Yoga

YOGI IN TRAINING BLOG: The entrepreneurial adventures of a Yogi in Training.

February 23, 2017YOGI IN TRAINING

A never-ending story.

Does anybody have it all figured out? Got it together? Sealed the deal, nailed it down, have it locked and loaded? Really? Does anybody know what they are supposed to be doing? Do you?

Well I don’t. And you know what? I think it’s ok not to have the answers – all the whys. No one does.

What I do know for sure is that I like to ask questions, experience everything I can, explore and learn and that’s always a good place to start.

If you're out of answers, lost sight of a goal, don't know what your next step is, come with me as I explain how I'm pushing past a sticky spot and why that means Yogi In Training the Blog is making a comeback.

Hygge or Yogi?

January 26, 2017News

And how to be happy.

Did you know there’s a bunch of people out there who research our happiness? These guys are actively working out which places are happiest and why.

Sadly, my copy of Waitrose Weekend (above) tells me the UK rates at just 23 in the UN’s World’s Happiness Report. It’s the Danes that are taking the top spot in the joy stakes. The reason? A ‘brand of Scandinavian cheer’ called Hygee which is being exported in the form of a book called The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking.

So, what’s the deal? We could all do with some more happiness, right? So, I’m keen to discover what the Danes are up to that us Brits are not… and the answer my yogi friends, got me-a smiling.

Why is my physio saying yoga is a good idea?

December 15, 2016News

Hands up if you’ve ever had physio? Hands up if the reason you called your physio was down to any one of these?

Pain
Limitation
Frustration

Probably all three right? Now ask yourself, was something way, WAY off balance before you actually made that call. Had your body stopped talking in whispers and started shouting – “You got to help me out here. Stop doing the thing that you are doing and let’s try and fix this.” Oh yes – I’ve been there and I know I am not alone. According to the NHS, the things we mostly seek physio out for include one or more of the following:

Hold on to your seat – Chair Yoga is coming.

November 15, 2016News

Yes, it’s really yoga, so please don’t sit this one out.

Yoga Local has teamed up with PhysioPlus in Northampton to launch a five-week adaptive Chair Yoga programme. This seated practice begins in the New Year and is focused on helping anyone who may be limited in movement or recovering from an injury to discover the benefits of yoga.

Why Chair Yoga?

Here’s what happens when you find yoga from the comfort of your chair. You will...

Beginners’ top 5 yoga nightmares put to bed.

October 28, 2016News

Ever noticed how your emotions can hold you hostage in your life? As it’s Halloween, I invite you to take on one of the biggies. FEAR.

It’s natural to respond to fear by running away from it, hiding from it, dodging it. All great tactics if the fear is in response to a real threat to your life. But often, let’s take a reality check… it’s really not. What you’re experiencing is just an uncomfortable emotion that’s bubbled up because of a need that’s not being met. In this case, your need to feel safe.

So ask yourself, could you be allowing your emotions to deny you an experience that could lead to your growth or even reaching your full potential? The moment you restrict yourself to only ‘safe places’ is the moment you stop living. Soul death…a life unfulfilled… now that’s scary. Isn’t it? Keep reading...

Why Runners Do Yoga X 7

September 17, 2016News

If you run, yoga’s a good idea because…

Ok, let’s start with this. The more you can take care of you the more you are able to continue to enjoy and love life. Agree?

Cool. So how does that relate to running? Keep going. Anyone who loves and LIVES to run will know how it feels to have to hang up their runners for any length of time. And I’m guessing their long-suffering significant others most definitely do. Yes? Can I hear nods? Seriously, but that’s life right? We all want to do what we want to do and we are seriously not happy when something, anything; ill health, fatigue, motivation, pain or even our own belief in our ability, stops us in our metaphorical tracks.

So my answer to the question above is simply this. It’s a good idea for runners to take up a yoga practice because the more runners bring yoga into their world, the more runners will continue to enjoy their love of running.

Whatever you already might think a yoga practice is or does, I invite you to consider this. Yoga is a practice that helps us all continue to do what we LIVE and LOVE to do.

Revealing some whys?

Now I appreciate this is a somewhat short and simple answer. There’s loads more to say and I’ll be breaking it all down at the next Yoga for Runners/Athletes Series. If you’re interested in this five-week yoga course designed specifically for runners and athletic types, find out how and when to sign up here and at the end of this article. First here’s just some of the whys I’m always promising…

The four obstacles to achieving your goals

July 20, 2016News

And why it takes courage to confront your dream.

What’s stopping us from realising our dreams? What drives one person to go after what they want, desire or need and another to settle – make do.

Why do some of us ask for more out of life, question why we’re here, and whether what we have achieved is what we even wanted in the first place?

And, while I’m at it, why do some people know what they really, really, REALLY, want, and others have no clue, or simply never ask?

Interested in exploring this with me? Come on in.

More on overcoming hard choices…Don’t resist

July 9, 2016News

The devil is not in the detail, it’s in the denial.

Resistance is our enemy. That’s what author, Steven Pressfield tells me in his book, The War of Art.

Resistance is there any time it comes to making that first step – to meditate, take a yoga class, eat right, pursue a new career, end a relationship, pop the question, write a blog or any activity that rejects an instant fix in favour of long term growth, health or wellbeing. Put simply, any good choice we know to be good for us.

If we let it, resistance will start throwing up excuses of why we can’t, shouldn’t, won’t do what we know we need to do. Stuff like:

How to overcome making hard choices…

June 28, 2016News

Part 1 …like starting a meditation practice.

Is the motivation to do what’s good for you hit and miss? You ate well all week, so tonight - what the heck, show me the ice cream...

Most of us know what’s good for us, but choosing right is hard. How so?

In Deepak Chopra’s and Rudolph Tanzi’s latest book, Super Genes, it throws up some answers.

According to my spiritual teacher, Deepak, and his genetic expert friend Tanzi, choice making it turns out is a skill. One we can cultivate and get better at to the point that eventually what we once thought was an impossibly hard choice (for us, but not necessarily everyone) becomes easy.

The secret?

Do less, achieve more.

June 16, 2016News

Sound good? Here's how.

If you’ve been spoon-fed on a menu of mantras like ‘no pain, no gain’, and ‘work hard, play hard’, you might be rolling your eyes around now at the idea of doing less and achieving more. Bear with me.

Nothing wrong with being driven, focused, consistent or passionate but stop sharpening those elbows for a second and ask yourself, how much are you forcing your way through life? And at what expense to your feelings of yumminess?

THE BLOG