If you would like to give or receive a gift of wellbeing... I have some beautiful card gift vouchers that come with envelopes - these could be for whatever you fancy - whether it's a block of yoga classes, a therapeutic home massage, a 121 yoga / mindfulness session, a mindfulness workshop or course, or a contribution towards any of these! Useful information about vouchers I am happy to write a personal message in for you and post it to your happy recipient, or can post it di

Have you ever had an experience of completely and inexplicably overreacting to a situation? Maybe exploding with anger, or feeling paralysed by fear, or spacing out completely, or getting uncontrollably upset – for no apparent reason? One possibility is that a past traumatic experience has been triggered - this is a lot more common than you may think. In this post, I give an example of a past traumatic experience that affected me... I explain how you can tell if you've been a

I am in the lucky and privileged position of embarking on my first house-buying adventure. Over the years I have witnessed my friends go through the stress of this, so I was anticipating some challenge. Trying to navigate what feels at times like a confused jumble of mortgage advice, surveys, solicitor quotes, paperwork, etc has certainly been daunting so far. It is interesting too that in England there is no guarantee you will actually get the property until you get your han

😐 When we try to suppress or push away negative thoughts and feelings, it can make them stronger. 😳 Acknowledging them, and allowing them to be there, might start to loosen the grip that resistance creates. Noticing any sensations in the body associated with the thoughts and feelings, (eg clenched jaw, tense shoulders, frown, tight feeling in throat, churning in belly) and maybe saying to yourself "it's ok to feel sad / angry / anxious". AND "it's ok not to like feeling

In Part 1, I explained how the type of movement I practice and teach has evolved. Here in part 2, I’ll explain why mindful awareness is a HUGE part of my yoga classes. Have you ever been to a yoga or meditation class and heard the teacher say things like: - “notice how relaxed you’re feeling...” - “clear your mind...” - “pluck out negative thoughts like weeds...” - “feel the prana moving down your arms...” or similar? In response to this guidance, you may find yourself wrestl

I'm ill and can't sleep, so decided to do some writing. I wish you well this season and hope that you have a happy and healthy holiday. This can be a very challenging time for many of us, when the shiny, glitzy images of Christmas perfection adorning adverts and shops can highlight our emotional or physical pain, or whichever of "the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" (as Shakespeare put it) we may be experiencing in the moment. This was to be my last day of wor

Are you stuck for pressie ideas? Why not give something truly memorable and enjoyable?

A little story about how mindfulness tools support me to cope better with stressful situations and how I have developed greater confidence and self belief as a result. I met my husband 5 years ago. Ever since I've known him he's been passionate about scuba diving and trained as an instructor last year. I always said I could never ever scuba dive. Why? Well: I am scared of deep water, not a confident swimmer, have a phobia of drowning and also have asthma, so can get anxious

I was excited to find this gorgeous image of a bird flying free from a cage for the poster for my next course. It is a symbol that resonates with changes that I have been through. For 12 years I worked in desk-based jobs, including in a job I was really passionate about, in the NHS – supporting the monitoring and improvement of quality of care and patient safety. However I just couldn’t quite fit myself into the role, I kept trying but it just didn’t suit me, and I got very s

How often do we pay attention to sensation in our bodies? “Autopilot” mode is very useful. We can use “muscle memory”, so that once we've learned to walk, run, cycle, swim, we can do it without having to think about it. We can even drive and eat a sandwich and worry about how bad the traffic is at the same time! However in daily life, our bodies often get ignored and used in a mechanical way, and we can find ourselves with very little awareness of what is going on in the bo

Have you ever considered what physical movements we naturally do as a reflex response to danger? Subtle, key movements are: drawing the head slightly back; clenching the jaw; raising the shoulders, tightening around the diaphragm; and a slight drawing of knees towards belly – tightening the hip flexor muscles. This is a reflex which evolved to help us to protect ourselves – but is not so useful when it happens in response to everyday stresses and strains. Over time, this resp

Find your "feel-good"... All classes are back on from Thursday 1st September. Here's the full list, also check my calendar here "Feel-Good" Yoga Classes at GL11 Community Hub, GL11 5JS: - Monday evenings 7.45-8.45pm - Thursday evenings 7.30-8.30pm - Friday mornings 9.30-10.30am Class at King's Stanley Village Hall, GL10 3PN: - Monday evenings 5.30-6.30pm Mindfulness Meditation for Wellbeing - Monday mornings, 10-11am at GL11 Community Hub Gentle Chair Yoga - Wednesday morn

It's so exciting to be running my first session dedicated to restorative yoga and mindfulness on Sunday 8th May at GL11 Community Hub. Allowing the body to rest in stillness, supported by blocks, blankets, cushions and straps, is a great way to be "in the now". In our busy lives we can get so caught up in busy, hectic "doing" that we lose awareness of our own aliveness, our "being". Practising restorative yoga, we are aware of body sensations and breath, as we invite our bo

Relax & Restore yoga morning - Sunday 8th May Come along to our warm, cosy yoga room at GL11 and explore some gentle practices to help reduce stress and promote wellbeing, including: Breathing and meditation practices Restorative yoga - relaxing postures supported with cushions, blankets and blocks to encourage the body to release Mindfulness body scan meditation - an extra long, relaxing savasana (a.k.a. "the lying down bit"!) When Sunday 8th May, 10am – 12pm Where GL11 Comm