The Yoga Tree

Some of the lovely words that my 2023/4 Seasonal Yoga Teacher Training have shared 🥰

If you want:
🌟A new outlook on life
🌟To learn something new
🌟To challenge yourself
🌟To connect with yourself
🌟To boost your confidence
🌟To connect with other beautiful souls

Maybe this is for you

DM me for the details, let's flow, let's grow together ❤

This is 52 💁‍♀️

Working with the seasons and cycles of the year in Seasonal Yoga is such an incredible and interesting mirror to view the ageing process 🪞

Lammas and harvest season upon us, I’m reflecting on autumn, the season in which I find myself. Premature in August maybe, but here we are!

The thing about Seasonal Yoga is it really connects you with the moment that you’re in, and the awareness that it’s fleeting. The seasons change, the wheel turns, and, no one is more surprised than me, suddenly you’re 52 😮

But I am feeling a connection with myself, ever deepening, which makes me welcome the ageing process in a way that I never thought possible. Seasonal Yoga is a huge part of that. A reminder that we have the Seasonal Yoga Teacher Training coming up in September if you want to join and feel that connection. DM me for more info

What’s your experience of ageing? No matter how old you are?!

Some ➕and ➖ for energy in Early Summer according to Seasonal Yoga

Energy rechargers 🔋
🍒 What you’re fuelling your body with
💦 Are you hydrated? Maybe try filtering your water to clean out any nasties
🧘‍♀️ Exercise, ofc. But do something that feels fun and easy, not punishing
🕉️ Meditation and breathwork

Energy drainers 🪫
📲 Social media. Let’s face it, we could all do with reducing our IG time 
💁‍♀️ Gossip, essentially social media IRL 
😩 Whatever it is that is exhausting you, if you can, dial it down
💬 Negative self talk, the ultimate drainer

How do you feel about committing to these for the next few weeks? We have til 21st June, doable don’t you think?

If Early Summer was a person…

Calm, confident and communicative. Early summer relates to others beautifully. They are a connector, a great networker, confident in themselves and the lessons that they have learnt 🌺

In touch with their emotions, Early Summer flows with life and talks freely about how they are feeling, encouraging others to do the same.

They are great at creating and working in teams, at organising and galvanising the people around them.

But: Early Summer can be over reactive or oversensitive if they are overwhelmed and stressed😬

So how can you embody Early Summer over the next month?

Welcome to early summer!

What are we working on this season 👆🏼

I’ve been enjoying teaching so much over the last few months. I really appreciate the community we have built together over many years, and I’ve welcomed some new faces, which has also been great. Thank you all for coming and flowing 🕉

A couple of changes for the rest of the month to class times, temporary only. Normal schedule resumes in June!
Weds 8th – 7:15am
Wed 8th – 9:30am
Mon 13th – 7-8pm
Wed 15th – 7:15am
Wed 15th – 9:30am
Mon 20th – 7-8pm
Wed 22nd – 7:15am
Wed 22nd – 9:30am

Looking forward to seeing you on the mat soon. Enjoy the sunshine 🌞

Spring eating

You’re probably making changes to your diet as we move into spring intuitively. Lighter and more fresh foods.

A few tips from Seasonal Yoga:
🥕Eat your food warm or hot as the weather is still pretty cool at this time of year
🫛Spring represents youth, so choose small young vege, rather than larger/older/reheated ones
🥦If you’re cutting back on caffeine/booze see my earlier post about liver boosting tisanes 
🍅Eat raw and/or sprouted foods if you have signs of heat (from exercise, stress etc)
🥬Eat a little raw food daily, increasing the amount  as we move towards summer

📷: A little taste of retreat food 😋

THIS 👆🏼

I definitely feel a bit of pressure in spring. That suddenly everything has to move, be full of energy and positive vibes.

But if you’re still sloughing off winter, you are not alone. I’m with you. The weather is definitely with you 🥲

Take your time, you do you. It’s not a race, bloom in your own time and in your own way.

✍🏼 Beautiful words by

Some suggestions for Spring tisanes to support your liver 

🍃 Nettle
🫚 Fresh ginger
🍋 Lemon 
🟢 Lime 
🌿 Fennel 

Of course, cutting down on caffeine and alcohol are are a good idea too 🥱🙄

Can’t get enough of these Japanese words and concepts!

Oubaitori is the idea that people, like flowers, bloom in their own time and in their own way 🌸🌺🌻🌷⚘🌼

When the sun starts shining, we all get the urge to open the windows, and change up the energy. It’s Spring Clean time 🧼

A couple of areas you could look at for a spring clean☝🏼

NOTE: Spring cleaning your diet is NOT about going on a diet. It’s about reflecting the season in what you’re eating. Moving towards lighter, fresher meals rather than the heavier foodie delights of winter. And enjoying it. Savouring it. Not just noshing it 😉

Spring is for blooming🌸

The seeds we watered in winter are beginning to unfurl🌱

Maybe a few unexpected flowers are surprising and delighting you, maybe a few weeds too.

To labour the gardening metaphor, what needs pruning, cultivating and weeding out?

Take your time, don’t worry about everybody else, you do you. Bloom in your own way🌸

Some things to think about and focus on for Spring 👆🏻

What are your priorities for the season? What seeds are you planting?

🌸SPRING IS HERE🌺

I love this for us

A whole new season, a whole new vibe. Finally some energy, some daylight and I can feel it, can you?

Happy International Women's Day to all the wonderful women in the world and in my life 🥰

And a reminder to take up space. Wherever you want to be: you belong there.

It feels especially important to say as I and we get older. Spaces sometimes don’t feel as welcoming to us as they did, we’re almost encouraged to stay small. 

We belong, you belong. Take up that space, and bring your ladies with you 💪🏻😘

Spring is coming! So close we can almost feel it. Warmer weather, longer days, the first blooms 🌸

Such a feeling of promise and potential in the air as spring arrives. But we do still have 3 more weeks of winter to make the most of 🐻

Did you set some intentions around the solstice? Have you taken some time to reflect on last year and what you want from this one? 

Remember to take your time. It’s tempting to kick into gear and start go go going 🏃🏼‍♀️ But take a moment to ground, every day. Check in with your emotions, the heaviness that sometimes comes with winter might not be lifting yet, and that’s OK. It will 🤗

Winter is a time for turning inwards, it can be a little more emotional, and we’re encouraged to think about ourselves and our lives. 

And I don’t know about you, but when I get introspective, I can also get a little mean. To myself.

Winter means reflecting on our lives and how we’ve got here, where we want to be next. And I know I can get quite hard on myself. I’m not where I want to be, I’m not doing enough, I should do this, be more that. 

That’s not that helpful. Tough love is not a thing.

If you start getting a little ‘wintery’ in your mind: Stop ✋🏻

That’s enough. You are enough. 

Be a friend to yourself.

Not just me, right?

📸 my faves .cotswolds

Controversial opinion, but maybe life just isn’t that stressful.

Yes, a lot of sh*t can happen. And yes it can be annoying, painful, upsetting, you name it.

But, a lot of what stresses us (me 🙋🏼) out, just isn’t that stressful.

It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.

It’s my reaction. It’s whether I’ve slept well, eaten well, taken care of myself, had 5mins to myself that morning. It’s my perception.

If I can take a moment, breathe, say to myself, ‘good, and now’ how can I frame this potentially stressful situation/moment/child/coworker to be something, if not positive, then less of a trigger.

Definitely something I’m working on myself. So I’m putting this here for accountability as much as anything. Save this for when life is getting a little overwhelming, as a reminder that you’re not the only one.

How much time do you spend in nature?
How much time do you spend outdoors a day?

In winter, the cold, the wet, the dark can make leaving the house feel like a chore. 

And it is, I get it.

But spending time in nature, even 15 mins,  can lower stress levels, improve your mood, reduce inflammation and help improve your focus and creativity.

And it will help you feel the seasons changing. You’ll notice the snowdrops, you’ll notice crocus when they arrive, the evenings getting longer, days getting brighter. You’ll see and feel that spring is on its way.

And there’s no better mood boost than that!

Something a bit exciting happening soon!

Spring is on its way, I promise.

Welcome in the changing of the season with me at my faves .cotswolds

Seasonal Yoga, breath work, meditation, yoga nidra and sound elements, everything you could need to equip you for the coming of spring.

Link is in my bio, or book directly via .cotswolds website

Are you feeling sluggish, low energy? Emotions out of balance? AKA February

Try this.

Let me know if it helps

Things to avoid in winter

Number 5 👀🤭


Do you find yourself struggling with any of these in winter?

Winter is a time for hibernation, right?

Take these longer evenings as your queue to rest: go to bed a little earlier, get up a little later if you can. According to the National Sleep Foundation, we naturally sleep for an extra 1.75-2.5 hrs a night during winter. Embrace it. It’s really important for your immune system, for your ability to handle stress and will help counter any winter blues.

Thank you for sharing the joys of yoga Sandra Kanfer Clarke

Another business to feature is -yoga-tree. focuses on seasonal yoga and her classes combine all aspects seamlessly. Adding essential oils rounds off the practice beautifully.
https://bit.ly/3tV7NXO

Have you heard of ikigai?

It’s a Japanese concept🍡 - 4 pillars of purpose to find that sweet spot and live a more aligned and meaningful life.

Imagine them as a venn diagram, the overlap is where your purpose lies ⭕

In this winter time, when we have space to think, to go deep, think about where your purpose might lie (for now, your purpose can change!) and if you’re heading towards it.

Does this help clear your thoughts around purpose?

Bone breathing - have you tried it?

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed (ugh January) this might help keep you present. Maybe try it before bed to help you sleep, or anytime you’re feeling depleted.

And let me know, do you feel a difference before and after?

Dear Monday Night (Jan 22nd) Yogis,
Due to attending a funeral in London, there will be no 7:30pm yoga class. See you soon

Have you heard of Planuary?

Me neither.

This weekend it was module 5 of the Seasonal Yoga Teacher Training I’m facilitating, and of course, our theme was winter.

The time to plan, not to take action. Time to think about the year to come, and decide on the steps to get you there. Not necessarily taking the steps themselves.

We are wintering, planning, preparing for the year ahead.

I’m officially making Planuary part of my vocabulary from now on. You?

I just spent 60 seconds of my one wild precious life watching an advert for an online yoga platform.

And this platform appears to be exclusively staffed by and subscribed to skinny, attractive, white women under 30 wearing swimming costumes to practise yoga in 🙄

Let’s be clear:
👏🏼Yoga is for bodies of every expression and identity
👏🏼It does not matter what you are wearing or what you look like
👏🏼You do not have to be super strong or super flexible 
👏🏼You do not have to be able to touch your toes (Or shins! Or knees!)
👏🏼You absolutely do not have to be able to do gymnastics or be hypermobile

Yoga is FOR YOU 

It’s for life, for movement, for stiff joints, for play, for peace, for challenge, for learning.

Don’t let the internet tell you who or what yoga is about. Find out for yourself.

Newsflash: It’s cold

I think we all adjust to colder temperatures naturally, but then I saw someone drinking an iced coffee yesterday so 🤷🏼‍♀️

Swipe for some suggestions for these chilly days 👉🏻