Hello!

Welcome to the Autumn Newsletter

This season we move from Late Summer to shorter, cooler days and misty, maybe even frosty mornings. The leaves turn dry and eventually fall from the trees. This is a time when nature gathers in what is needed for the Winter ahead, and lets go of the rest.

We can do the same…conserving energy & readying ourselves for the darker months.

In our yoga we will be focussing on the breath, both linking it to the postures and using breath work (pranayama) on its own.

Enjoy the beauty of Autumn!

Rachel

Eating Seasonally

Along with practising yoga in harmony with the cycle of the seasons I’ve also been trying to eat more seasonally, and in the last few months we have switched to eating only home grown fruit and vegetables or organic fruit and veg grown mainly in the UK and occasionally in Europe. So pretty much out with apples from New Zealand and Argentina and in with berries from the garden.

My experience has been a good one and I feel that this is a much more natural way to eat, especially as our Western lifestyle now is so out of sync with nature.

There is some research I believe which suggests that if your gut microbes are in harmony with local soil microbes you will be healthier…even normalise your weight. You might be interested to know that improved relaxation affects your gut health. If you suffer from nervous digestive problems that may not surprise you.

For more about the importance of a healthy gut microbiome, follow this link to an article based on a BBC Radio 4 programme which was on earlier this year. The programme is also well worth a listen.

More than Half your Body is not Human!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43674270?SThisFB

and if you’d like to eat a diet more in harmony with nature and the seasons, this really useful website tells you what’s in season when in the UK

http://eatseasonably.co.uk/

Eating and Yoga practice

We’ve had some conversations recently about scheduling meals around yoga practice…It’s not always easy, but generally the advice is clear – it’s not a good idea to practice yoga after a meal. Ideally there should be 3 hours space after a main meal and a couple of hours after a light meal.

If you come to an evening class I would recommend either eating your main meal at midday with a snack late afternoon, or eating 2 lighter meals, 1 about 4pm and the other after the class. For a morning class (mine all start at 10am) a lightish breakfast around 8am should be fine. If you’re eating a “full English” then an earlier start is advised!

Even with a more passive practice such as Yin Yoga, my experience is that having some time to digest before practising makes it much more comfortable physically and mentally.

Eating just before yoga is not advised as blood and energy is diverted from your digestive process to the muscles of the body. Many postures put the belly under pressure and can cause indigestion and bloating when practised on a full stomach; and postures on a full stomach may feel harder to get in to or engage with.

24 Common “mistakes” in yoga?

I recently posted this article on Facebook. I’m not sure I would use the word “mistake” but look past that and there’s actually quite a lot of useful points made here. Can you think of any more that you would have included in the list??

http://www.yogabasics.com/practice/yoga-for-beginners/common-yoga-mistakes/

26 Jan 2019 – Seasonal Yoga Workshop – Winter. See Events page for details.

23 Feb 2019 – Yoga Workshop with Ellen Lee – Yamas and Niyamas, on and off the mat. See Events page for details.

21-23 May 2019 – Yoga Retreat, Dower House, Hexton. See Events page.

 “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