A bad habit that I've been working on for quite some time is saying yes when I really want to say no. I would say yes rather than no and then spend days wracking my brain with an excuse to get out of the situation. Do you do this too? Someone asks you a favour, [...]
Have you ever noticed that the more we strive for happiness, the more miserable we are? Or that when we try to think only positive thoughts, we become acutely aware of our negative thoughts? It seems that our effort to pursue happiness only make happiness more elusive. This phenomenon is known as the Happiness Trap [...]
Favourite pose? This changes week to week and month to month depending on my mood, emotional and body needs. Right now I have spent far too much time at a computer studying Aerial Therapeutics with master trainer Renae Stevens, so I have been suffering from backache! My go-to pose has been a mixture of dangling [...]
Favourite pose Sukhasana (easy pose) for meditation :) Why did you start doing yoga? My mother began her yoga journey when she was pregnant with me in the 1980s (we often chat about who wanted to be a yogi, myself, my mother, or both of us!). In my twenties, I felt guided to invest more [...]
Insomnia sucks. It's estimated that 1/3 of us suffer from insomnia from time to time. We either have trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep, or both. Sometimes insomnia is the result of an illness or medication. But if you've ruled that out, the underlying cause of insomnia is often mental or emotional stress: When our [...]
Do you think that you thrive under stress? That you perform better under pressure? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, dear reader, but after the initial adrenaline rush that lasts about 20 min, stress actually makes us stupid. Let me explain. The stress response releases adrenaline into our bloodstream, which [...]
When it comes to self-care, we're pretty good at eating our greens, drinking enough water and moving our body. But self-care extends beyond what we eat and drink. Self-care includes looking after our emotional and mental health too. If you’ve been to our Yoga Studio lately, you will see that we have tape on the [...]
I don't know anyone whose mental health hasn't been challenged this year. Even if you haven't been impacted directly, it's hard to escape the collective uncertainty. Mental wellbeing isn't something that's always in abundant supply - but it can be cultivated with our daily habits. I liken mental health to a bank account. If I make deposits in [...]
If we treat exercise as a chore, it will always end up at the bottom of our 'to do' list beneath the pile of ironing. Life is hard enough already. Between trying to eat our vegetables, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, taking our vitamins, paying the bills, there's not much time for pleasure and [...]
Anxiety is so much more than feeling worried. Some people experience physical sensations; for others, anxiety affects their emotions more than their body. How anxiety shows up in the body: racing heart racing mind difficulty breathing headaches muscle tension insomnia knots/butterflies in the stomach sweating shaking lump in throat/difficulty swallowing irritability impatience/easily frustrated nervousness quick [...]