Déirdre O'Hagan Yoga

Yesterday, I listened to explain that pressure for us to feel happy, think positively all the time etc. could be adding another layer of stress to our lives when the reality is that we spend a lot of time in some sort of low level anxiety. And that’s ok. The more we accept that the moments of true happiness are fleeting, the more we can be present to them and the less of a failure we’ll feel when our lives don’t look like a travel company ad on TV. That made a lot of sense to me. And I think it’s pretty liberating.
So for world mental health day, I’m sharing a few of the things that I’ve added more of to my days without trying to be attached to them as things that will ‘fix’ me or my stress levels. Bonus is, the fleeting happiness is happening more often too.
🌱Getting out in nature- hiking, sea swimming, surfing, walking in places with trees, being in or near water. Always a game-changer.
🌱Moving my body. Yoga, dancing, some kind of manual task. Sometimes meditation feels crazy hard when things are really whirring. Moving helps.
🌱Connection and talking to someone close. It never seems as bad when it’s out of my head. Laughing is even better.
🌱Doing something for someone/ in service of something else.
🌱Old episodes of Frasier and Friends

Tonight's yoga! 8.15 at Balanced Bodies.

Every once in a while.
take off your life.
and rest.
~ .waheed

This week's yinning is all about coming home to yourself.
Tonight .ie
Tomorrow 📸 by .

Yin tomorrow night in Balanced Bodies! Have a read below if you'd like to find out a bit more about this delicious, slow practice. Or come along and feel it out for yourself. All levels welcome 😊

Yin Versus Restorative Yoga: What's the Difference? Restorative Yoga and Yin Yoga are often used interchangeably, but they are very different

Yogis of Newbridge! So excited to start yin classes tonight @ 8.15 in Balanced Bodies! It's a slow, stretchy, meditative practice, perfect for unwinding and letting go of tension. If it sounds like what you need, I'd love to see you there! You can book your space at www.balancedbodies.ie

Home | Balanced Bodies Balanced Bodies was founded by three spiritual souls with a shared vision. By merging three separate businesses together, a community was formed and friendships were cemented. It is our shared mission to create an environment for healing and strengthening, for all who walk through our door. A cen...

New class tomorrow evening! Come join me for a super slow, stretchy yin practice for a midweek unravelling in this gorgeous new studio. Book your space at www.balancedbodies.ie

Just settling back in after a gorgeous weekend in France with the most warm-hearted, amazing group of women. The power of gathering together in laughter, openness and support of each other never fails to hit me right in the feels. So grateful to have been part of the wonderful team supporting in a masterclass in creating a space that allows for all that magic to unfurl and bring yoga off the mat. Also grateful that everyone came away without 1st degree burns.

Happy Monday!

B E L I E F S | Medical anthropologist and all round superwoman spoke at the most gorgeous gathering of women last night. Her parting words were, "we have a choice in what we inherit from our ancestors".
Yes, there might be trauma laid down at a genetic level to protect us from the big bad world, but we can question it. And we can most certainly question what we inherit from society. Whether it's "vulnerability is weakness", "fat is bad", "women just get on with things and turn the best side out" or "you need three masters and a PhD to have a valid opinion on the work you want to share" (it's almost as though I know these thoughts! 🙄), it helps to interrogate that heavy stuff. AND then hand all the best bits of our inheritance down to the next generation.
Thank you
and for the magic.
Stunning harvest moon 📸 by

Excited to share that I'll be teaching a delicious, meditative Yin class on Wednesday evenings from the 25th at the beautiful new Balanced Bodies Holistic Centre in Newbridge! Go check out their page for membership details and class passes 😎

Let's try this outdoor yoga again next week... rainfall radar is showing showers at 11 over our lovely park unfortunately! Have a great Sunday everyone!

"Art reveals truth that politics seeks to conceal:
There is no such thing as other countries' children" - Glennon Doyle

Seesaws installed at US border wall so American and Mexican children can play together Inventor says event was ‘filled with joy, excitement and togetherness’

Starting the week on this note! I fully believe that all the work we do on ourselves, all the practices we do in the name of self-care, needs to come full circle.
We do it so we can play our part in something bigger. In really connecting and making our corner of the world a little better. Sometimes, we can get so hung up on ‘fixing’ ourselves, on making ourselves feel better in a very unbalanced world, that we forget that doing something for others, for something bigger than ourselves, is a vital part of the process.
It’s a double whammy: studies have shown the positive mental health benefits of doing things that serve a greater good above what we see as “doing nice things for ourselves”. And it’s for the greater good. Bonus! We only have to look around us to see that we need action over apathy at the moment. Quote by the brilliant Cleo Wade.

Regardless of the view, being in nature is one of the best (and cheapest) forms of therapy. And a constant reminder of our role in protecting it. Back from Indonesia to the park this Sunday!

Let’s try this yoga in the park thing again shall we? Fingers crossed for blue skies on Sunday morning!

☔RAIN CHECK!☔
So the rain has started pretty heavily outside my kitchen window and, according to the forecast, looks set to stay for the next couple of hours. It could just be a shower, and knowing our weather, might not materialise into much at all but in the interests of not having you do yoga in a puddle, I think we'll have to give yoga in the park a miss this time and try again next week! Hope you all have a lovely Sunday and I'll see you then! 😊

Thank you for all the interest in making Yoga in the Park a regular fixture! I'm working on it and hoping we can go ahead with it next week. I'll pop details up here as soon as I can. Happy Friday! 😊

Junefest goers! I'm so sorry, but due to an unforeseen commitment, I've unfortunately had to cancel my talk on Staying Sane on Social Media on Wednesday, July 12th. If anyone would like any resources on the topic, please get in touch (I love an excuse to chat about all this, so all messages welcome!). Dee x

The rain just about held off for this lovely group of yogis in the park who navigated enthusiastic dogs and gusts of wind so well! Thanks to the loveliest for assisting and for the photos! Same time next week? June Fest Newbridge

Y I N W O R K S H O P | A slow, juicy practice, that'll create space to release tension in the body and to gently observe the negative thoughts that may come up as we do. Together, we'll explore taking a different, more positive perspective that gives you tools to deal with the inner critic, long after you leave the yoga studio. We'll wrap up with a nourishing loving-kindness meditation, directing compassion towards ourselves and expanding that sphere outwards towards others. Come join! Saturday @ 10.30 in Breathing Place, Clane. https://breathingplace.ie/yoga/yin-healing-workshop/

Just a reminder: you get to decide. Who gets to tell you what ‘beauty’ is or isn’t? The construct of beauty is so abstract and it changes with time and place according to social norms (held up by mass media) that we begin to believe we need to squish ourselves into to be acceptable. Here’s the clincher though, we get to choose what we believe. Make the right choice Karen. 😎
Poem by .waheed

Actual footage of us after Game of Thrones last night. I have not meditated to the point where I am beyond minor heart failure and screaming at a tv. Surprising. If you're tense (or watching GoT, same diff), here's a wee reminder to start breathing 💜
Epic 📸 by

Taking my post-yin sleepy head out of the sitting room and back to the streets. And by streets I mean Breathing Place in Clane. Thursday night Yin is back on May 2nd and I'm this happy about it!

It's a mini revolution and it's changed the way I see exercise in particular. My yoga practice has become juicier and slower but when I want to sweat, I'll switch it up. I've swapped my days of limping along in a slow jog, trying to push through a knee injury (bc cardio) for hiking, barre, dance classes and jumping in the sea. Tune into what feels good for your body on any given day. Our bodies have five PhDs in knowing what's best (so I heard).

In case you needed a reminder! Because these words are so resonant but often, we don't let them sink in.

What are you putting off because you're not (insert infinite words here) enough? When I really sat with this, I realised wasn't allowing myself to feel joyful or do work that mattered until I reached a certain point in my career or relationship or fitted into a certain dress size or had a sh*tload of degrees. Calling bu****it on this one is a game changer. 🔥

How healthy is your healthy eating if you get overly anxious about what you should or shouldn't eat, how to balance out your guilt over weekend splurges at the gym this week or skipping this so you can 'earn' that?

I used to give myself a little pat on the back when work pals commented on how healthy or 'good' I was at lunchtime, even though I was probably doing all of the above.

Mental health is a huge part of our overall health. If we're damaging that, no amount of green juice or goji fu***ng berries can save us.

PSA 🤓
Every time we criticise ourselves for doing or not doing a certain thing, being or not being a certain way, we can do ourselves a favour by questioning whose approval we're seeking. You do you.

*Update: Class full* After a good yin and yoga nidra class, I mostly enjoy walking around in windswept Connemara with my eyes closed 🤓. If you want to grab a slice of this delicious feeling, come join us in the Breathing Place, Clane for a yin workshop tomorrow morning to move us into Spring with gentle intention. Make space in your body and in your brain for the new. *Connemara not included

Now more than ever, the world needs people who are fully aware of the amazing things they can contribute.

January is one of the times I can really feel the pressure of self-improvement. Especially around old habits of over-exercising and dieting. The flash of guilt when I drive past the lycra-clad man getting his morning run in before work. How much time do we waste thinking about what we SHOULD or SHOULDN'T do or be? Do it because it makes you feel good. Also, I have a very real concern that running first thing in the morning may kill me. So this kind of thinking is dangerous across the whole spectrum. Obviously.