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Lucyogini

Yoga classes, workshops and inspiration for every body

Love in the time of Corona

April 13, 2020 by Lucy Leave a Comment

Thank you SO MUCH to so many of you who have joined us online and brought our little shala together over the past three weeks, even though we’re apart.  If you haven’t joined us yet, you are welcome!

It feels like we’re sort of settling into this new normal now…though certainly for me, the emotional tides continue to ebb and flow. There is opportunity for clarity here too. And for me it has reconnected me to what this is all about.

Community.

Doing something that matters.

Providing a little lightness, a little openness, a little more kindness.

I love seeing you all at home, coming together to practice and to retain our togetherness. It’s important.  It’s love.

And now we can be limitless! Invite your friends, those who don’t live nearby, those who can’t usually come along to a ‘real’ class. This was always about us all. No boundaries.

So here is our timetable – please note a small time-change to Saturday mornings, and a new mid-week short stretch + meditation class on Wednesday evenings. 

I hope you can join us.  Please get in touch if you have any questions.  Details and updates are also regularly posted on our facebook page, please ‘like’ us to stay connected.

Sending love and wishing you all healthy weeks ahead,

Lucy x

Filed Under: General Yoga Tagged With: community, free classes, guided meditation, home practice, love, meditation, online classes, practice, yoga

Morning Yoga Flow!

July 16, 2015 by Lucy Leave a Comment

It’s summer! I love to practice yoga outside – there’s something deliciously freeing about moving and breathing deeply out in the open air.  Our latest online Morning Yoga Flow class was filmed out in the back garden of my new house.  It’s such a beautiful space and it’s a pleasure to share it – and this practice – with you.

Lots of you asked for a short(ish), morning practice, so I hope this will do the trick! Twenty minutes to get you fired up, warmed up and ready to face the day.

It’s inspired by the summer and by you. It’s about expanding our hearts, meeting ourselves just as we are; it’s about celebrating the light, the day and this amazing body that moves and lives and breathes.  Whatever the weather (and the summer rain makes an appearance in this video!),  this class can be used to wake up the body and mind at any time of the day, or year.  Enjoy. Breathe it all in.

I’m pretty sure our newest yoga intern, Nina (#Ninalovesyoga) steals the show in this one; it’s worth a watch just to see her lording it up! 🙂

I’d love to hear what you think – let me know in the comments!

Keep practicing, keep flowing, my friends! Wishing you a summer of love and light xx

 

Filed Under: General Yoga, Online classes + videos, Well being Tagged With: cat, energise, free yoga class, health, home practice, light, morning yoga, online class, self-practice, vinyasa, wake up

Bedtime Yoga!

June 10, 2015 by Lucy Leave a Comment

Bedtime Yoga was far and away the most popular request for a new online class – so here it is!  A bedtime yoga class to stretch out the day and get ready for a restful night.

Sleep can be an emotive subject – especially when we’re not getting enough.  It’s possible to be too tired to sleep – and our ever-increasingly stressful lives often leave us energetically depleted and over stimulated.  So even when bedtime arrives, our brains are still whirring and stress hormones are still flying around our body.  Taking just a little bit of time to consciously unplug from all the go-go-go can help our stress levels to even out and remind ourselves that preparing for bed is just as important as getting to sleep.  The two are interconnected.  Gentle movement unblocks energy and tension sticking points within the body; deep, even breathing helps activate our parasympathetic nervous system – our rest and digest response.  Which is a good place to be at bedtime!

This also works nicely as a gentle flow class for those times where you’re feeling a little low on energy and just need some nurturing.

So go get your comfy PJs on and join me for some bedtime yoga.  Wishing you peaceful nights, my friends!

 

Filed Under: General Yoga, Online classes + videos, Yoga for... Tagged With: bedtime yoga, evening yoga, free class, gentle yoga, home practice, online class, parasympathetic nervous system, relax, self-practice, stretch, yoga, yoga for sleep

Yoga for Balance and Confidence!

May 16, 2015 by Lucy Leave a Comment

Balance.  Isn’t it what we’re all looking for?  Work-life balance.  A balanced diet.  Steady emotions. That sweet spot of ease and contentment.  We search for it, strive for it, but how many of us have it sorted and under control?

I talk about finding balance a lot, in and out of classes.  Other than ‘being bendy’, the wild balancing poses are what many percieve yoga to be.  On the mat, it’s easy to find ourselves feeling frustrated and unaccomplished by our wobbling leg, our steely gaze burning a hole in the wall ahead as we try to attain the perfect Tree Pose…Bakasana…Natarajasana…without face-planting the wall/floor/person on the mat next to us!

But – ahh, Yoga – you multifaceted beauty!  Balancing poses challange and strengthen us physically but reveal so much more to us about our inner states of being.  Our energy levels, the busy-ness of our mind, the distractions we listen to, our ego bubbling up from within berating us if we fall – and getting cocky when we fly! Yoga is all about balance, but the poses are just the beginning.

The poses – all of them – can be a meditation.  Places and shapes and challenges from which to observe our body and the movements of our mind: our fears, our hopes. The stillness in between breaths.

The challenge isn’t about balancing on one leg, but finding the balance between holding on and letting go.

Practice balancing – and falling – with me in this full, 40 minute online class!  You’ve got this! We’ll catch you.  Stay playful, my friends, it’s only yoga 🙂

Would love to hear how you get on! Leave me a comment and let me know!

Keep practicing and stay frosty 🙂 xx

 

 

 

Filed Under: Online classes + videos, Yoga for..., Yoga in Focus Tagged With: balance, confidence, core strength, dancers pose, free yoga class, home practice, natarajasana, online class, pada bandha, self-practice, tree pose, vinyasa, vrksasana, yoga, yoga for balance

Yoga for Motivation!

February 18, 2015 by Lucy Leave a Comment

The nights are getting a little shorter, the evenings a little lighter, the birds sounding a lot more vocal! Whatever the weather outside, stirring some energy around can help us to feel lighter, warmer and more motivated.  So whether you’re still feeling the winter blues, or wanting to get a jump-start into Spring, hopefully this dynamic Yoga for Motivation practice will get you stretched out, the blood pumping, and your inner fires roaring to grab the new season – or whatever’s next on your to-do list – by the metaphorical horns.

Enjoy, my friends – and let me know how you get on, I’d love to hear from you!

Do you have areas, issues or topics you’d like to see future yoga videos focus on?  Let me know and I’ll do my best to cover them 🙂

Let’s do this! See you on the mat, my friends! x

 

 

 

Filed Under: Online classes + videos, Yoga for... Tagged With: energy, feel better, free download, free online class, health, home practice, motivation, online class, self-practice, spring, winter, winter blues, yoga, yoga for motivation

10 Ways to Inspire Your Yoga Self Practice!

November 7, 2014 by Lucy 15 Comments

Earlier this month I led the Developing Your Own Self-Practice workshop with an amazing group of yogis who left me feeling inspired to share as much as I can about getting on the mat more often!

I am the self-practice head cheerleader.  When I first began my own self-practice, I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just remembered what I could from class and practiced because it felt good.  So I kept going, I became more and more interested and before I knew it things…changed. Yes I became more toned and eventually was able to touch my toes…but something more…I felt different inside…I liked myself more, I recognised my own inner strength and I opened up to the rest of the world more too.

Yoga works in mysterious ways…it has a way of getting under your skin, without needing to know the hows or whys before you start.  You just have to move and breathe, and the rest will come. I truely believe in the transformational power of yoga – which shows us how to live in fully explored ways, with more love, more compassion and more joy.

BUT! I know too how hard it can sometimes be to roll out the mat…and then know what to do!  The motivation! The discipline! The pressure!  Another thing to add to that endless to-do list!  Vegging out – and zoning out – instead can feel irresistble.  But if you know yoga makes you feel better then  believe me when I tell you that it is not selfish or time-wasting to spend 10, 20, 40 minutes – whatever you can – away from the clammour of everyday life. This is tuning in, not zoning out, taking control and making a choice in how we think, feel and live.  The benefits aren’t just for ourselves, but eminate out to everyone we interact with and every task we turn our hand to.

So don’t wait! Here are my top 10 ways to inspire your yoga self-practice – both on and off the yoga mat!

1. Use class to inspire you: Take away one pose, a sequence, an intention that speaks to you and use it in your practice throughout the week. Get to know it and feel it’s effects (tip: sometimes it’s good to practice the poses we don’t particularly like!)

2. Make it fit your life: There are some traditions and teachers that might say you need to practice 2 hours a day, at dawn, preferably on a mountain top, and that would be lovely. But if you have a job to do and kids to look after and a house to maintain and a million and one other things and actually, getting a few hours sleep would be good too, then this just isn’t realistic.  I am passionate that this has to be a living, evolving practice which is relevant and useful to our lives now. If we stick ridgidly to rules that might apply to the ancient Brahmen in India, but have no relevance to our own lives, then the practice is dead.  Beautiful and admirable perhaps – but not really relevant. There’s a whole other article to be written there! My point is, don’t wait for the opportunity to have endless spare time, superior knowledge and understanding; start now. 2 minutes or 2 hours, do what you can and let the practice serve you.

3. A moment’s meditation: You may not have time to practice at great length every day, or sometimes to get the mat out at all. Drop the guilt! Notice throughout the day when you’re feeling stressed/spaced out/flustered and reground.  Feel your feet on the floor.  Breathe. Be present.  And then move on with the task at hand. Practicing yoga isn’t all about making shapes.

4. Intention: What has brought you to the mat today?  There are no wrong answers to this….and the answers don’t have to be lofty or grand.  ‘Just because’ is a perfectly acceptable answer.  ‘To get strong’ or ‘to feel better’ are also good.  Having an intention can be a nice motivator to get to the mat.

Be led by how you feel: Specific aches + pains or emotions can all be a great place to start your practice from. Look to address stress, or a headache, or stomach cramps; if you feel sad, which poses do you feel most supported and nurtured by? If you are joyful, how can your practice be an expression of that joy?

‘Move the way joy makes you move’ – Osho

6. Study: Svadhyaya or self-study is the fourth of the Niyamas (personal observances) as outlined in Patenjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga.  This can be any activity where we are intentionally self-aware; but can also be a more literal form of study. Books, the internet, teachers are all there to help support and inspire your yoga journey.  If you have a question, feed that interest and find out more – there’s so much great information out there – a lot of it for free!

7. There are no rules:  If you get ‘stuck’ or are unsure what to do next, simply return to the centre – get grounded + return to the breath. Notice the fluctuations of the mind – are you panicking? Are you self-chastising?  See if you can let go of the grasping of the mind and allow things to be.  Get out of the thinking mind and let your body move you.

8. Music: Playing music whilst you practice can be a lovely way to inspire movement + flow, or as a nice way to add another dimention to your practice if you usually practice quietly.  Just beware that you are still actively present with your practice.

9. Stay playful: Getting on the mat is an opportunity to feel and enjoy living in this imperfect perfect body. Enjoy it!  We all have our limitations but we can all do so much.  It doesn’t matter if you fall out of a balance or if you don’t know the names of all the poses; just move and breathe for the sheer joy of being alive.

10. Anything can be yoga: Anytime we approach life with a sense of mindfulness and honesty of intention, it’s yoga. …Don’t let this become an excuse to not make time on the mat! But rather a way of making yoga a way of life, not just a part of life.

‘Practice, and all is coming’ – Pattabhi Jois

What inspires your practice and makes you roll out the mat?  What blockages to practice to you sometimes face?  Share your questions and tips – I’d love to hear from you!

 

Filed Under: General Yoga, Mindfulness & Meditation, Well being Tagged With: beginners, health, home practice, inspiration, mindfulness, movement, practice, self development, self-practice, tips, top 10, well being, yoga

Home Practice! The Five Senses Meditation

August 11, 2014 by Lucy 5 Comments

I’d like to share with you today a meditation practice I really love.  It doesn’t matter whether you’ve ever tried meditation before, or yoga or anything else of that ilk, this is a beautifully simple exploration in finding your way back to you.

Ever since I was introduced to this practice, it has always stayed with me, and even if I don’t do the full version, I take essences of it with me wherever I go – to find grounding, to find head space and as a reminder that I am here, now, in this body which feels and sees and experiences. You can do this anywhere: at home, on holiday, a busy street, a quiet riverside/beach/country park…wherever you can be without needing to directly interact with anyone else for a little while.  So let’s begin The Five Senses Meditation!

You will need:

–          Yourself

–          A watch (or a way of checking the time)

–          About 30 minutes of your earth time.

Firstly take a few minutes, sitting ideally, to tune into your body.  Close your eyes and bring awareness to the top of your head and slowly move your awareness down throughout your whole body, each limb, each muscle.  You don’t need to spend ages doing this, just touching briefly into every part of the body, noticing what’s there, using the physical body as a way to invite the mind into the present. Watch the rhythm of the breath. Not trying to force or change anything, just letting yourself be right where you are.   Once you have done this, gently open your eyes.

Take a quick time check and set yourself the next five minutes to purely notice the world around you through the sense of SIGHT.  Of course you’ll still hear, smell, feel things, but your attention will be with all that you can SEE.  Notice colours, changes in the light, notice textures, notice movement – notice how your body responds to things you see – are there some things which you react positively or negatively to?  Where do you notice that response in your body? Do things you see bring up thoughts or memories?

Once you’ve done 5 minutes focussing on sight, turn your attention to HEARING for 5 minutes – find layers of sound all around you. Even silence has a sound, a resonance.  Ask the same questions; are there sounds that you respond to?  Do you open up to some sounds, and shy away from others?

Spend the next 5 minutes on SMELL.  In a busy market place, smells might be intense and differing, or somewhere calmer you might have to wait for the subtleties to arrive.  Smells can be so evocative and access deep memories you can barely even recall in your thinking mind.

Dedicate the next 5 minutes to TASTE.  This one can be slightly tricky if you don’t have anything to hand but if you’re super prepared, you could put a small chocolate or some fruit in your pocket before you start – something small, you don’t need a three course meal here.  If you’re in a town often shops give out small tasters on trays for free – if there’s something to hand then go for it, but try not to get drawn into a conversation. If there’s nothing around that you can eat, then you can still focus on your mouth and notice the taste of nothing.

The next 5 minutes are all about the sense of TOUCH – this can be running your fingers over a stone wall or through water; over fabric or through the air; the connection of your feet on the ground; the feel of the air on your face; your clothes on your skin. Hot; cold; smooth; sharp; hard; soft; there are a myriad of textures to experience, not just with the fingertips but the whole body.

Once you’ve completed this, take a few moments to stop again, just as you began, and consider which of these senses made you feel most connected?  Which felt the most intimate? Which brought you back to yourself?  Allow the answers to appear, do not force them.

How did you feel throughout this exercise? How do you feel afterwards?

Of course, you can change the length of time you dedicate to each sense dependant on how much time you have.  Five minutes is a nice taster, don’t scrimp 🙂  You could also turn this into a lovely mindfulness game for children too – ‘How many things can you hear?’  ‘How many colours can you see?’  ‘What can you smell?’ ‘How does the grass feel? And this stone?’ etc – go deeper, asking them (and yourself) to notice and describe the layers of texture and sensation.

I’d love to hear how you get on with this! Which of the senses spoke to you most clearly today? Which made you feel most connected to your sense of self? (you could try it again in a week…a month…a year…and see if it is the same).

Breathe full and deep.  Acknowledge this remarkable body that allows us to see, to hear, to smell touch and taste each moment and ultimately reacquaint us with ourselves. It is yours. Enjoy, my friends.

Filed Under: Mindfulness & Meditation Tagged With: find yourself, five senses meditation, go deeper, hearing, home practice, meditation, meditation games for children, meditation practice, mindfulness, sight, smell, taste, touch, yoga

The Art of Letting Go

May 1, 2014 by Lucy 5 Comments

“Fill your bowl to the brim, and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife, and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security, and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work then step back. The only path to serenity.”
– Lao Tzu

Last Saturday I taught a workshop on Optimising Energy with the lovely & tremendously knowledgable Tracy Land.  It was a fab morning of energy enhancing yoga & nutrition (check out future workshops we have coming up)!  It struck me how much energy we expend on striving…striving to be something other than what we are; striving to hold on to things we have no power over; striving to attain things (material or otherwise), people, love… That constant ‘if only’ mantra so many of us carry with us – “if only I was…., if only I could…, if only I had…”

…If only, if only, if only…

No wonder we’re exhausted!

Yoga shows me, time and time again, to step back – that the practice – this practice is enough; to trust in it; to trust in my students and to trust in myself, that each of us is finding (and living) our own path to our own truth.

This isn’t an abmonishment of ambition or motivation at all. Nor an excuse to be lazy! But a call to bring ourselves fully to each task, each challenge, each moment, and then allow things to be.  So, on the mat (for example) we fully extend our arms to the degree we can extend our arms; we engage our core as much as we can engage our core; we bring the mind to experiencing the moment as much as is possible….whatever the pose might be asking of us on the mat, or whatever life may be throwing at us off of the mat. Doing what we can, committing fully and truthfully (whatever that looks like for each of us)  and then letting go. Allowing whatever comes next to unfold.

This is what I mean when I say ‘let the postures do the work’ – so often there is no need to strive; striving is what interupts the flow….it makes us tight and resistant. Take the pose, the practice, commit fully and let go.

Do your work and then step back.

from my heart to yours,

xoxo lucyogini

 

Filed Under: Mindfulness & Meditation, Well being Tagged With: about yoga, better health, commitment, energy, happiness, health, home practice, Lao Tzu, letting go, meditation, mindfulness, quote, Tao, truth, yoga, yoga benefits, yoga practice

Yoga for Runners, Cyclists & Athletes – Top Poses + FREE Practice Download :)

March 6, 2014 by Lucy Leave a Comment

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came along to the Yoga for Runners workshop last Saturday! It was a brilliant morning and wonderful to have established and new yogis alike practicing all together.  We also raised a magnificent £87 for local charity IDAS – thank you all for your energy + generosity!

To help you keep those hamstrings loose, body balanced and hips happy, I’ve put together a download (below) for you to print out to inspire your home practice!  You can dip into it and use poses that work for you, cover the whole thing or use it as a basis for a longer practice by adding vinyasas and other poses that feel good to you – get creative!  Building this into your training programme could help your running, cycling, jumping (etc!) to be more enjoyable, comfortable and energised.

First, let’s take a look in detail at these 4 super-useful, super-deep (man) poses:

1. Lizard Pose (utthan pristhasana) + variations

Benefits: Opens the hips, stretches hamstrings and thighs.

Tips: Use a block under the hands if getting them down to the floor feels like too much.  Work slowly & direct the breath to where you feel the stretch.

(Utthan Pristhasana) - bring both hands to the inside of the front foot & lower hips forwards + down

Bring both hands to the inside of the front foot & lower hips forwards + down

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bring outside elbow to the floor.  Front knee + toes can fall slightly out to the side but keep them in line with one another

Bring outside elbow to the floor. Front knee + toes can fall slightly out to the side but keep them in line with one another

Both elbows may come down to the floor - keep breathing :)

Both elbows may come down to the floor – keep breathing 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Hamstring Stretch 

Tips: From low lunge, with hands either side of the front foot, draw the hips back, straightening the front leg. Keep the front foot flexed to activate the Hamstrings. Reach the hands forwards towards the ankle/foot for a deeper stretch.

Low Lunge

 

 

 

 

Keep the front foot flexed. Move slowly + mindfully.

Keep the front foot flexed. Move slowly + mindfully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. IT Band (Iliotibial Band) Stretch

The IT Band is the ligament that runs down the outside of the thigh from the hip to the shin. It is attached to the knee and helps to stabilise and move the joint.  IT Band Syndrome is one of the most common overuse injuries amongst runners which occurs when the IT Band becomes tight and/or inflamed.  This is a strong stretch, so as ever, move slowly and only go as far as you are able.

Tips: From low lunge, walk the front foot over to the opposite hand (e.g. right foot forwards – walk it over to where the left hand is). The heel of the front foot and the knee of the back leg will be more or less in line.  Foot/toes fall outwards towards the floor – begin to straighten the front leg, drawing the hips back, similar to the hamstring stretch – only this time you should feel the effects down the outside of the front leg.  For a deeper stretch, keep the front foot flexed.

IT Band Stretch

 

 

 

 

 

4. Thigh Stretch

Tips: Use a strap to draw the back foot in if reaching back is too much.  Place a cushion or double-over the mat to protect the knee if you have any knee issues.  This stretch is STRONG! Not all poses work for everyone – if it causes knee pain, don’t go there.

Inside arm reaches back to opposite leg. So, if you have your right leg forwards, left hand is down on the floor + right arm reaches back to grab the left foot. Open the chest to the inside of the knee.  Want more? Lower your stablising arm (here, the left arm) down onto the elbow.

The front knee + foot may fall out to the side a little - that's ok, just keep knees + toes in line.

The front knee + foot may fall out to the side a little – that’s ok, just keep knee + toes in line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s your practice download!

The drawings are just to give you a reminder….they’re not anatomically exact! This practice is great for everyone – runners, cyclists, athletes, sports players, yogis alike. Let me know how you get on – and if you’ve any questions, get in touch 🙂

Enjoy!

Lucyogini Yoga for Runners print out 1Lucyogini Yoga for Runners print out 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love, light & healthy, happy running,
lucyogini xoxo

 

Filed Under: Yoga for..., Yoga in Focus Tagged With: free download, hamstrings, health, hip opening, home practice, IT band, lizard pose, thigh stretch, yoga, yoga for athletes, yoga for cyclists, yoga for runners

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