General Yoga No Longer Recommended by NICE I learnt recently that NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) is no longer advising that doctors should recommend yoga to people with back pain. This is very disappointing for those of us in the yoga therapy world who
Photo by Min An on Pexels Retreating Into Bliss I wrote this article the day before teaching on a yoga retreat in the dreamlike gardens of Tilton House, nestled at the base of the South Downs in Sussex. Alistair, my partner, treated us to the beautiful
This week I’m bringing you a shorter piece as I’ve been away in another land… to the astoundingly beautiful and highly improbably city of Venice. My partner was invited there to set up a soundscape for an artist called Wallace Chan. Mr Chan’s exhibition of incredible
In last week’s article, we looked at pain and the brain, and how we can calm and rebalance our thinking mind with our wisdom layer (vijyanamayakosha) and our intellect (buddhi). As discussed, yoga views the physical, mental and spiritual parts of being (panchamayakosha) as interwoven – they all
Pain and the Brain Last week, we looked at what we can do to nourish and soothe our physical body (annamayakosha) to help relieve or reduce pain. This week, we’ll explore how the manomayakosha (mental body) and the vijynanamayakosha (wisdom body) contribute to us experiencing physical
Photo by: Kindel Media at Pexels Pain in the Body – Pain in the Mind I could write volumes on pain. It is a mysterious and multilayered subject. The reason being is that pain is not only the product of the body but the mind also.
Take Charge of Your Attention Last week, we explored how consciously placing our attention helps us to develop the ability to choose how we engage with the world in general. This is a vital skill to hone for anyone who spends time on social media, watches
What Catches Your Attention? Last week, I introduced the yogic concept of illusion, the drama that unfolds within our inner and outer worlds. This week, I’d love to explore in a little more detail, how our attention interacts with these illusory worlds. And how we can
Dedicated to Frances Basham 1 Intense Times The world is changing rapidly once again. Within two weeks, we are now witnessing a whole new world order. We’ve barely had time to re-orient ourselves to the seismic shifts of the last two years and now we are
Photo by Dhivakaran S from Pexels I Believe in Humanity How are you coping with recent world events? I’m feeling heavy-hearted, weighed down with grief, yet underneath this, there is a little glimmer shining within, a ray of hope. In times of darkness, it is essential
Photo from the BBC Website How Yoga Empowers Us to Stand for Democracy and Truth Yesterday I cancelled the Saturday morning Zoom class to join my Ukrainian friend at Downing Street, to protest against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. We stood together in bright sunshine, under the
Awe and Wonder I’m writing on a Friday, as storm Eunice rages outside… We’re not so great at extreme weather in London, the streets are very quiet. Most people are sheltering in place as we are used to doing these days. Normally I don’t like wind,
Writing From My Heart to Yours Today, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to write about love. I wanted to write about the heart and how we can tend to this heavenly body within us, enabling it to radiate loving-kindness, peace and joy. My
It Takes a Village to Raise a Child My daughter’s 21st birthday was on the 28th of January. Being a party person, she used this milestone in her life to instigate a large gathering of all her nearest and dearest. Some way into the evening of
Photo by Anna Shvets at Pexels Feel Good Every Day…. Perhaps you’re reading this article because you are interested in yoga. Maybe you’ve tried a few classes in-person or online and felt a tangible positive benefit. Yoga has an incredible balancing effect on us humans. Moving
Photo by SK Yeong on Unsplash A Humble Version of Enlightenment Why Do We Do Yoga? Stress, tension and pain are the three main reasons that I do yoga, teach yoga and am fascinated by yoga. There, I’ve said it. My principal reasons for practising
Photo by Jonathan Borba from Pexels What is a Good Stretch? When I ask students what they’d like to do in class today, I often get the answer. “I’d just like to have a good stretch.” Although those who’ve been coming to class a while know
Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels Plastic. Money. Pollution. Injustice. Perhaps you might think these are not subjects for a yoga teacher to ponder upon. If you believed the yoga hype, I should be off on a tropical island, perfecting my headstand oblivious to the
Photo by Joran Quinten from Pexels How To Celebrate the Winter Solstice: Modern Perspectives on an Ancient Festival Learning How to Thrive in the Darkest Time of The Year Northern hemisphere dwellers will feel, within their bones, the approach of the longest night of the year: the Winter Solstice.
Dear Yoga Student, Last night I had the pleasure of chatting to the lovely Vanessa Alves about Winter Nutrition for the Winter Resilience Course. We spoke about how we can increase our immunity through the winter by choosing nourishing foods and the right supplements to support our immune systems.
Photo by Eric Sanman From Pexels It’s widely recognised that challenging ourselves is a great way to build resilience. The thing is… if we don’t challenge ourselves, we can be sure that someone, or something else will! Challenge Doesn’t Have to Mean Pushing Ourselves Harder By stepping up to a challenge we
Photo by Cottonbro at Pexels Modern yoga is a holistic practice, the origins of which can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilisation, which existed over 5,000 year ago in the north-western region of South Asia. Yoga has been practiced in India continuously since that
Investigating the Roots of Yoga After my facilitation course, I have committed to investigating the roots of yoga, cultural appropriation and the effects of colonisation in yoga. It’s taking ages, so much reading pondering and enquiring!! You might think, oh Julia, just stick to the lovely
Photo by zoosnow from Pexels No Woman or Man is an Island We thrive in community and connection. I feel that many of us understand this at a deeper level after the isolation and inward focus that we have been through in the last year and a half.
Register Your Interest in the 12 Week Winter Resilience Course starting on 27th November 2021 Enter your email below and you’ll get details of then the course registration opens. Thank you!! Warmest wishes, Julia Email Address Website
Photo by Artem Podrez from Pexels A Clearer View on Social and Environmental Problems Around this time of year, I tend to get a feeling of my mind becoming sharper and more focussed on what needs to be done to meet the future. Social justice and
Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels A New Way for Us to Deal with An Increasingly Complex World Recently, I learned about the theory of Multiple Social Truths. This states that truth, regarding our social sphere, is not absolute. Life is highly complex and as such there
Yoga for Health – Regular Practice, Remarkable Results I first started practicing yoga for health reasons, and this is the main reason I continue to practice. Throughout my childhood and teens, I had difficulty breathing, wasn’t very fit or strong, and had lots of aches and
Dear Yoga Student, This week, although I’ve had to spend many hours in front of the computer, I’ve been really feeling the effects of my connections with Nature. Through Nature walks and chatting about our shared garden with neighbours, I’ve been plugging in to the community and the vibrant
Photo by PNW Production from Pexels Dear Yoga Student, Rest as a Radical Practice So much of my teaching and practice is an invitation to rest. We have been programmed by our upbringing and society to be competitive, consumerist and totally accepting of hierarchical systems. We are often required to work ourselves
Photo by Liza Summer from Pexels Dear Yoga Student, I’ve found the last few days a bit of a challenge. These are difficult times, when it’s hard to know what to believe and difficult to perceive a brighter future for humankind on planet Earth. One habit
Dear Yoga Student, We are fast approaching the summer holidays. Already, I’ve noticed people are taking time out to rest, be with their families and explore the natural world beyond their backyard gardens and parks. And with the the English football team’s run of success there
Photo by Krivec Ales from Pexels Dear Yoga Student, Despite the fact that restrictions are still in place in some walks of life, there is a sense of us being able to move around our country or planet a little bit more now. It is natural for
What is a Flare Up? For most of my life I’ve had flare ups, although I didn’t label them as such. In fact, as with many things, I learnt about flare ups from my students. Students with chronic fatigue and pain would talk about experiencing flare
A week or so ago I got an email from a student asking about hypermobility and exercise. She was specifically asking if there is an online strength training programme I knew of, designed for people with…
This soup is ideal to make in the summer, when there is a glut of courgettes and salad leaves that need to be eaten in the fridge. However it makes a lovely quick nourishing soup at any time of the year.
Chickpea and Quinoa Buddah Bowl Ingredients This chickpea and quinoa buddha bowl recipe is one of my favourite ways to increase my vegan protein intake. It’s so quick, healthy and protein rich, you will be making it again and again. 1 can or half a large
Ingredients (for two portions, adjust according to your appetites) 1 banana mashed 1 medium carrot finely grated 3/4 cup of porridge oats, gluten free preferably 2 tablespoons of broken walnuts 2 tablespoons of freshly ground linseed 1 1/2 cups of milk (plant, or organic dairy,
Challenging oppression with Yoga could be a new concept for you. Yoga is not a religion or an exercise regime. Yoga offers a collection of practices for living a holistically healthy life. Having a sense of the wholeness of life means that we realise we are
Understanding Oppression to Understand How to Create A Better World Photo by Life Matters from Pexels So, what is oppression? A big question. The experience of going through the restrictions of lockdown seems to have caused a collective contemplation. Due to the brutal murder of
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash Lockdown and a New World We are emerging from lockdown, into a new world. We’ve taken a break, from burning excessive amounts of oil, petrol and aviation fuel. Some of us have put on hold unnecessary buying and consuming.
Welcome to Your Online Holistic Yoga Class This sequence is about connecting to the energy centres along our spine, known in yoga as the chakras. Although seen as a rather new age type concept. chakras are actually a real phenomena that we all experience in our
Welcome to your Online Weekly Gentle Yoga and Somatics Class Back problems are so common in this day and age with us all sitting at our desks for many hours and probably incorrectly. This sequence is about creating a comfortable back. It’s a gentle sequence that works
Graphic by Margaret To at unitednations.talenthouse.com at Unsplash.com Holistic Yoga Studio is Now Online All Holistic Yoga Studio Classes classes are now online with a choice of Audio Classes which you can listen to without a screen. All you need to do is read the class agreement,
Photo by Vitalii Pavlyshynets on Unsplash A Yogic Approach to Coronavirus and Immune System Health: Covid-19 Immune system health with Coronavirus is something we all need to take seriously. There seem to be currently two approaches, the relaxed “don’t worry about it, it will all blow
What is Hanna Somatics? Hanna Somatics is a movement therapy invented by Thomas Hanna. Hanna was a student of Moshe Feldenkrais (another movement specialist); who in turn was a student of F.M. Alexander (who devised the Alexander Technique). Hanna Somatics seems at first to be similar to
Elderberry Plant Photo by Dmitry Bukhantsov on Unsplash Cough and cold remedies for everyone. It’s that time of year, when the temperature drops, the light is fading and we seem to be more susceptible to catching colds, coughs and sore throats. So this come winter why
Are you looking for a lower back pain solution? Chances are, you have suffered from a spot of upper and lower back pain at some point in your life. In most people, it will heal of it’s own accord. Once the body gets moving again, the
The Trouble with Bendy Joints Hypermobility and yoga… Really? Yes. “The trouble with you Julia is that you’re knock kneed, bow legged and flat footed.” Sixteen years ago, this was the blunt conclusion of Jeanette Thomson, a highly experienced osteopath. When I told a student osteopath
Fascia is fascinating – find out more here in part w of ‘Fascinating Fascia’. If you haven’t read this article, have a look here. In a nutshell, fascia is a body wide, three-dimensional interconnected web of sliding, fluid filled tissue. It cushions and connects each and
What is Stress? Many people start to practice yoga for stress reduction, and it’s also the reason that many of us continue to practice. Yoga really works to reduce stress and gives us a sense of being able to calm down, relax and sleep better. Stress
Introducing my new Ayurvedic breakfast smoothie. I’ve been eating in a more Ayurvedic way recently. It is a tricky and I’ve not taken it fully to heart as there are so many food combinations that are not allowed (tomatoes and cucumber, for instance). Life is too
What is Fascia? When I mention fascia while teaching a yoga class, I’m often asked: “What is fascia?” Fascia is a huge and complex subject. Consequently, I often feel I don’t have the time to answer this question properly. So I’m excited and delighted to finally
Kale Salad Recipe I have been slow to cotton on to the joy of this kale salad recipe… Such a robust leaf is capable of not wilting in your packed lunch, being sturdy enough to carry filling accompaniments with ease. Not to mention the fact it
Ultimate Raw Chocolate If you make this raw chocolate recipe yourself, by hand you have full control over the ingredients and their proportions. In this way you can make a healthy version of this “food of the gods” – tailored exactly to your personal tastes. It’s
Linseed Bread AKA Banting Bread This linseed bread had changed my life. If you want a quicker easier version then try this one. after years of crumbly unsatisfying gluten free breads, I am loving the light and moist, squishy texture of this bread so much! It does
I am a smoothie queen. And I love this pear and almond smoothie recipe. When I started to eat according to the high-fat low carb way to help me to balance my blood sugar, I realised I had to give up the morning banana based smoothie
Yoga for hay fever and other health techniques to help relieve seasonal allergic rhinitis What is Hay Fever? Hay fever, or seasonal allergic rhinitis, is hugely irritating. Commonly known symptoms are familiar: frequent bouts of sneezing and itchy eyes, nose and throat. Less often mentioned are the
Photo by Sandro Cenni on Unsplash We are living in crazy times… As the shock of the EU referendum result reverberates throughout our society a clearer picture of the forces at play in our country, in Europe and on a worldwide scale is revealed. Much of
What is Yoga? You’d think that this would seem a silly question to ask, but many still really don’t deeply understand what it really is. Since the beginning of 2015 I’ve become very skeptical of classical yoga. This marked a deeper questioning of yoga teachings and
I used to like paleo kedgeree made with brown rice, but it is healthier, tastier and quicker to make “cauliflower rice. Try it!! IngredientsFor two generous portions: 1 smallish red onion1 head cauliflower1 fresh tomato cut into 8 segments2-3 of teaspoons of coconut oil1 teaspoon turmeric
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