Before you look away, this isn’t a post about babies or specifically about childbirth. Contractions get a bad rep. We view them as painful, something to be dreaded, and if you’ve ever been in labour, seen someone in labour, or frankly even thought about the process of getting a baby out of your body, you probably cringe at the word “contractions”.

One of my teachers, the wonderful Naomi Absalom, talked to a mentorship group I was part of earlier this year about contraction before expansion, especially in the context of sometimes there being a shedding, a losing before we gain….

Yoga is without a doubt a powerful practice.  It has always intrigued me that in yoga there are poses that are named for warriors.   Dynamic yoga practices like Ashtanga, Rocket, even Vinyasa (or combination styles simply named Power yoga or Dynamic yoga) flourish within a practice that is about finding peace and focus.

The more you practice or teach, the more we are aware that the strength, flexibility and balance that are the physical focus in yoga poses are qualities to take off the yoga mat into daily life.

Being physically strong and flexible makes us look and feel powerful, confident, as well as ensuring that we build strong immune systems, and create a body that is healthy and moves with ease and grace

People often wonder how they can fit yoga into their lives - like anything else we make time for the things we feel are important.  We can't imagine life without that morning cup of coffee, without the meetings, the things on our to-do lists, the errands, our daily routines, yet somehow we often fail to include feel-good time into our schedule.

In our busy lives, we tend to deprioritise ourselves and our well-being, and until our bodies send out stress signals we frantically race to keep up with life!  This is especially true when you're caring for others, or have a family to look after - time for ourselves becomes not simply a luxury, but a guilty indulgence.

Consider however the benefits to ourselves and to those around us when we take the time to recharge, and to nourish ourselves.

September often heralds a bit of a "back to school"feeling, whether you actually are or not. Add to this the fact that summer is drawing to a close, and we are about to head, with breakneck speed, into the countdown to Christmas.

Perhaps - hopefully - you've had a summer with respite from many of the usual activities, and now as the "new term" starts, you're ready to restart your practice, or maybe even start for the very first time, to be ready for the closing of the year with a new mindset, as well as a more supple, stronger body.

In our busy lives, we are always looking for the next thing.  What to make for dinner, where to go on holiday, how to tackle Christmas.  We busy our minds thinking about events to happen in coming months, planning for next week, preparing for tomorrow.  

What about today?  What about being truly, fully, utterly present in NOW?

The practice of mindfulness