Anyone who comes to my classes knows that I am passionate about practising balance. Literally to be able to balance when stability is being challenged. To take one limb off the floor without falling over using core strength, not being afraid to wobble. As I was considering how important it is to balance it struck me how often the word balance is used to describe a state we aspire to achieving.

The literal definition of the word balance is, “an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady. To offset or compare the value of one thing with another.”

A good illustration of this concept is to think about what is meant by a “balanced diet”. A balanced diet is one that doesn’t include too much or too little of any one kind of food.

Patanjali said that Yoga is the suppression of modifications of the mind. Yoga is a discipline to improve or develop one’s inherent power in a balanced manner. A way of bringing the mind, body and breath into harmony. Maybe more simply put, to bring balance to physical, mental and social health.

Bringing about balance is easy to say but so challenging to reach. How many times do we beat ourselves up trying to create a work/life balance? Finding balance is important but it fluctuates through different periods of our lives - starting work, building a family, retirement! Acceptance of where we are is essential but if we can find ways of being kind to ourselves as well as critical, it will help us on our way to finding some harmony.

There are many different tools to help us find balance; for me it is to practise Yoga and Pilates, or to sit quietly and read a book - for you it might be something completely different. But if you would like to find the calm and peace that can be attained from Yoga or Pilates then get in touch. Click here to find my contact info at the top the page and either select to email me or get in touch via Facebook.

Experiencing loneliness is one of the most destructive places we can find ourselves in. It takes effort and bravery to find ways out of loneliness. One of my greatest passions is reading; I find it meditative and I learn so much from the books I read on all sorts of subjects.
 
Being a yoga teacher can be isolating, especially when you are self-employed and I have experienced periods of loneliness. So when one of my clients suggested a book club to me it seemed like a match made in heaven.
 
At the last book club meeting I went to it occurred to me that being part of the group had enabled me to make new friends, share a common interest and feel part of something - in short, to be part of a community!
 
For many years now, and without fully appreciating it, I have been part of a very special community, my yoga community. I have met some amazing people, learned so much and I feel very much part of something.
 
Not only does yoga help improve fitness, in terms of strength, flexibility and mobility, it also creates a sense of balance and well-being. It is so much more than just attending an exercise class, it is about coming together with like-minded people and sharing experiences.
 
I always look forward to welcoming people to the yoga community and I hope you will consider attending a yoga class with me in 2019 click here to view a timetable of sessions.
 
It is often hard to take the first step, but once you become a member of a community you will never look back.

Last week I wrote about ways in which you can practise yoga at home, spending as much or as little time as you like on the things that you want to do.

As part of practising what I preach, I decided that I would try and take care of myself as well as my clients and organise some one-to-one sessions with my own yoga teacher (yes, I have one). I have arranged for one training session a month. It means that I take one day off a month, head up to London and spend an hour-and-a-half in the company of my wonderful teacher. For a change I have a session where someone else does the thinking about what we will do, tailors the session to my needs and works on the elements of my practice that are challenging for me.

I love my personal sessions. They’re an opportunity to completely switch off, to stop clock-watching and to absorb myself in my own practice. My teacher is knowledgeable and patient, and I learn so much about myself, my capabilities and what I need to work on whenever we have a session together.

I often recommend personal training sessions to my clients and have summarised some of the many benefits below. If you are interested or would like to ask me any questions, I would love to hear from you.

Benefits of one-to-one personal training

• Personal training sessions can take place in your own home, where you are comfortable with your surroundings.
• A personal training session can be tailored to meet your needs — often people have very particular issues that can benefit greatly from being worked on in a comprehensive way.
• A more detailed explanation of how to exercise to suit your own personal needs.
• It can give you the confidence to begin to exercise and often after a few sessions you feel more comfortable to join a class or the gym.
• Having a personal trainer can help you to define your goals and bring clarity to what it is you want to achieve.
• You can get the motivation you need! Knowing you have a training session at regular intervals can encourage you to exercise between sessions!
• Variety! No two sessions are ever the same, so you’re never bored!

How about making some time every day to do something for yourself? 

How often do you go to a class and enjoy the practice, but wish that you could have spent more time doing certain stretches or in specific poses? Poses that could be beneficial to you if you just had the opportunity? Maybe a home practice could be the answer.

For some of us, going into a studio and practising with others can be intimidating. Even when you do manage to find a studio and teacher that suit you, it might be that you can't make the times of the classes on offer.

It can sometimes feel more comfortable to practise in your own home. If that’s the case, you might even think about investing in some simple equipment. When you can focus on the things that are really important to you, with no pressure from anyone else to push you into postures that you don't really feel comfortable doing, the competitive edge is removed, you can enjoy it more and you can get more out of the time you spend.

An hour or hour-and-a-half class can be fine on some days, but on other days you might just not have enough time. But at home you can spend as little as 10 minutes. Better than nothing by a long way!

Practising by yourself does require a bit more self motivation, but there are a million YouTube videos you can follow, or you can even subscribe to more detailed, on-line studio classes.

Try to commit time in advance in your diary. I usually take a little time on a Sunday evening to plan my week ahead and I will diary some time for my practice, literally making a note. That way I am more likely to stick to my schedule.

Maybe you could invite a friend round to practise with you — more fun with two!

Even it’s just sitting quietly for five or ten minutes every morning and breathing deeply, clearing your mind and being still, you’ll very quickly start to feel the benefits!

Happy New Year, everyone.

I hope you had a wonderful time at the end of December and although normally I'd never want you to over indulge, well, at that time of year you're allowed a few treats!

Rather than telling you to set a new year's resolution, I thought I'd see if you might be interested in setting a new year's drishti.

Here's an article from one of my favourite sites. Have a read through - it might give you food for thought:

Setting a Drishti for the New Year