What Taking Responsibility Of Your Shit Looks Like

So this is my birthday month and for the first time, I’ve gifted myself my health. This time wholeheartedly, none of these half measures I’ve dabbled with through the years.

Many of you know I have suffered from endometriosis since my teens and actually that’s how I found yoga.

It certainly hasn’t been an easy ride as pain has often been really bad. I sometimes refer myself to the exorcist rithing around in pain and projectile all over the place. You get the idea?

So, as everything in life ebbs and flows, I’ve had years of being up and down. I was recently having a dreadful few months of continuous bad pain, almost to the point of passing out. Well even sometimes passing out!

So finally I made a pact with myself that I needed to prioritise my health, not just a bit more but a whole lot more.

My body is screaming here! Quite literally it was!!

To cut a long story short I’ve been to see a herbalist who does Maya Abdominal Massage.

She has recommended some changes and additions to my daily ritual.

Today I’m determined. 

This is what I’ve got up to in the last few weeks and the results are mind blowing.

• Meditation every morn 5-10mins

• Yoga (even if its 5mins on the mat, makes me feel great even when it’s at 3:45 am!!!) 

• Monthly Maya abdominal massage

• Daily self abdominal massage

• Herbal medicine

• 28 day liver cleanse

• Taking supplements 

•  Really spending the time and money it costs to buy good quality, organic foods

• Taking the time to prepare my nutritious breakfasts and lunches

• Reducing stress 

• Keeping a daily diary where I give gratitude, track my progress on new healthy habits and do little things for others.
  

• Instead of filling my cup with more tasks, which has been pretty standard in my life, I’ve realised I need to do this stuff with compassion and not come down too heavy on myself. 70% most of the time is good enough!
  

• I allow times of ‘nothingness’, of noticing the birds whilst I’m cooking a special meal with new yummy things.
  

I suspect I’m not alone when I say i’m always busying around the place, always working on five projects at once and reading four books.

Sounds familiar?

I know I need to slow it down sometimes and I am working on it.

When was the last time you told yourself to slow down?

What I’ve got out of this

• Periods that are manageable, where I’m not taking painkillers, just a herbal mix to take the edge off.

   I’m over the moon!!!

• Homeostasis - our systems get out of whack when stressed and not supported by rest, food and nutrients. Stress makes us tired and grumpy. I now have more energy and feel I’m not playing catch up with my sleep. I choose to go out with mates, I have a laugh and that’s truly healing!

• A new enthusiasm for cooking weird and wonderful new things. New ingredients that taste magical. I close my eyes and really sample their texture and aroma. It’s like being a kid again and trying out new stuff for the first time! Have you ever tried monks beard?!?!

• Noticing my eating habits and not filling a empty painful gap with food. Really understanding that food is medicine and everything I eat has an impact on my health. Noticing my cravings and connections to it. Whether it be emotional or purely a sugar addiction or both.

• Times of peace inside. Let’s be clear here, not always but sometimes. It’s a work in progress, as is all of this.
  

I know I need to keep working on this and sometimes it’ll be easier than others. I’m not saying this is the be all and end all for everyone but it’s working for me. 

If this is what it takes to be heathy and pain free bring it on!

Inspired by this healing experience I’ve created these two nourishing 2 hour sessions for you guys…

Sunday 10 March

Embodying The Feminine

4:30-6:30

HP8

Empowerment, regulating hormones, womb yoga, stress relieving, strengthening & meditation.

SOLD OUT

WAITING LIST AVAILABLE

 Sunday 14 April

Yin & Yang Yoga

4:30-6:30

HP8
Recharge whilst building intensity find stillness & motion with yoga, meditation & yoga nidra.

2 spaces left 

Don’t compare yourself to others.

Compare yourself with the person you where yesterday

No matter our size, age or gender this is what we owe ourselves ...

I shared this Rumi quote with my session today

A divine dance appears in the soul and the body at the time of peace and union. Anyone can learn the dance, just listen to the music.

For me Rumi speaks here about compassion and intention, when you listen to your true self “at the time of piece and union” when you truncate yourself from “your to do list”.

“listen to the music” of being human it’s already encoded within you.

This compassion can be to others but particularly I want to focus on compassion for yourself today. I know this word now comes with bows and whistles but what I’m trying to say is it’s kinda like having a relationship with yourself.  Wether it’s taking a walk, gifting yourself with taking time out to do whatever makes you feel alive. It could be going climbing, boxing, whatever this looks like for you? Anything that fills your heart and lets you look inside.

Let’s look at this in the yoga setting: You may feel like you need to be in a particular shape or you don’t allow yourself to come out of the form when it’s not feeling right to you. Or too ashamed to take child’s pose when you really need it? Have you even been there...I have? 

I invite you to join me to create a safe space that welcomes that individuality. This is what makes the session personalised to you.

• Your choice 

• Your session that meets you where you are today!

For this to truly work I invite you to join me to change our sessions to allow adjustments and manual assists, as an option.

Therefore before each session you have the choice to OPT IN to having adjustments. Perhaps you don't fancy getting an adjustment today, that’s totally cool with me, so you can have your say with no judgement.

Yoga has gifted me agency when I felt I had no voice. It made me trust in myself and listen to what’s going on inside. If that’s not Yoga then what is? Together we can cocreate this space, for all of us but especially ourselves.

"3 SH@TS To Make You a Better Person"
Sorry to say this one size attitude quick fix, dosn’t fit all. All that stuff is within us and yes that takes more effort. If you fancy side tracking into the cul de sack, that’s fine and perhaps thats what you’re meant to do. Or maybe you stop busying yourself with the crap that doesn't really matter and take the plunge into the shuddering cold uncomfortableness that looking inside you really is... to truly listen to you.

And for me it starts right here on the mat. 
As an invitation to FEEL or maybe EXPLORE the parts of you that are NUMB.
And be ok with that. 

If you fancy a bit of that…check out

Sunday 6 Jan 2019
you.in.yoga
17:00-18:30
£13 
Small group session 
HP8
Book Here 

Privates Tuesdays & Sundays Book Here
£50 - 75 mins

That's all from me today. I hope this letter could be a gentle poke for you to spend time with yourself. Gift yourself some attention and interoception (a fancy word for checking out the feelings inside yourself)

You know I read everything you send back, so feel free to share with me how we can tailor our sessions to truly allow freedom within form and we can inspire each other with new ideas.... and thats why I called my businessYoga Atelier a space to grow and learn and explore together...

An Odyssey To Heal My Broken Body

"The body whispers to you then it starts to scream"

As a teen I suffered horrendous period pains month after month.

Doctors said it was normal and put me on the pill, this already didn’t feel right for me… But what was I supposed to know, after all I’m just a teen... in pain.

After several years of feeling like a marionette to a synthesised hormone, complete with sugar coating. I felt enough was enough and had to do something, as I wasn’t feeling any better. The pain was getting worse.

Each month was filled with dread, as my 24 day cycle was a numbered sentence. How would my body react this time? Would I pass out at work again? I finally was HEARD by a GP and she took her time and run through a bunch of questions. She finally asked me if i’d heard of endometriosis, I said no. After a number of tests I was finally diagnosed.

The more I spoke to women the more I realised there where more of me. Young women suffering everyday… here! Through the pain in a funny kind of way it bonded us.

All this time I was on various hormone treatments, it played with my libido, my periods stopped, my weight and moods where up and down and I remember feeling “I wasn’t a real woman.”  Everything that made me a women was being reformed, regurgitated into a dulled mould.

I wanted to work through things naturally and realised I don’t want to fit in to the cookie cutter of “societies, professional women role”. I never did!

Women don’t function like men, and heres where we’re getting it wrong!

There where 2 catalysts in my life, when I found yoga and when I learnt how the relationship with my body and surroundings, provided me with the chance to change.
It was all there I just had to listen!

I cant be anymore grateful to Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer a who run Red School.

I was re-educated to listen to my own body. I learnt to chart and respect how each “season” of my cycle had a different characteristic, it made me honour different parts of the cycle instead of fighting against it every month. Naturally stress dissolves, I allow myself to receive.

Here are some transformational teachings from Sjanie and Alexandra.

“It's a challenge to do less! We normally have a foot on the accelerator but our body through our symptoms like PMS or pain is telling you to slowdown.”

“To turn your attention inward...this is your cycle talking here”

“Listen to yourself!”

Not being attached to expectations people have on you, or even worse sometimes your own expectations! “The truth of your own experience, is to be on top of your game”

“You don't fight not sleeping, your natural circadian rhythm. Maybe for a bit you drink coffee, take drugs and stay awake but you soon start to feel crappy and can't sustain it. If you push through cycle by cycle you go out in the world with an empty tank.... Your soul, your energy will suffer. In your 20s you prob won't feel it … but in your 30s and 40s YOU FEEL IT”

"The body whispers to you then it starts to scream"

“Even if you try to slow down 1% in your life, I'm not saying to go to sleep every period. The world we live in is not set up in this way, we have family, work, laundry!”

“It soon makes you pretty uncool as you start to say no to things and do less. However you start to not care what other people think because you're taking care of yourself.”

I learnt that to execute change, it was not the case to just pop a pill now and then… this was a total lifestyle change and I want it more than anything!

Theses no way of sugar coating this one… IT TAKES COMMITMENT. 

BUT THE UNSHACKLING BENEFITS  ENDLESS!!!

EMPOWER YOURSELF and the women around you. Your daughters. Your mother. Your grandmother. Your friends. Your community! Through your menstrual cycle to menopause and beyond. Check out Red School 

5 Poses For Your Visit From Aunt Flow

…you can even do in your bed!!

5 Poses For Your Visit From Aunt Flo

During your time of the month its good to practice a supportive sequence and not like your usual 'yang’ vinyasa or hatha classes, to nourish and honour all thats going on in your body during this time. This short practice helps me month to month to ease bloating and pain, you can play at lengthening the time in any pose, add any other poses you like and even a yummy shavasana at the end.
Use pillows, blankets, cushions, even books as an addition to any props you may have at home. You can even do this in your bed... get comfy!

Supta Baddha Konnasana
Reclined Bound Angle Pose
5mins
Make this your throne and get comfy, make it higher or lower by using books or blocks under your bolster or more pillows.

Upavista Konassana
Wide Leg Forward Fold
3 mins
Supporting the lower back by sitting on the edge of a 2” lift of a blanket.

Paschtimottanasana
Forward Fold
3min
Supported by 2 blocks or books under the bolster.

Balasana
Childs pose
5min
This is my favourite pose when I’m in pain, I put a hot water bottle on my lower belly and a bolster or pillow to hold it in place, and I lye over it, this adds a small amount of heat and pressure on the belly.

Supta Baddha Konnasana
Reclined Bound Angle Pose
5min
Notice how this pose feels the second time, you can then extend the legs out to a supposed Shavasana.

Hope you enjoy this short sequence as much as I do
and recharge your batteries so you can go out and be YOU!

Drum roll for...Keweko Skincare

Drum roll for ...
Keweko Skincare
Sustainable organic skin care with a conscience.

Committed to creating sustainable organic skin care, Keweko is the new ethical beauty brand on the block.
Not only are these products a delight for your pout, these eco-friendly packages of joy are designed to have minimal environmental impact.
We love the soothing aloe and bergamot toner for both men and women.
Gift ideas anyone?

www.keweko.com 
I: keweko_skincare
T: keweko_skincare

Happy pits! DIY Deodorant

Happy pits!

DIY Deodorant

Theres a lot of info on the web about the harmful chemicals in shop bought deodorants you can check out, and in my tried and tested quest to find something that works (so you’re not left smelling and loosing all your friends on this earth in one fatal day… )

My dear friend in Santa Fe shared this little gem, I thought to myself can it be true a natural deodorant that doesn’t make you smell and thats easy and cheap to make!!
YEP!

Heres how to make it:
1/4 cup bicarbonate of soda
1/4 cup cornflour
4 to 6 tbsp coconut oil
Essential oil (optional) 10 to 15 drops Lavender or Rose Absolute

Simple! Done!
Happy Pits!