De-Stress

December can be a crazy month for many of us so it can be even more important to find ways to press pause during your day. If you haven’t started a meditation practice but would like to (or if your practice has gone by the wayside and you’d like to re-start), then why not join…

Try this simple homemade spiced tea. Now that we are very much into the yin time of year I’ve been craving warming food and drink. I have been really enjoying this warming tea that is so simple to make. If you’d like to give it a try for yourself here is the recipe: 4-5 cardamon…

Restorative Yoga for Depression Workshop – Saturday 25th November 2017 2.15-4.15pm at Embody Wellness   Depression can impact our entire being. What we think about, how we feel, how we behave, all altered as dperession creates a state of dysrgeulation in the nervous system. On a physiological level, the whole body, including the respiratory, digestive,…

“Because yoga can help you feel so good, sometimes there is a tendency to present it all as positivity, love and light, heart-opening and unicorns. But in truth, it’s not all fluffy. When you practise yoga (not just asana) for a while, you find that it can make you more aware of the not so…

{WATCH} In this short video filmed at Embody Wellness I show you a few propping options and suggestions for Dragonfly pose. Yin yoga provides us with the opportunity to let go of striving so bear in mind that we are not striving for an end goal of uber-flexibility. Instead, aim for the variation of the…

{WATCH} SEATED NECK RELEASE Do you suffer with a tight or sore neck? We can often hold tension in the neck (as well as the shoulders and upper back) due to stress and the dreaded ‘computer/mobile phone posture’, among other activities. In this short video, filmed at reCentre Health in Balham, I show you how…

Saturday 27th May | 2pm to 4pm | Embody Wellness Widespread research has shown that relaxation practices such as restorative yoga have numerous benefits including the ability to lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Related to this, restorative yoga also facilitates mindful awareness of the body which plays a part in our resilience to…

This is one of the restorative poses we regularly practice during the second half of SLOW FLOW YOGA – Mondays 6.30-7.30pm reCentre Health in Balham. In this short video filmed at reCentre I show you how to do this restorative inversion with the aid of a bolster and a yoga belt. Here, the sacrum (directly below…

Yin Yoga – Wednesdays 6-7.15pm at Evolve Wellness Centre As well as Monday 9.30am Yoga Flow, I am now teaching a Wednesday evening Yin class at Evolve in South Kensington. In class we’ve been practising yin poses to stimulate the liver and gallbladder meridians. In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) these meridians are connected to the…

  In this video filmed at Embody Wellness, I show you my favourite variation of Swan Pose to teach (and in my own practice to do post-run or after a lot of sitting). Swan is a deep hip opener with strong external rotation of the front hip, as well as a good stretch for the…

  Nadi – ‘channel’ or ‘flow’ Shodhana – ‘purification’ Alternate Nostril Breathing is a simple yet effective pranayama (breathing) practice. Soothing for the nervous system, alternate nostril breathing is said to help relieve stress and anxiety and lower the heart rate among other benefits. It is also helpful to practice before bedtime if you have…

Sunday 18th December 2-4pm at reCentre Health, Balham Join us for this special Winter Solstice workshop – an afternoon of soothing sounds and complete relaxation for the mind and body The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year as we transition from Autumn to Winter and is a time for reflection and rebalancing…

Download my NEW complimentary eBook here Do you want to address your stress? Are you sleep deprived? Anxious? Then my new eBook is for You. As an experienced Restorative Yoga teacher (I am an Advanced Relax and Renew Trainer having studied with Judith Hanson Lasater) and dedicated student I am excited to share my new…

“Yoga Nidra can be understood as a total practice of yoga itself… a state of ‘awakened sleep’ … in this state (we encounter) auto-suggestive experience of the power of the unconscious mind and its linkage with the soul.” – Sri Ram Sharam Acharya. What is Yoga Nidra? The word ‘nidra’ translates as ‘sleep’, hence the…

If you’ve had a look around the U Can Yoga website recently you might have noticed a few changes. One of those is that you can now receive a free 15 minute Yoga Nidra (‘yogic’ sleep) Meditation. To receive your recording all you need to do is sign up to my mailing list here or via…

“We really need to challenge the assumption that if you take more rest, you are more lazy. The fact that people who are more rested seem to have better well-being is an endorsement for the need for the rest.” – Prof Felicity Callard of Durham University, director of Hubbub Yes, rest is good for you.…

FREE Flow & Restore Class at the Yoga Show – Sat 22nd Oct 4.30-5pm This year I will be teaching at the OM Yoga Show for the first time. If you’re coming along to Show this year, then come and wind down from your busy Saturday at Alexandra Palace with my FREE Flow & Restore class at the ‘Hero…

*Update* – From 22nd March 2017 I am teaching a weekly Yin Yoga class at  Evolve Wellness in South Kensington – Wednesdays 6-7.15pm. Come along to slow down and find some stillness.  The word ‘yin’ comes from the Chinese philosophy of Taoism, where all is composed of the complementary elements of yin and yang. While…

Heard the one about the yoga teacher who’s tired and wired? Whilst chatting with a friend after our morning run, I burst into tears, out of the blue. I joked that I was just tired and emotional. Surprised? I shouldn’t have been. Yoga teachers get stressed too. Those tears were a sign that I’d not…

From Sunday 2nd October my weekly Flow & Restore class at Embody Wellness will start fifteen minutes earlier at 6pm. Flow & Restore – Sundays 6-7.15pm In the first half of this beautifully balanced class I guide you through a series of flowing postures to help develop strength and flexibility. The pace then slows for the…

Calm mental agitation with Seated Angle Pose This Restorative Yoga pose, like many forward bends can help mental agitation, relive insomnia and a bit of gentle pressure on the forehead here can help to relieve headaches too. I also find this relieves tightness in the lower back. Supporting the torso (even if you are naturally…