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

A gentle welcome to the new year

Welcome to 2023! I'm looking forward to the year ahead with its seasonal rhythms, annual events and of course the unknowns, how will this year unfold?

A quick new year post for you where I share Michael James Wong's beautiful 'A Travelling Prayer' to inspire a gentle and mindful start to the new year.

Yoga and Wellbeing, Yoga PracticeSarah CloverJanuary 13, 2023yoga quotes, mental health, yoga practice

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.

Yoga and Wellbeing, Yoga PracticeSarah CloverDecember 13, 2022Meditation, mental health, yoga practice

Patience and Cowrie Shells

Ever since I can remember I have spent time on the beach looking for shells, pebbles, sea glass and treasures. It was a holiday ritual with my family every summer when we visited the Moray coast in Scotland, many happy hours were spent marvelling at what the tide brings in.

One of the little shells I look for is the European Cowrie, or in Northern Scotland the 'Groatie Buckie.' The process of gentle and mindful searching for these little shells brings peace and calm.

In my latest blog, find out how beach combing is yoga practice, and the significance of the cowrie shell world wide.

Meditation, Yoga and Wellbeing, Yoga PracticeSarah CloverNovember 10, 2022Meditation, mental health, yoga practice

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

How to choose oil for Baby Massage

Skin is the primary conduit to touch which is critical for comfort, development, good health and well-being for baby and parent. Massage nurtures touch, and the process for attachment of baby and bonding for the parent. Skin, as well as a sensory organ, acts as a temperature regulator, hydration manager, waste eliminator and protective barrier – baby’s first line of defence.

This is why it’s really important to ensure that you choose the most appropriate oil for you and your baby. In this article I offer some information and research to help you decide on the oil you’d like to use, and you can also decide not to use any oil at all.

Baby MassageSarah CloverSeptember 14, 2022Baby Massage

How I make my classes accessible

Postnatal Yoga, Yoga and Wellbeing, Yoga PracticeSarah CloverAugust 14, 2022yoga class, yoga practice

Why you should learn to relax in pregnancy

We're not usually taught to relax, for some of us it's fairly easy to stop and chill out. For others it's really hard. Pregnancy may also bring additional challenges of physical discomforts and new worries as you navigate your pregnancy, labour and birth. Relaxation can be a challenge.

When we relax we support our parasympathetic nervous system, the side of our nervous system that dials down stress, anxiety and busy-ness. When we release tensions through the body we immediately feel better and this also helps to signal the mind to become more relaxed as well. When we relax, our heart rate slows and our breathing becomes more easeful.

Your baby feels everything that happens in your body. Tension and tightness, release and relaxation. A calm and relaxed body signals to your baby that all is well, they are safe and secure.

Read on to find tips on ways to relax and resources to help you…

Yoga for Pregnancy, Pregnancy YogaSarah CloverMay 15, 2022Pregnancy Yoga, relaxation, stress

50 Ways to Meditate

I've recently started to swim a couple of times a week. I've always loved swimming, but never made it a regular hobby. I took my boys to baby swimming classes from about 6 months old as I know how important it is as a life saving skill, and also how much fun children (and adults!) have splashing around, jumping in and generally mucking about in the water once they are competent swimmers.

But there's something else that I notice when I swim, it's a quietness, a focus and an ease. When I swim it takes me to that quiet space of being that happens in meditation or deep relaxation. My mind quietens and I can just be with the action of 'swimming', of being in the present moment.

In this blog I talk about how we can use the hobbies and activities we lobe to drop into meditation, we can all do it, find out how…

How to begin Postnatal Exercise

Your pregnancy and birth may have been pretty smooth sailing and you want to begin to explore your new postnatal body and how to find your way back to fitness. Your pregnancy and birth may have been hugely challenging physically and mentally and you don't feel very much like you any more, or really connected to your body. Or you may be somewhere between the two. The important thing is to be where you are right now and start there.

Postnatal fitness classes are a good way to meet other parents and do something for you now that life seems to be all about baby.

Find out more about how postnatal yoga can help you and how to choose the best postnatal exercise for you.

Breathing Space Yoga Northwich - Occasional Thoughts Blog

07977093373• sarah@breathingspace-yoga.com