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Lucyogini

Yoga classes, workshops and inspiration for every body

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

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