Posts tagged yoga practice
Journal Practice - Prompts for Winter Solstice Reflection

Winter Solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year and usually falls on 21st  or 22nd of December and is the exact moment when half of earth is tilted the farthest away from the sun.

Solstice comes from the Latin Sol meaning sun, and  Sistere meaning to stand still.  It marks the moment the sun ‘stands still’, pauses for a moment at its lowest, before turning back to lengthening the days again. The moment between what is ending and what is beginning.

In this blog post I explore some of the history of Winter Solstice celebrations.   I reflect on the qualities of Winter and how we can embrace the darker and quieter energies of Winter and set some intentions for the coming months.

There’s a beautiful poem by James A Pearson  and some Winter Solstice journal prompts for you including a pdf download so that you can take a pause and mark this point in the year..

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Journal Practice - Prompts for Autumn Equinox

Autumn Equinox marks the the start of Autumn and is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere between 22nd and 24th September.  It is when there is equal day and night and signals the start of the decrease of light as days become shorter towards winter.

In this blog post I explore some of the history, stories and images of Autumn Equinox celebrations.   I reflect on the qualities of Autumn and how we can use the transition point from Summer to Autumn  to help us to reflect on our lives, take time enjoy the slower  energies of Autumn, and to set some intentions for the coming months.

There’s a beautiful affirmation and poem and some journal prompts for you including a pdf download.

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Journal Practice - Prompts for Summer Solstice Reflection

Summer Solstice marks the longest day and the shortest night of the year and is also called Midsummers Day.  It usually falls on 21st June.

Solstice comes from the Latin Sol meaning sun, and   Sistere meaning to stand still.  It marks the moment the sun ‘stands still’, pauses for a moment at its peak, before turning back to shortening the days again.

In this blog post I explore some of the history of Summer Solstice celebrations.   I reflect on the qualities of Summer and how we can embrace the light and energy of Summer and set some intentions for the coming months.

There’s a beautiful poem by Judith Hanson Lasater and some journal prompts for you including a pdf download so that you can take a pause and mark this mid-way point in the year..

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Journal Practice - Prompts for Spring Equinox reflection

Spring Equinox marks the first day of Spring and is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere between 20th and 23rd March.  It is when there is equal day and night and signals the start of the increase of light as days become longer towards summer.

In this blog post I explore some of the history, stories and images of Spring Equinox celebrations.   I reflect on the qualities of Spring and how we can use the transition point from Winter to Spring to help us to reflect on our lives, take time enjoy the new energies of spring, and to set some intentions for the coming months.

There’s some beautiful poems and some journal prompts for you including a pdf download.

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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!

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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.

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Senbazuru - learn to fold a paper crane

Senbazuru - learn the Japanese tradition of mindfully folding paper cranes.

Folding a paper crane is said to bring peace, hope, healing and happiness. The practice of folding a crane brings mindfulness and pleasure through creating a little bit of time in the present moment.

Find out about Michael James Wong’s beautiful book about the tradition, and learn step by step how to fold your own paper crane and bring some mindfulness to your day in this blog post.

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