Beware the ego and blow the nose

Dear Yogis,

Last week I took part in workshops dedicated to adjustments. It’s the kind of workshop that teachers go to, where postures are advanced and interesting and the steps up to a pretzel shaped impossible tangle seem deliberate and safe. However, the ego can overtake ability. Injury is a possibility! The brilliant teacher, Will Lau, came over to adjust me and I could feel my body breaking in three separate places. This reminds me to tell you that if you don’t want me (or any yoga teacher) to adjust you, or if you want only gentle adjustments, you must let me know or scream... or both. Will Lau also took us through ‘shining skull’ breathing and the top of my scull really did feel scrubbed clean with a wire brush. If you know a few pranayama techniques, it was Kapalbhati combined with Alternate Nostril. You really do need to blow the nose first!

Book Online – Home Studio

More loveliness in my lucky Home Studio this week. Yesterday we finished the class with inversions using the ‘Feet Up’ stool. The head doesn’t touch the ground and the neck is left unstressed. It’s a great prop to use if you have fear of going upside-down... plenty of people do. We conquered that fear for one of our number. And it again proved to me the immense positivity that comes from inversions. The brain/endorphins/mood seems to love it.

Come and have a go at a class here. Beginners always welcome. It’s a group class with personal attention and adjustments. Also, please consider booking through the website – although if web technology is not your thing, this is not a hard and fast rule. But late cancellations and no shows/forgotten bookings can be easily managed or remembered if you reserve the class online. You get an email reminder with the time of the class and the opportunity to cancel so that I get notification!

Second Greek Yoga Retreat

The first week’s retreat is really filling up. The apartments in the serene and lovely back bay of the island village of Kapsali are full. No worries though! There’s plenty of room on the second retreat which is the kind of yoga retreat that will suit the majority of us. You'll do yoga every day which is a big step up and quite a revelation for people who take only one or two yoga classes a week. This will be perfect for you.