Active Stillness

An update on Active Stillness current yoga and support options.

I'm also running various programmes with charities and community groups each week focusing on the specific needs of those they are working with. If you are a charity or community group, do get in touch if you would like to run yoga classes.

New zoom yoga classes starting on Tuesday mornings - focused on those struggling with stress and anxiety. 9.30am - I will link Event Bright for tickets in my bio 🙏🧘‍♀️.

“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.”
— Bessel A. van der Kolk

This isn't an easy thing to do an it takes creating a safe space - where emotions can arise and you feel safe and supported. That's why finding the right yoga class is so important.

What helps you to feel safe in a yoga class?

I'm working through my 500 hour advanced yoga teacher training with and I've been enjoying this week taking a deeper look at Ayurveda. Ayurveda is an ancient Indian medical system that looks at whole person wellbeing and how imbalance in our lives can impact this.

It asks questions about who we are as people and what our lives look like when they are in balance or imbalanced.

This week I've been thinking about the idea of Dinacharaya or routine. It's the idea of self care (individualised) becoming part of your routine.

I think sometimes when stress and anxiety take over, choosing things that will set us up for the day or making healthy choices can be really hard - I know my own reliance of coffee! If we develop morning rituals as habits, then they become much easier to do.

I really recommend the great book Atomic Habits by .

When life gets hard, maybe it's a stressful school run, a work meeting or a difficult conversation, using this short grounding practice can let go of that tension.

Back after the Easter Holidays, where I was looking after 3 kids and often needed to recognise my own stress or tiredness!

Here is a wonderful grounding and releasing pose that helps you connect deeply to your own internal experience.

Step by step

Start in Dandasana (sitting straight with legs out in front of you) Bend the right knee and place your foot flat on the mat.

Ground through both sits bones and lengthen the spine.
Place your right hand behind you for support.

As you inhale, raise your left arm. Exhale and twist your upper back to the right.

Bring your left arm across the right leg, pressing the left upper arm against the outer right knee.

With each inhalation, press the sitting bones into the floor and lengthen the spine.

With each exhalation see if you can twist a little further - Be gentle.
Keep the outstretched leg active.
Stay for 5 deep breaths.

Twists are a wonderful way to start and finish a day. Let me know how you get on!

With trauma, stress and anxiety, we often find ourselves hunching over, protecting ourselves, protecting our hearts.

This pose is a wonderful heart opener and can be made restorative with a few cushions or a yoga bolster.

To get into the pose -

Step 1: take the bolster or block and place it at your mid-back so that your shoulder blades can rest on the support. The top of the bolster or second block is under your head, so that you can rest your head back and open the throat.

Step 2: Make sure your pelvis is completely rested on the mat. You can bring your legs straight, or bend your knees, bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees fall open.

Step 3: Stay for three to five minutes.

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Supported bridge pose -

You will need your yoga block, a firm pillow or some books.

Lie on your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet flat on the floor.

Reach your arms on the floor with your fingers reaching toward your heels.

Keep your feet parallel. Press down into the soles of your feet to lift your hips off the floor.

Slide your yoga block under your back directly under your sacrum.

This should be a comfortable position. You may want to stay here several minutes as your body settles into the stretch.

Breath gently, through the nose, using your breath to help you stay present in the pose.

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Grounding is the practice of connecting yourself to the earth and in that, to the moment, to your body and it's sensations.

It enables you to be a participant of your own internal experience.

Find yourself a spot on the floor, feel the floor or earth beneath you.

Ask yourself - what can I hear?
What can I feel?
What can I smell?
How am I feeling today?

Taking notice of how we are, connecting and brining awareness to ourselves, is a powerful tool when working with anxiety.

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Here’s how to do legs-up-the-wall pose:

Place a blanket or yoga mat on the floor, next to the wall, and use a thin pillow for your head if needed.

Get in position: Lie down on the blanket or mat with your bum scooted up toward the wall. Your tailbone should remain on the floor, with your bum a few inches out from the wall.

Feel the stretch: The backs of your legs should rest against the wall, with your knees relaxed and your feet parallel to the floor below. You should feel a light stretch in your legs, but it should not be painful.

Take it easy: Relax and breathe deeply as you hold the pose - anywhere up to two to three minutes.

When you’re done, move carefully into a seated position and sit quietly for at least 30 seconds.

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How to Practice Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing).

Choose a comfortable sitting position— Allow your spine to lengthen so that you are sitting straight. Gently close your eyes.

Fold the tips of the index and middle fingers inward until they touch the palm at the base of the right thumb

You will alternately use the right thumb to close the right nostril and the right ring and first fingers (together) to close the left nostril.
Inhale through the left nostril.

Use the right thumb to close the right nostril. Exhale gently, but fully, through the left nostril. Keeping the right nostril closed, inhale through the left nostril and deep into the belly. As you inhale, allow the breath to travel upward along the left side of the body. Pause briefly at the top of the breath.

Exhale through the right nostril. Use the ring and first finger of the right hand to gently close the left nostril and release the right nostril. Exhale gently through the right nostril, Pause gently at the bottom of the exhalation.

Inhale through the right nostril. Keeping the left nostril closed, inhale once again through the right nostril.

Exhale through the left nostril. Then again, use the right thumb to close the right nostril as you release the left nostril. Exhale through the left nostril, Pause gently at the bottom of the exhalation.

This completes one round of nadi shodhana. Continue the same pattern for 8/10 rounds or as long as you feel comfortable.... inhale through the left nostril, exhale through the right nostril, inhale through the right nostril, exhale through the left nostril.

When you are ready to close your practice, complete your final round of nadi shodhana with an exhalation through the left nostril.

Allow your breath to return to normal. As you do, notice your state of mind.

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Here are 6 great asana's to practice to regulate the nervous system.

When life gets hard, anxiety hits or you just want to feel more grounded and regulated, practice these poses to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

If you aren't familiar with these practices/poses then follow me, as over the next few days I will post a more detailed explanation of the poses.

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Last week something happened at the end of Friday, that caused probably the most physical sense of anxiety I have ever experienced. I really had to use every party of my toolkit to get a grip of it and even then, it probably took a few hours for the anxiety to ease.

If you notice you struggle with anxiety, you may feel the tension build gradually throughout the day. Your sympathetic nervous system is keeping your body in a state of high alert.

But when you feel this tension creep in, you can use relaxation techniques to activate the para sympathetic nervous system. You might think - but I'm at work, how can I use relaxation techniques?! But there are simple things you can build into your day and more in depth techniques that you can use when you have more time or if your anxiety is worse.

Imagine it's just like keeping yourself hydrated, you are continually making sure you can activate the para sympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).

Here are some simple ways to keep on top of daily tension -

🧘‍♀️diaphragmatic breathing (it's as simple as letting your breath in draw down into your belly and exhaling from the belly)
🧘‍♀️taking a muscle tension inventory - where are you holding tension?
🧘‍♀️Using imagery - build a picture for yourself, walk down a warm calming beach in your mind, what do you hear and see?
🧘‍♀️ grounding - this is a practice of being in the here and now, close your eyes and become aware of the space around you. What can you sense and hear?

Using body based techniques can be an amazing way of controlling our anxiety, improving our mood, sleep, control and tension.

Get in touch for more, positive ways of connecting to your body 💜🙏.

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healing

It's been one of those days, there have been multiple difficult situations to deal with and suddenly you are sobbing because you knocked your cup of tea over.

It's very likely that your fight or flight response has been working hard all day - or maybe for weeks! Suddenly the tiny details makes you snap.

Our fight or flight response is activated when our body senses a need to act, a stressful situation, a trigger or something we are worrying about. The more frequently it is activated, the more it gets activated. Suddenly you feel like a 3 year old sobbing over their pasta being the wrong shape!

Here are 5 ways for you to practice turning off your stress response.

Remember that it takes 20/30 minutes for the nervous system to regulate - so it might not be an instant fix but with gentleness and grace, you will get there 💜.

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Why is trauma sensitive yoga a great practice?

If you have been through something which makes either day to day situation, or an event you are facing, difficult, then starting a trauma informed/trauma sensitive yoga practice could be really helpful for you.

Dr Bessel van der Kolk - "When people think about trauma, they generally think of it as a historical event that happened some time ago. Trauma is actually the residue from the past as it settles into your body. It’s located inside your own skin. When people are traumatized, they become afraid of their physical sensations; their breathing becomes shallow, and they become uptight and frightened about what they’re feeling inside. When you slow down your breathing with yoga, you can increase your heart rate variability, and that decreases stress. Yoga opens you up to feeling every aspect of your body’s sensations. It’s a gentle, safe way for people to befriend their bodies, where the trauma of the past is stored."

Developing our mind/body connection, helps us take back control, it helps us work with our nervous systems and work towards the body becoming a safe place again.

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Excited to be running a 6 week prenatal yoga course, in Combe Down.

Prenatal yoga is a wonderful way of staying strong and healthy during pregnancy, preparing physically and mentally for birth and connecting to your baby.

To secure a spot DM me or email [email protected]

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I watched this work last night... one of our kids really struggles with emotional regulation. Something had happened and they were having a bad evening. I was trying everything I could to reach them and help but nothing was working.

In the end, we lay on the floor or their bedroom, in the dark, listening to whale music and watching fish on my phone 😂🤦‍♀️💜... first of all it helped me... I could have stayed in the dark room, with the whale music forever. But also after about half an hour, my child left the room, calmly spoke to their sibling and got on with their evening.

It was a complete reset - probably for both of us!

It's important to build up the things in our toolkit that help us to regulate, when we feel something hijack our nervous system.
⭐️breath work
⭐️ exercise
⭐️ finding a quiet space
⭐️ going for a walk
⭐️ doing some yoga

It's all simple stuff, but if we include these habits in our daily lives, they help to reduce the damaging effect of excessive cortisol (stress) in our bodies.

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So helpful 💜

Let's talk birth affirmations...
I'm a big fan of birth affirmations, I used them myself a lot. I think the rhythm of listening to them during labour as well as their positive messages, can be incredibly helpful.

However I do think that we need to be selective about the affirmations we use and ensure they are trauma informed for your specific situation.

If you have struggled to get pregnant, stay pregnant, have experienced loss of a child or birth trauma, using a phrases such as "my body is made to do this" "my body knows what to do" could be incredibly triggering for you. You need to be careful, compassionate and protective of your situation. Our main aim for your pregnancy and birth is to lower your stress levels and take you away from or guide you through potentially triggering situations.

DM me if you would like a PDF of birth affirmations tailored to you.

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It's said that Micheal Phelps visualised his swims each night in bed, preparing his body and his mind for birth, so that he was ready to cope with whatever came his way...

This is what hypnobirthing is, mental and physical preparation for your big life event.

Send me a message if you want to know why Hypnobirthing is a great option for you.

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Send us a message to chat about Birth Coaching 💜.

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Get in touch to talk about our birth coaching 💜
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About me 🙃
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About me 🙃

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So helpful 💜

I've had two babies end up in special care. For very different health reasons. The first time with my daughter we were there for a month, the last time with our 3rd child, just 6 days.

It was interesting how quickly I was triggered "we are admitting your child to special care" came with an extra blow having been through it before. The midwife's and nurses also just didn't get it... my husband kept trying to say to them, this is harder because we've been here before. It was the 25th March 2020 and the first lockdown, so I had to cope with a lot of it on my own.

There was no trauma informed care as I sat on my own, having given birth just a few hours before, as they admitted my baby... I hadn't even been able to wash or change.

Thankfully we seem to be past the days of not being able to have birth partners with you. It's important that your health providers need to be aware that your have experienced birth trauma and its so important that you are empowered in your birth journey... especially if you have had a previous difficult birth.

Our Empowered Birth Coaching, works with you and your birth partner to work towards the birth that you want, to empower you to ask the right questions and receive the care that you deserve.

If you want to talk to me about your birth story or up coming birth, then send me a DM, I'd love to connect.

Anna

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