Yoga Spaces
Residential Retreats
Tomorrow I am travelling to Shropshire for a weekend of yoga and reflection. Following my own retreat experience at Sycamores last year, I have given more space to self-guided wandering, reflection and restoration.
Yoga and meditation practices provide the rhythm for the retreat. When we first gather, we will find out what has brought the group together and agree how to work in community and solitude. I will offer ideas for introspection and reflection from yoga and the time of year.
An open retreat is particularly useful for allowing thoughts and ideas to emerge and have space to check they are aligned with anāhata (the heart centre).
I am available during the retreat for individual sessions within my role of yoga teacher, retreat facilitator and human being
I will plan my 2027 retreat timetable in the Autumn. Let me know if this interests you
Online Yoga
This term, our project has been to maintain focus in practice. I tend to teach a similar practice for the duration of the term to allow familiarity and exploration of the movement and the stillness. The breath leads the practice as the body learns the movement and the mind trusts the space.
Online yoga can lend itself to a more focused experience without the distraction of how other people are moving on their mats. However, when we are in our homes other distractions arise: not everyone in the house is doing the practice , the doorbell rings, the mobile buzzes, even the washing up becomes seductive … The importance of abhyāsa and vairāgya remain ever present (see YS1.12 to 16)
Our next term begins Monday 1 June. The seven week term is split: 3 weeks – one week off – 4 weeks
- Mondays 1000 – 1100 (from 1 June)
- Thursdays 1800 – 1900 (from 4 June)
- Seven weeks @ £70
- Live class recordings available
- Yoga
Yoga Mornings
I am enjoying the simplicity of the online yoga classes but I do understand the pull to meet in-person. From September, there will be mornings of in-person yoga at the Avonmouth Community Centre [where some of us have met for the faith day retreats]. The centre has a lovely big hall, kitchen and garden. The morning will include yoga, conversation, coffee and meditation
- 1000 – 1300 Saturday 12 September (arrival from 0945)
- Then quarterly: 12 December, 13 March, 12 June
- Maximum 16 people
- Cost £35
Online bookings available from end July. Contact me if you know you can attend and want to reserve your place: Contact
Yoga is personal
Over the Easter break I have been reflecting on my teaching. I have not found my yoga teaching home since leaving the very special loft space at Yanley Court. I have tried different halls for larger groups and my home for small groups but they just haven’t been the right fit. Numbers have waxed and waned and I did not feel my teaching was what I wanted it to be. In the New Year I stopped teaching in person classes and returned to two online classes.
My yoga practice has always been personal. Yoga has helped me recover from the effects of a serious road traffic accident, a traumatic childbirth experience and chronic fatigue. It allows me to moderate my scoliotic pattern and day to day stresses. It brings space to my relationships. It improves my physical function, my mental stability and regulates my nervous system.
On more subtle levels, it connects me to Other and something beyond. In the yoga glow, I experience connection, a sense of being beyond time and increased internal space. I touch and I am touched. The physical aspect has always been someway down the list of benefits to practice. What has become evident with time is that it is not necessarily what I practice but that I do it, with the right attitude, presence and compassion (YS3.6).
A weekly yoga class has never provided for me in the same way my home practice does. In a group of other bodies, I can be pulled away from myself. I do not focus as well on my practice, my body, my breath. If I am on retreat or practising online however, the group experience can be different, it is easier for my focus to be on me and my relationship with myself and Other.
Home practice is the holy grail. Classes online has been the most accessible offer for people to have the commitment of a weekly class and cultivate a home practice using the class recordings if helpful. It is different from working with pre-recorded videos online. We are building a community and receiving teaching and feedback. The groups are small and personal, we know each other. I know it hasn’t worked for everyone but it has worked for some and it has definitely worked for me. I feel inspired by the practice. I feel connected to the centre of practice: the ability to direct the mind without distraction (YS1.2). I feel connected to the individual students as I watch them focus on their own practice.
If you are interested in joining the groups, please send me a message. A new six week term starts next week (Mondays at 10.00 am and and Thursdays at 6.00 pm). If you are already booked, thank you for continuing your journey with me.
I am available for individual lessons. These can be instead of or as well as online classes. The teacher-student relationship is central to yoga practice. My yoga teacher has been a central part of my practice and development. I am honoured to provide this space to others.
Bits and Bobs
A short walk from home today and I was immersed in blossom,spring bulbs, insects, birds and sunshine. It is one of those days where the air is soft and warm. It is so beautiful
At the weekend, I was in Malvern for a yoga workshop and we were asked what presence actually means? What is ‘being present’? I’m still reflecting on this question but being outside and really noticing what was in front, above and around me felt like presence. What comes up for you?
Just a few quick messages:
Massage & Bodywork
I am couch based for the foreseeable future due to my wrist issue. However, it has created opportunities to work differently with clients and to reconnect with my forearms and elbows! Elbow massage can be done with precision and sensitivity and is very much part of the Thai massage toolbox.
I have decided to offer the option of an hour massage appointment in the hope it provides more flexibility. When you choose the length of appointment, there tends to be five to ten minutes conversation before the bodywork begins, with 5 minutes at the end to prepare for the world outside and exchange feedback.
- Cost: £60 – £80
- Massage & Bodywork
Yoga
A new term begins after Easter with two weekly online classes. The live classes are recorded and sent out weekly so you can catch up on a missed classes and support your home practice. If you would like to join, do get in touch: Online Yoga Classes
Easter Break
I am closed from Good Friday, returning Monday 13 April. If I don’t see you before, I look forward to seeing you then, Yvonne x
