and bring progress to your practice. It’s a lovely safe method to release tension and learn how to manage pain in a compassionate way. We believe that everyone will benefit from learning to practice in this way.

Therapeutic Yoga class with Josie is on every Tuesday from 10 – 11am. She is a qualified Yoga Nidra teacher and is currently undertaking a two year course in Yoga Therapy for mental health with the Minded Institute. Please feel free to get in touch with her for more information.

Winter Yoga Practice

Now that the Christmas season is over, people are eager to start something new and to try and stick to their New Year’s resolutions. There is a buzzing in the air that’s hard to ignore!

Around this time, we get lots of new students joining and although it’s a good time to start new classes, it’s important to slowly build up your practice. You may feel attracted to active yoga classes but it often makes sense to take your time and work more gently in the winter.

In nature, everything slows down: many animals hibernate and plants even die back to prepare for spring and the activity ahead. It makes sense to take a leaf out of nature's book and practice in a way that honours the season.

This should help to avoid ‘Blue Monday’ which falls around the third Monday of January and is said to be the most depressing day of the year. It’s believed that Blue Monday occurs because of a combination of factors like cold weather and failing our New Year’s resolution, but I believe one of the main culprits is exhaustion. Many people end up feeling like they need to accomplish lots of things at the start of the year and end up burning out. Instead of (literally) running around trying to do everything, it's best to slow down and focus on things that energise us.

After the festivities, I’ve also been feeling tired and dispersed. It was a lovely break with plenty of socialising with family and friends, but once I was back at work there was lots of catching up to do! I felt like I should be doing more, but deep down I knew that I first needed to slow down and rejuvenate.

So recently in my practice, I’ve been focusing on restorative postures and slow long held sequences that encourage concentration and grounding. I’ve also been doing more breathing and relaxation techniques to revitalise.

It’s really important to observe and adjust our practice to honour where we are. This can be challenging as we often end up doing things that we think are right rather than really listening to ourselves. Spending some time at the beginning of the practice to feel and reflect on our experience is essential. Our practice can then help us achieve more balance throughout the changing seasons.

What is your original nature, snow man?

- Natsume Soseki from Zen Poems

5 Yogic Principles for a healthy balanced lifestyle

‘Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness. Yoga shows the way’

– Swami Vishnu Devananda.

Here is a great 5-point guide to help us apply yogic teachings to our everyday life. Devised by Swami Vishnudevananda,it allows us to harness yogic philosophy in a simple and practical manner.

The five basic principles are:

• Exercise
• Breathing practice
• Relaxation
• Healthy diet
• Positive thinking & meditation.

All of these points are essential and they all work together to allow us to live healthy and balanced life.

1. Exercise (asana)

Swamin Vishnudevananda recommended daily asana (posture) practice to build strength and flexibility. A balanced asana practice stretches and tones every part of the body. It also helps to keep our joints and spine mobile, and improves our circulation. It’s a great way of releasing tension and revitalising the body and mind.

When you practice yoga regularly, you will become stronger and flexible in both the mind and body. Asana works not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. You will feel more balanced in everyway.

2. Breathing Practice

A regular breathing practice is recommended for encouraging slow, deep and rhythmical breathing. This way of breathing utilises the maximum capacity of the lungs and profoundly relaxes the mind and body. In yoga breathing practice is referred to as Pranayama or extension of vital energy, and helps to clarify the mind and rejuvenate the whole body. Pranayama is excellent for stilling the agitated mind and teaching you to be grounded.

3. Relaxation

Full relaxation helps to balance our nervous system and revitalise our entire being. It’s extremely beneficial for our mind and body to rest completely and let go of tension and stress. Full relaxation pose or savasana is an important posture to practice regularly in yoga. In recent years, I have really begun to appreciate the importance of learning how to relax completely.

4. Balanced Diet

Yogis recommend a vegetarian, Sattvic (balanced or pure) diet that is simple, natural and nourishing. Sattvic foods are typically fresh and nutritious like organic vegetables and fruit. They are easier to digest so that you can be light and healthy. It’s advised to avoid eating stimulating or heavy foods and drinks such as caffeine, alcohol, processed meals and meat.

I personally found that I naturally gravitated towards a healthier diet over the years as I started to feel how different food affected my mood, energy level and overall wellbeing.

5. Meditation & positive thinking

Meditation practice enables us to understand ourselves better and be more contented and settled. Our concentration will vastly improve as the mind become less agitated. We become less lost in our thoughts and more present and focused.

One of the most beneficial effects that I received from a regular meditation practice is a feeling of acceptance and abundance. I feel whole, like I don’t need to improve or change anything. It is a very special experience that occurs for a fleeting moment but with practice comes more regularly.

In a well-structured yoga class, you will be taught asana, pranayama, relaxation and meditation. Regular yoga practice will help you to feel more energised and relaxed. As you become more content, you naturally want to look after yourself better by eating healthier foods and leading a more balanced lifestyle.