Yogacurve

Six week yoga course starting Monday 10 June!!

𝗬𝗢𝗚𝗔 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛𝗬 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

Would you like to move with more ease and less backache?

Would you like to strengthen your back muscles and learn how to look after your spine?

How about feeling less stressed and sleeping better?

Sound good?

Sign up for my six week block 𝗬𝗼𝗴𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 starting Monday 10 June at 6pm.

We'll spend time warming up the joints, moving gently and safely into simple yoga postures to stabilise and support the back. This class will improve your balance, coordination and help you use your breath to move with more ease and comfort.

𝟲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲: £𝟰𝟮

Greenfield church
Primrose Avenue
Urmston
M41 0TY
6 - 7-15pm

Message or email me to book:
Louise
07775 593457

[email protected]

See you on the mat :)

I'm sure lots of you were invited to have a relaxing bank holiday by friends and colleagues over the past few days. Ever since I entered the world of work I've always looked forward to a long weekend to decompress and recharge. But does it always happen?? Not necessarily 🤔. Learning to rest and relax is a skill and requires practice!

Adding active rest poses into your yoga practice is a really effective way of encouraging your body and mind to rest. Often our bodies are more receptive to rest if it's been moved, stretched and worked. I love viparita karani (legs up the wall) to calm and relax the body. It's not called the great rejuvenater for nothing! It works both at the beginning and end of a practice so it's very versatile. It's great for those of us with back issues too. Try it for 10-15 minutes at the end of each day this weekend and see what happens ☺️❤️.

𝗕𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥'𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘: 𝗬𝗢𝗚𝗔 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛𝗬 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

Would you like to move with more ease and less backache?

Would you like to strengthen your back muscles and learn how to look after your spine?

How about feeling less stressed and sleeping better?

Sound good?

Sign up for my six week beginners course 𝗬𝗼𝗴𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 starting 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟮 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝟲𝗽𝗺.

We'll spend time warming up the joints, moving gently and safely into simple yoga postures to stabilise and support the back. This class will improve your balance, coordination and help you use your breath to move with more ease and comfort.

𝟲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲: £𝟰𝟮

Greenfield church
Primrose Avenue
Urmston
M41 0TY
6 - 7-15pm

If you've not been before and would like to try a class first, come along on Monday 15 April for an introductory offer of £5 (usual drop-in price is £7.50). Class starts at 6pm.

Message or email me to book:
Louise
07775 593457

[email protected]

See you on the mat :)

We've arrived at the Spring Equinox: the solar festival celebrating equal length of day and night. It also means we're at the beginning of the end of winter. Hooray you made it through!!

We can explore the equinox theme of balance in our yoga practice by working with yoga’s balancing
poses. We can also think about balancing our own Sun (Ha) and Moon (Tha) energies, both in our yoga practice and in our life. Yoga helps us to reconcile opposing parts of our self, creating the opportunity to find health and healing. A balanced body creates a balanced mind 😄

Personally I've found Springtime an easier and more joyful time to start something new, unlike January when all we want to do is hibernate. The seeds you plant now will expand and grow. At this time, we have a natural outward focus and is a time for pushing towards the sun - like the flowers.

Why not use this energy to make a positive change you know you need to make? Think about:

🌱 Is my life balanced?
🌱 Is there something I can do to improve my work/life balance?
🌱 What can I do to create more balance in my body and mind?

Step into spring with a healthier back!

Would you like to feel stronger with more energy for daily life?

Would you like to do something about your back issues but don't know where to start?

Come and try Yoga for a Healthy Back at Greenfield Church, Urmston.

This is a small, friendly class for anyone who wants to support their back, body and mind. We build up to yoga postures safely and gently and there's a lovely long relaxation too 😊

Send me a message or email if you have any questions and would like to book your place.

Louise 🙏

Yoga is a fantastic practice if you have any back pain or just want to look after your spine as you move through life.

Why not invest in yourself and your back in 2024? Join me at Greenfield Church in Urmston every Monday evening for a slow yet powerful yoga practice to support and strengthen your body and mind.

Yogacurve

For those of you with fused spines here's a link to my latest blog on practising yoga after scoliosis surgery. http://yogacurve.co.uk/2023/09/26/yoga-with-a-spinal-fusion/

Hey there, it's the Autumn equinox today. Although the days are still (slightly!) longer this marks the balance between night and day. Now is a opportunity to think about the balance in your life - it's the perfect time to start turning inward, letting things go and clearing out. The trees and plants are doing it - so can we..

Look after yourself with warming soups, root vegetables and hot teas with ginger. Think about what would bring you more balance and ease in your life? I find that writing it down makes it feel more doable. Introduce a bit of meditation or mindfulness every day, even if it's only going for a mindful walk in your local park or 10 minutes of breathing gently on your own. Or pick your favourite restful yoga pose and practice it every morning and evening.

x

Have you been meaning to try yoga for ages but not sure where to start or which class to go to? If you're local to Urmston this small, beginner-friendly class is for you!

We start with lots of slow, gentle movements to warm up the body and open the joints, building up to stronger postures gradually and safely.

This class focuses on postures to strengthen and support the back, moving with the breath and always includes a long relaxation 😊.

Booking is essential. Please message me to book and ask any questions. I'm always happy to chat about yoga and how it can help you.

Class is on Mondays 6-7.15pm at Greenfield Church, Urmston.

£42 for six weeks or £7.50 drop in.

We've been practising alternate nostril breathing for the past couple of weeks in Yoga for a Healthy Back. Alternate nostril breathing is one of the many breathing practices in yoga. In Sanskrit, it’s known as nadi shodhana pranayama. This translates as 'subtle energy clearing breathing technique.' It can be done as part of your yoga or meditation practice or on its own.

The theory in yoga is that if you are feeling stuck, depressed or demotivated we have too little prana in the body - it's being forced out by something else that does not belong there i.e. rubbish. So when we practise pranayama we are clearing this rubbish from our body and inviting more prana or energy into the body.

Alternate nostril breathing is the most effective technique for calming the mind and balances the breath in both nostrils - as well as the two hemispheres in the brain. It's a fantastic relaxation technique, helping you to manage stress and anxiety and be more present in the here and now.

It's therefore a great addition to your toolbox in dealing with back pain as tension in the body can lead to tension in the mind - and vice versa.

Just 5 minutes a day can really make a difference to how you feel.

I'm always excited to see new research studies about the benefits of yoga! Have a read of this study showing how yoga can protect against frailty as we get older...

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/03/strong-evidence-that-yoga-protects-against-frailty-in-older-adults/

Really enjoying teaching yoga for a healthy back at Greenfield church in Urmston on Monday evenings. Drop me a message if you'd like to do something positive for your back this Spring 🌼 🧘‍♂️🧘‍♀️

Really excited about teaching the first yoga for a healthy back class this evening 😄. Looking forward to meeting everyone booked on.

Great read and heartening to see the profound emotional impact of scoliosis being discussed 🤗😊

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=592203272933596&id=100064317864444

Aspects of psychology relevant to AIS - Scoliosis Association Professor Adrian Gardner, Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham and Dr Emily Russell Introduction (Adrian Gardner) Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a condition seen in teenagers and presents with asymmetry of the spine and chest, both to the back and the front of...

I'm saying happy winter solstice because it IS a celebration! As this is the shortest day, from now until June the days will get gradually longer. Today is a day to celebrate as we let the light in. Here are some things you can do to mark this point in the year during your yoga practice:
- sun salutations
- hip openers
- restorative postures (child's pose, legs up the wall)
- meditation using a candle (trataka). Here's a good article on how to go about this https://yogainternational.com/article/view/candlelight-insight-tratakaou

Winter is a time of rest and recharging which can be hard during the Christmas season. Think about how you can incorporate some rest time into your day in the coming weeks. Even if it's just 10 minutes in child's pose :)

It's stress awareness day..Try this little yoga sequence to relax and calm. Yoga can help relieve stress and anxiety as it helps to turn on your body's relaxation state. The gentle mindful breathing we do during a yoga practice helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system allowing our bodies to move into a more relaxed state. If you don't have time for anything else, commit to doing legs up the wall for 10 minutes a day, especially at the end of the day. It's calming and rejuvenating.

We're well and truly in autumn now, with crisper days and falling leaves. Changing seasons can make us feel out of kilter and melancholic, especially at this time of year. It's important to be kind to yourself. There's an increase in vata energy during autumn which may make you feel a bit unsettled and anxious. Use a grounding yoga practice to help you feel more balanced and rooted to the earth. Make your practice slow and steady, warming up with some gentle sun salutations. Focus on key standing postures such as mountain pose, warriors 1 and 2 and of course tree pose. Imagine you are growing extra roots through your feet to really ground yourself. Treat your body to an extra long relaxation and meditation. Go for a walk when you can, enjoying the leaves and the fading light.

Over the years I've found working with the breath during my yoga practice the most effective aspect for my back and my scoliosis. Focusing the breath on the compressed ribs really helps create space and alignment from the inside. In extended puppy pose, breathe into your concave side (where it goes in) for 5 breaths. You can also move into a side stretch (away from your tight side) to create even more space. 🙏

So many poses you can do with a fused spine..

Planning on doing more hiking in open countryside now we can get out more? Check out my blog post for a yoga sequence to help your body get ready and recover faster afterwards. https://yogacurve.co.uk/2020/01/19/a-yoga-practice-for-walkers/

A yoga practice for walkers A few months ago I walked up Cadair Idris in southern Snowdonia. It was a beautiful, sunny day in autumn with no sign of rain: perfect walking weather. A bee got me in the car park before we starte…

Did you know you can do sun salutations in your chair?! Open your upper body with this great short sequence. Perfect for home workers for a 5-10 minute break or for those less able to get up and down on the mat :)

Whatever yoga practice you have to help with your scoliosis, allowing your body to rest and recharge is vital. Legs up the wall is a great one to do before savasana.

Really pleased to have increased my skills in chair yoga. I can't wait to start using this with my students with limited movement to help them feel the amazing benefits of yoga. Thank you to Maria Jones at Yuva Yoga for such in-depth yet accessible training! 🙏