Hello everyone

Welcome to the Winter newsletter

Winter is the most Yin season of the year…nature becomes still during the cold period. The dominant organ pair of Winter is the Kidney/Bladder. The Kidneys are considered to be the powerhouse of the body so in Winter we need to especially concentrate on conserving energy and hunkering down, in order to recharge our batteries. Rest at this time is essential!

In our yoga practice we honour this Yin energy by slowing down, but we also need to keep water moving in our body so include fluid flowing movements which focus especially on the spine.

Enjoy this quiet reflective time…

Rachel

Kidneys and the Five Element System

Here’s more about the importance of Kidney health in the Five Element system…

https://www.tcmworld.org/what-is-tcm/the-five-major-organ-systems/kidney-health/

What to do when you have back pain?

Because the Kidney/Bladder energy channels run down the back and up the front of the body, our Winter practice has a lot of backward and forward bending movements. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that keeping the body moving is essential for health at all levels. Years ago if you had back pain for example, you might well be told to lie flat for weeks on end. These days we realise that stopping movement may not necessarily help, and in many cases it will make things worse:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/babying-your-back-may-delay-healing

Feeling fearful?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the emotion associated with the Kidneys is fear. This makes sense if you know that our adrenal glands are situated atop our Kidneys. If we are habitually fearful this can be seen as an imbalance of Kidney energy. One way to help balance out, aside from a Kidney meridian focussed yoga practice, is working with the breath. We have paid special attention to the breath in Autumn, but pranayama should be practised all year round. And it helps to break that “stress loop” that many of us are in…

Read more about this and how breathing helps you to relax:

http://sequencewiz.org/2015/11/25/stimulate-the-vagus-nerve-yoga-part1/

Sun 6 January 2019 – classes start after Christmas break

Sat 26 January – Seasonal Yoga Workshop – Winter 1.30-5pm. See Events page for details.

Sat 23 February – Workshop with Ellen Lee – “Yamas and Niyamas”

Evergreen Centre, Letchworth. 2-5.30pm. See Events page for details.

Sat 16 March – Spring Workshop – Developing a Home Practice.

Spring is a great time to start new activities or projects. Would you like to practice yoga at home but don’t know where to start? This workshop is for you! Full details to follow.

21-23 May – Yoga Retreat with me – Dower House, Hexton, Herts. Now fully booked.

To register your interest for 2020, contact me.

Sat 15 June – Seasonal Half Day Retreat – Summer.

This is a fundraising event. Profit will go to Mind in Hertfordshire. Join me for a half day retreat, encompassing Seasonal Yoga practices for the Summer with a focus on the Heart and Small Intestine meridians. Full details to follow.

 “The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures

but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.”

TKV Desikachar