Blog
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“I always sleep so well after Yin…” Here’s why
One of the comments I often hear from students is: “I always sleep so well after Yin.” People tell me they fall asleep more quickly, slept more deeply or woke feeling more refreshed. Of course, Yin Yoga isn’t a treatment for insomnia, and everyone’s sleep is influenced by many different factors but there’s a very…
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Why feeling like the ‘worst person in the class’ might actually be your greatest yoga lesson
After one of my Yin classes recently, one of my students said she always feels like she’s “the rubbish one in the class.” Because some of the Yin postures don’t suit her body, she often practises different versions of the postures from everyone else or has to choose an alternative altogether and she’ll sometimes leave…
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The 5 vrittis: Why your mind doesn’t always tell you the truth
One of my favourite parts of yoga philosophy is about the ‘vrittis’, and these appear right at the start of the Yoga Sutras (written by Patanjali around 2000 years ago). He describes yoga as “the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.” and those ‘fluctuations’ are known as the vrittis. The word ‘vritti’ literally means…
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The pose between the poses
This week in the cabin we’re exploring something that often gets overlooked in yoga: the transitions. When we think about yoga, we tend to think of the postures themselves: Warrior II, Tree, Downward Dog, Savasana and so on. We focus on where we’re going, rather than how we get there. But a lot of our…
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Why Yin yoga is the greatest gift you can give your nervous system
The theme in our Yin classes this week was the nervous system. When people ask me about the benefits of Yin Yoga, I often talk about the physical side of the practice – holding postures for longer periods can help improve the health of our joints, gently stress our ligaments and tendons, and encourage hydration…