Yoga With Fiona

M E D I T A T I O N

I posted recently some Tips for Meditation & I wanted to continue that because this is the perfect time of year to get stuck into some restful Yoga & focus on stillness & calm. So I wanted to give you some meditation techniques:

🕯Candle gazing: Trataka🕯
Sit in a dark room & set a candle at around eye level, about 2 feet away.
Try to focus on nothing but the candle! Let it be the one & only thing you see & call to mind.
It will make your eyes water, but try to maintain that focus as much as you can & the sensation will pass. If you blink,just return to gazing at the flame. Try to breathe steadily & imagine light flowing into you. When done, lie down with eyes closed for a while to reset. This is a great one for beginners as focusing on a single physical object can be easier than focusing on abstract thought.

🧘‍♀️Body Scan🧘‍♀️
For beginners it can be useful to follow a spoken guide. With each breath take your attention on a tour of the body, recognising & releasing tension. It can really help to physically lull the body into restfulness too so is a good one if you're meditating for stress/tension or suffering from pain. Try to slowly guide the mind from feet all the way to the crown of the head & once done, just rest in stillness.

⭐️Mantra⭐️
There are a number of approaches here. Chanting can be a very liberating version of this, whether you chant a steady 'Om' alone or along to a recording, or more complex chants. It can also be something you do silently in your own mind. Repeating phrases, whether sanskrit, or not, not only provides excellent focus for the mind but also can cause amazing affirmation. Maybe "I am at peace" or "I am open to...." etc

🙏🏻Breath focus🙏🏻
Great even on the go, in your car, during a walk etc! Simply tune in to the breath. You can either count, recognise the sensations of breathing, or simply notice the breath coming in & out of the body. Fine tuning the mind to focus on breath can be challenging but with practice you learn to keep bringing that focus back as distractions enter.

There are also some fab guided meditations out there, on apps or YouTube. Useful if you're feeling particularly distracted!

F E E L I N G | F E S T I V E

Are you putting pressure on yourself this month? Probably.

We're often overwhelmed, overburdened and over-stimulated this time of year, and that's a shame. Christmas is often so packed with expectations, whether that's gift buying, getting out and about, seeing as many people as possible, or keeping children entertained in the school holidays.

Remember to take those moments for yourself to replenish. You can't keep giving and giving if you're not looking after yourself. As the old saying goes "you can't pour from an empty cup".

So don't add extra pressure this season by expecting to keep up fitness regimes, diets etc. It's ok to rest! I was going to write 'it's ok to rest if you need to'... but actually sod it, it's ok to rest whether you NEED to or not!!

Winter is the perfect time for self care anyway. Often our energy levels are lower. We're getting less sunlight, it's cold! Many animals hibernate over winter and who can blame them!! So if you don't keep up that weekly class or keep prepping the super healthy breakfasts each morning, don't stress!!! It's ok to fluctuate!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a peaceful festive season 😊

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

T O P | T I P

5 Tips for Meditation

⭐️ 1. One of the easiest ways to find focus is to count or watch the breath. Pick 1 aspect of your breath to concentrate on, either timing, temperature, how your ribs are moving etc. and then try to think purely on that.

⭐️ 2. You don't have to close your eyes! I actually find it's easier for the mind to wander when the eyes are closed. Whereas just fixing on one point with them open, or shifting the eyes out of focus, can give you less temptation to start imagining.

⭐️ 3. A schedule isn't always ideal as it can become an inconvenience. But, if you have a time that works for you in your day then set aside the same time in each day to meditate. It can become a habit more easily that way. Either soon as you wake or just before bed is ideal.

⭐️ 4. Don't set too much expectation. You don't know what the 'result' of meditation is for you until you're already practicing regularly and letting it work its magic. So just set aside the time, set the focus so you switch off, and let that be all. You don't need an 'aim'. Just be present. Just be in the moment and see where it takes you.

⭐️ 5. Talking meditations can be really useful, particularly when you're starting out. Half the battle is learning to switch off the body and switch on relaxation. Talking meditation recordings or Apps can get you in the right physical and mental place to relax. Only then can you really be still and present with your breath.

How do you like to meditate? There are many techniques to try, which ones work for you?

🥨 T W I S T S 🥨

Twists can feel like magic at this time of year. Winter is a toughy on motivation, energy levels and happiness levels. Not only does lack of daylight physically deprive us of the hormones we rely on for positivity and 'get go', but we also feel cold, fed up and bogged down.

Winter is lovely but yes it can sometimes be hard to feel positive at this time of year. We might start to feel heavy, stagnant and weighed down.

Adding more twists to your practice can have the beautiful effect of feeling like you're really wringing it all out. Like a heavy wet cloth. The effect of deep twists is that of squeezing out tension, unwinding our wound up minds, and unpeeling stuck bits of our bodies.

Highly recommend!

I N C O M I N G

Building something new! Just for you!

Keep your eyes peeled. I'm working on my online classes so that I can provide you with a variety of classes, for varied levels and of varying lengths to suit your schedules ❤️

Keep following for updates!
www.yoga-fiona.co.uk

N O W vs T H E N

1st pic is a snapshot of me and my practice level now vs about 5 years ago in the 2nd pic.

This pose with my wheel is kind of a good benchmark test for me.

My back can still bend, but you can see that it's my hamstrings and hip flexors that need some stretching! I can't get that foot to plant firmly on the wheel now and it's down to whether my legs can effectively split enough. You see, there's more to backbends than backbends!

My core is less supportive than it once was. My back feels more of an ache after these things than it used to. But it's interesting to see where my practice is now. I was doing regular Ashtanga in those days. I've since had a baby and my Yoga style has grown less intense! 🧘‍♀️

It can be nice to check in with yourself. It doesn't need to be a comparison in the way of self criticism. Oh no no! It's just interesting to pin point the areas that need extra stretching to keep the whole body working well together. Poses like this, where it's a big 'whole body' demand demonstrate which areas are falling behind in the workout. 🤸‍♀️

I'm proud of my body no matter what. I dont think to myself "oh it's a shame I can't get that foot down". More like "wow I'm glad I still have the urge to move and I can still be brave enough to try new or weird stuff. And it looks like if I give my hammies and flexors a bit more attention I could maybe get those muscles a bit more versatile again" 💪

Use it as an assessment ^_^ enjoy learning from yourself and your own journey. Progress isn't always shown in one way. I'm so much more than I was 5 yrs ago. It's not always about physical improvement 🥰

U P D A T E!

This Wednesday will be my last face to face class for the moment! But have no fear! I'm embarking on an adventure into online Yoga and will be (all being well!!) sharing with you online Yoga Videos soon!

Your practice can be at a time to suit you, in the comfort of your own home!

Please go and check out my website and sign up on there for notifications and content updates! Link in my Bio 🧘‍♀️

www.yoga-fiona.co.uk

B R E A T H E

If you do nothing else, breathe.

Yoga is about uniting body and mind. One of the ways we do that is using movement & breath, sometimes together, sometimes separately.

When we breathe consciously we take ourselves inside. We can't help but focus on our inner being, the very workings of ourselves. This is one of the best qualities of Yoga, in my humble opinion! Taking the focus off the external and finding time to be with ourselves. You can do this simply by taking 12 slow, steady, conscious breaths. Place your hands on your tummy and feel it expand and deflate as you breathe. Slow your breath, slow your mind. Feel grounded and self aware. And the real beauty of it?! We can access this whenever we need to or want to!!

PS. Did you guys know I had a blog?! Go check it out on my website :) I know I'm a bit overdue a new post on there but I have some interesting stuff to say about breathing which is still worth a read 😜

Also, if you head to my website there's a new Subscribe page! If you add your email address it means you'll receive any news and updates from me! No spam!

Link in my Bio!

D E E P E R

I was recently trawling through Yoga related stuffs on Instagram and read a simple quote I thought I'd share. It really is simple but sometimes we need to remind ourselves of this when we see all these images of Yoga 'shapes' on social media...endless handstand training ads and people bending literally in half.

So...
🧘‍♀️"Yoga is what you don't see"🧘‍♀️

And to go hand in hand with that... the concept that our practice is much more Yogic when we go 🙏"deeper not further"🙏

I try to stress in my classes that if you can't stretch further at that point, can't sink any deeper in Warrior 2, or can't possibly twist any further round in Ardha Matseyandrasana, then it's ok. Simply stay as you are and deepen that breath. Find some softness there. Go deeper into the breath and deeper into yourself rather than simply physically pushing further. This is where Yoga is. I dont have to see you add more movement or contortion to your Asanas. I often encourage my students to close their eyes and focus on that quiet place inside. That calm in the storm. The peaceful lull in the waves of the mind.

Yoga IS what you don't see! It's where you meet yourself in your stillness. It's the emotion you might find welling up in that twist, in the softness you might stumble upon in your squat one day. Coming to terms with the turmoil in the challenge of the pose.

✨️Yoga is about stilling the mind.

💪Asana is how we purify & heat our bodily systems and develop our connection with ourselves through self awareness in movement.

💨Breath is the anchor between body and mind. It's the focus to send our concentration internally.

🙏🏻And Yoga is the result of all of it. Unity. Stillness. Peace.

F Y I

Just to let you guys know there won't be a class on Wednesday 31st August but we'll be back on Wednesday 7th September travel permitting!

Anyone wanting any homework drop me a DM 😜

See you soon! 🙏

W H E E L

⚙️Urdhva Dhanurasana / Chakrasana⚙️

Upward Facing Bow or Wheel Pose is one of those postures that feels like a big jump up from its 'build up' backbends such as Bow and Bridge.

It takes a whole lot of arm strength but additionally a whole lot of courage. There are a load of layers to this Asana! There's so much going on! It's incredible for strength building and stretching the whole front body. It's also incredibly exhilarating!

Here are some of the key steps:

1. Align first whilst lying on your back, putting fingers close to the shoulders and ears, and feet close to the bum. It can help to rotate the hands out if the shoulders are tight.

2. Take your time! It's sensible to take this one in stages because a lot of the energy for this posture takes 'mustering'. It's explosive. It's powerful. Power up your limbs by coming onto the top of the head first and root down through the feet.

3. As you push up you need to think about the upper and lower halves of your body all at once and try to balance the effort between them. Try to push equally through arms & legs.

4. Don't forget to squeeze the glutes to support the backbend and help the weight move into the hands!

5. You can use the weight of the head to take your gaze down and back to increase the curve in the upper spine.

6. One of the key aspects of this pose is getting to a point where the arms are straight. This is something we have to work on prior to the full pose e.g. through weight bearing poses such as plank, side plank and downward dog.

7. You need as much spine space as possible. Try to keep pushing upwards with the hips, roll the shoulder blades towards each other and push the heart forward to try and curve equally across the whole spine rather than pinching. Open shoulders help this.

8. Breathe as fully as possible to try and stay relaxed!

A Yoga Wheel can be useful to encourage a less stiff back and help you practice the 'upside down' orientation. Explore Wheel by straighting the legs, maybe lowering onto forearms, lifting 1 leg up to test your balance & ENJOY!

Want to learn Yoga?

What are your reasons not to?

What if I said that pretty much any good thing you can get out of Yoga outweighs any of those reasons not to try it.

That's my opinion of course 😜 but I know from experience that so much of our reasons NOT to do something simply stem from an ingenuine narrative we create for ourselves. Where we create a story that makes sense to support whatever negative whim we might be experiencing at that time. It's so much easier to NOT do stuff because for some reason this negative narrative is always sooooo convincing!!! Why is that?!?!?!

I can tell you that one of the things I try to encourage in my classes is to try and see through that narrative. Yoga challenges us and it teaches us to find stillness and peace in the challenge. The calm in the storm (for a bit of an added cliché). It lets us practise changing the narrative to something more accepting and positive.

Yes, we will all come across emotion on the mat. Sometimes we find ourselves a bit too clearly. But it's honest. It's a space where you don't have to answer to anyone. And this changes our perspective. It makes our narrative more true to ourselves.

Our inner intelligence starts to inform us through better self awareness, conscious movement and the positive choice to look after yourself.

It's easy enough to say on social media 'just do it'. But seriously, if you are thinking about starting Yoga, maybe drop me a message and let me know your queries or your concerns or worries.

❤️🙏❤️

*thappen

F L O W

🌊Missing the seaside now. I love the sound of waves, it's one of ny favourite things 🌊

🧘‍♀️I know a lot of people are on holiday at the moment but this is just a reminder that we have class on Wednesday 27th July 6:15pm.

🙏🏻My classes are a combination of a Hatha style class and Flow. We try to link Asanas in order to explore movement and transitions, as well as using some longer held Asanas to explore stillness and really get into the sticky places, where we most need to let go.

Drop me a message if you have any questions or fancy trying it out!

A N J A N E Y A S A N A

🌼So many layers to the low lunge it's hard to know where to start!🌼

🌙This low lunge/crescent lunge is powerful for the body as a whole. It encourage active feet, quads and glutes... stretches the illiopsoas, the primary hip flexors... tones the core, opens the heart, makes the shoulders work with arms extended overhead... trains knee mobility whilst strengthening the supporting muscles... helps to deepen backbends... and can even be a good pose to train activation of the deep neck muscles if we choose. It's also a balance, especially if you play with perturbation or gaze changing.🌙

To come into this posture try the following:

✨️. Start in Uttanasana (forward fold) step one leg back to create a long stance
✨️. Set the feet with the front knee ideally stacked over the ankle, and back knee down, and start sending the groin down and forwards, opening the hips, stretching the illiopsoas on the back leg. The front knee can come over the ankle at this point if comfortable. Stay here if needed. Really press down into the back foot to fire up the back of the body.
✨️. Spread the front toes then magnetise the feet towards each other using traction. Squeeze quads and glutes to stabilise the base and further encourage the hips towards the ground.
✨️. Try to lift the upper body using core and back strength rather than pushing on the thigh with the hands.
✨️. Grow tall. Imagine you're trying to lift the ribcage up vertically away from the hips. Lengthen the back of the neck. When you're as tall as possible, start lifting the heart towards the ceiling and press the chin back (double chin time!!!)
✨️. For a big heart opener swoop the arms down, back and up to reach to prayer above the head. Keep pressing the chin down and back before opening the throat!
✨️. Squeeze your prayer at the top for shoulder fun and keep squeezing the leg muscles to keep feeling strong.

🙏 BREATHE DEEP AND ENJOY!🙏

🧘‍♀DM for class details!!!🧘‍♀️

S E L F | R E F L E C T I O N

🧘‍♀️I constantly talk about what 'life skills' Yoga gives you. You can show up for your 1 hour class, but some of the major benefits are the ones you take with you after class!

🤸‍♀️Not just the physical benefits of heating, stretching and strengthening the body... and also not just learning how to breathe, (which is a vast subject in itself)!

❤️But it's also about learning to be still, learning to look inside, learning to consider how YOU feel.

📝We pay so much attention and usually give so much focus to the external. Our busy lives naturally force our focus onto tasks, lists, deadlines, other people, work, peer pressure, family and household demands etc etc. Often the only time we get that's quiet and to ourselves is when we go to sleep!

🥰Yoga has the effect and benefit of turning that back around. Yoga encourages you to not only listen to your body, but also look inwards. Asanas challenge us, the practices of breathing well challenge our focus. We are put in a position where we have to find peace on the mat even amongst those challenges and it's therefore a practise which naturally makes us address how we feel and how much stress we might be holding in our body.

🤫Some asanas have the effect of also lowering our energy, which again has the effect of turning our attention to our quieter side. In quietness, peace and stillness on the mat we are able to practice that ability to switch off from all that external focus. We learn to cope with stress better, learn to switch off more effectively, and learn to consider and accept ourselves by going 'internal'.

🙏With practice this just gets easier and easier, better and better. Life ends up with a better balance. See?! Yoga is so much more than your weekly workout 🙏

Class is back on Wednesday 6th July!

G R A T I T U D E

It's mine and my hubby's 3yr Wedding Anniversary today!

My hubby always features highly on my gratitude list. He is my support, guidance and best friend ❤️

It's always important to sit and think of things you are thankful for. The practice of gratitude is very humbling, grounding, reassuring and comforting. Especially when the world can feel upside down or chaotic.

Can you sit peacefully and send out gratitude for things/people/situations in your life/the world? What 3 things can you think of today to be grateful for?

🙏🧘‍♀️🙏🧘‍♀️🙏🧘‍♀️🙏🧘‍♀️🙏🧘‍♀️🙏🧘‍♀️🙏

H O L I D A Y

Yoga in Holiday Mode as demonstrated by my nearly 2 year old!

Her repertoire of Poses is growing surprisingly quickly! I had no idea! She already knows Sphinx, Downward Dog, 3 legged Dog, Plank using one's head, Downward Dog on 3 limbs and 1 head, Forward Fold, Goddess and Squat!

🙏 I love it! 🙏

H A P P Y | Y O G A | D A Y

I chose this fairly old photo for a post today to celebrate International Yoga Day because I think this is probably one of the big things I love about Yoga...

No, not the funky backbends! But the fact that this photo was taken nearly 10 years ago and yet I still have the same love for the Practice. It's been with me through thick and thin. It's often my medicine and, whilst it seems a bit odd to say, my companion, through this journey we call life.

My Practice has ebbed and flowed. Sometimes I've been heavily engrossed in a multi class week of Yoga. Other times I've gone a while without doing much at all.

That's the beauty of it. It's more than exercise. It's comfort. It's stress relief. It's coming to terms with yourself on the mat. It's finding stillness amidst the chaos. It's like a massage but for everything... your body AND mind. It's there for you when you need it and especially when you think you don't.

And that's the cheesy bit done!

🧘‍♀️ Happy International Yoga Day! 🧘‍♀️

T R E E S

🌳 Hands up, who likes trees?
🌲 For me there isn't much more peaceful than standing in a forest and absorbing the muffled sound, humidity and feeling of life all around you.
🌴 I know carbon offsetting has its negatives and there is more important work to be done, but honestly the feeling of being able to just plant trees around the world at the click of a button also does make me pretty happy

I've been using for nearly a year now with very minimal effort and really want to incorporate some planting schemes into my business in the near future.

🙏I have a link in my bio if you would like to contribute to my forest using Ecologi ( )!🙏

Forests are precious and I want to contribute. Any advice from you guys out there on funding more tree planting would be most welcome!

S T I L L N E S S

Offering you an hour every week where I invite you to find stillness, find quiet in your mind and follow the guidance of your body.

I know myself that motivation can be the hardest thing. Especially when you are feeling lethargic, low or troubled. Whilst it's important to rest, know that you CAN find 'rest' in the doing. Yoga is so beneficial for being one of those practices where even in the physical work, we can find stillness, peace and rest internally. Whilst our muscles might work and we may sweat or feeling achey following our movements, Yoga gives the mind the time-out it might be yearning for. We might avoid finding it because we lack the motivation to do that personal work. But those times where we lack motivation are the times our minds need the stillness the most.

I like to give you a good amount of challenge in my classes. I think having the challenge to focus on can really bring you into yourself and encourage you to listen to your body. But alongside this I always strive to bring you some opportunity to feel grounded, relieve some stress, and find stillness.

Class: Wednesday at 6:15pm at Ashby de la Zouch. Drop me a message for enquiries!

B O W

Dhanurasana ... a wonderful uplifting asana to strengthen the back muscles, hamstrings, glutes, stretch the shoulders, stretch the hip extensors, open the chest and counter a slouched posture.

As a backbend and heart opener it can also be an invigorating asana. It can be practiced where the knees and chest both lift off the ground, or for a slightly different shoulder stretch push the feet backwards as well as upwards so that the thighs stay on the mat.

During the asana continue to roll the shoulders back, lift the chest upwards, squeeze the glutes, pull the knees in towards each other and lift up and back with the feet.

L O V E

Loving my girly in my Yoga practice... my favourite combo ❤️

U N A S H A M E D L Y | Y O U

One thing I completely advocate in my classes is taking that hour for yourself...whatever that means for you.

Whether you push yourself or don't, chill and do things gently or not, whether you spend more time sweating or resting... I do not judge.

I'm your guide and I'm not there to whip you into shape. I'm there to encourage you to 'do you'. Be there for you. Take that hour for what you need. Yoga is your tool. We can use it to begin heading in a direction that serves ourselves. And that isn't selfish! We are bound to ourselves for our whole lives and we must make peace with ourselves, be content with ourselves. Yoga gives us the tips and tools to connect with ourselves. We use it to release tension, explore our ranges, and let go. And however that feels for you could be different each week.

All you have to do is simply show up for yourself. Be there because it is good for your body and soul and embrace whatever you get from simply being on your mat.

Be you, just for one hour. Take it as a gift to yourself. You truly deserve it.