10 Ways to Use a Belt

This blog is about using a Yoga Belt. You can buy specific yoga belts, but any soft, non stretchy, belt will work or even a long scarf.

A belt can be a useful support for any yoga student to help you to support a yoga pose; find your way into a yoga pose more fully; and in restorative yoga, belts can be really helpful to help hold parts of the body so that the body can rest and enjoy the benefits of the pose without the effort of holding the pose

In this blog I share a few ideas on how to use your belt to support you in ten common yoga poses.

Ten Years, Yoga and Wellbeing, Yoga Practice, Yoga TipsSarah CloverMarch 19, 2024yoga tips, yoga class, Ten YearsComment

B.R.A.I.N.

In this blog post I explain the acronym B.R.A.I.N.

It is a really useful tool to use when making choices, and is especially well known in the world of Pregnancy, Labour and Birth, when having to make choices can come quickly and without much warning. I’ve included a free B.R.A.I.N. card to print out to use at antenatal appointments, through labour, birth and postnatally.

B.R.A.I.N. can also be used by anyone for day to day, and more complex decisions. I invite you to have a read and see if this tool could be helpful for you.

10 Books for your Christmas List

I’m a big fan of books. Any kind of book- fiction, non-fiction, hard back, paper back, kindle. I thought I’d share 10 books with you that I’ve loved over the past 12 months or so. There’s a variety, but they are all focused on yoga and mindfulness, and cover the breadth of my classes from pregnancy to meditation to menopause.

Whether you add them to your Christmas list, or are looking for a gift for a friend, you can find all of them (and lots more recommendations) on my https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/Breathingspaceyoga pages – if you buy from there you support local bookshops and also a little tiny commission comes to me. Otherwise they are available from most of your usual booksellers.

Let me know if you read any of them…

10 Ways to Use a Chair for Yoga

In this blog post I continue to celebrate 10 years of teaching with the first in a series of ‘Ten Ways to use...’

This blog is about using a chair. You can buy specific yoga chairs, but any sturdy dining room style chair without arms will work just as well.

In this blog I share a few ideas on how to use your chair to support you in ten common yoga poses.

Ten Years, Yoga and Wellbeing, Yoga Practice, Yoga TipsSarah CloverSeptember 11, 2023yoga tips, yoga class, Ten Years

10 Ten Minute Practices

In this blog post I continue to celebrate 10 years of teaching with 10 ten minute practices suitable for all (except pregnancy).

You can watch the 10 minute videos direct from the blog - great for beginners to get a feel for yoga movement and practice. Good for experienced yoga students to get ten minutes of breathing space in your day.

Do one or more of the practices to suit what your body needs. Enjoy!

Ten Years, Yoga TipsSarah CloverAugust 9, 2023yoga tips, yoga class, Ten Years, yoga practice, yoga for menopause

Ten active birth positions to help you and your baby through labour and birth

In this blog post I share ten active birth positions, which are just some of infinite variations you may discover as you labour and birth your baby in your own unique way. You can use them at home or in hospital, and even when you are being monitored.

They are a far cry from the usual way we imagine birth – lying on our backs with our legs wide. TV, film and the now more medicalised labour and birth system we have, often promote lying on our backs as the way to give birth. They have somehow forgotten about the natural process of birthing, using gravity and tapping into instinct which can be shorter and offer less discomfort.

Whatever position you and your body want to be in is ok, your professional support whether at home or hospital can work with you and around you in the way that you want to. Everything is your choice – it’s your body, your baby and your decision – including the positions you take to labour and birth in the best way for you and your baby.

Try these positions out during pregnancy – it will help prepare you for your labour and birth and then have them in your toolkit when the time comes to meet your baby.

Yoga Tips, Yoga for PregnancySarah CloverJune 6, 2023Pregnancy Yoga, top tips

10 Reasons to Try Yoga Nidra

Yoga nidra means ‘yogic sleep’. It is an effortless yoga relaxation and meditation practice that anyone can do, by themselves with an audio recording or with the guidance of a teacher in person.

Yoga nidra brings you to a deeply relaxed state of mind and body, whilst you are still awake. This is the state between sleep and wakefulness (called the hypnogogic state in psychology), where you float between consciousness and unconsciousness, being aware of the resting state of the body and mind as it is happening in the moment.

Yoga nidra has been shown to be effective in supporting and healing many areas of body and mind including stress, tension, anxiety, insomnia, pain, trauma, addiction and PTSD.

I have found yoga nidra to be one of the best ways to relax and release my body completely, and one of the easiest ways to enter the meditative space. It really is effortless.

In this blog I offer ten reasons why you should try yoga nidra, and a link to ten free yoga nidra practices on my website.

10 Ways to Use a Yoga Brick

In this blog post I continue to celebrate 10 years of teaching with the first in a series of ‘Ten Ways to use...’

This blog is about yoga bricks. After yoga mats, they are probably the most widely found yoga prop.

If you are new to yoga and got a yoga brick with your first yoga mat, you might have been wondering what it is for. If you are a more experienced yoga student you may be familiar with ways to use a brick in your practice.

In this blog I share a few ideas on how to use your brick for ten common yoga poses.

Ten Years, Yoga and Wellbeing, Yoga Practice, Yoga TipsSarah CloverMarch 17, 2023yoga tips, yoga class, Ten Years

Ten things I've learned from ten years of teaching yoga

Ten years ago I completed my first Yoga Teacher Training. I decided to share my love of yoga with my community and build a business to support my family after many years working in the arts.

Starting with mum and baby yoga, then adult classes and then pregnancy, my classes and timetable have grown organically and luckily I've succeeded in making yoga teaching my full time job.

Over the years I’ve learned so much about myself, about teaching yoga and how to run a yoga business. In this blog I reflect on ten of the many things I’ve learned as I look forward to the next ten years…

Yoga Tips, Ten YearsSarah CloverFebruary 10, 2023Ten Years, yoga class, yoga tips

Meno -PAUSE

I’m delighted to have qualified as a Menopause Yoga Teacher just as we celebrate World Menopause Day in October. I’m looking forward to sharing my new skills with you soon on the mat. Read my latest post where I share some key menopause resources with you and a little of my menopause story so far.

Yoga Tips, Yoga for MenopauseSarah CloverOctober 18, 2022menopause, mental, yoga for menopause, yoga tips

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