Garden of Yoga

Tune in on Tuesday at 12pm AEST for an Instagram live chat with Jo Jo Stewart and Silky Ashe Wellness

🌿 We’re talking about how the aerial hammock can make the physical, emotional and even spiritual benefits of yoga more accessible to diverse bodies and neurodivergent brains.
Aerial yoga gives us unique ways to work with sensory processing, the vestibular system and the nervous system, but also some unique challenges especially for people who are hyper mobile or have POTS.

🌻 Silky’s mission is to help her fellow spoonies, spicies, bendy baddies and the general population find more energy, peace and relief in your daily life!
As a neurodivergent person living with chronic illness, her teaching is informed by lived experience and a deep respect for the body’s changing needs. She was drawn to aerial yoga for the fluidity and freedom of movement the hammock provides, as well as the soothing, meditative experience of being cocooned.

🌸 Jo has been teaching aerial yoga since 2011 and is the author of Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga: Adapting Practice for Accessibility, Neurodiversity and Physical Support, published by Singing Dragon and the founder of Garden of Yoga.
She is the founder of Garden of Yoga and is passionate about sharing yoga that helps people feel good in their bodies and grow in their own way.

🌱 Silky has a Beginners Aerial Yoga Workshop coming on Saturday October 10 - if you’ve curious about aerial yoga, or have questions about whether it might be right for you feel free to DM me!
While this is a topic we are both passionate about, we want to make it interesting and relevant for you too!

Look who’s back!
Senior Studio Cat Nagano was back his regular Saturday morning reception shift 😻
He got some pats, took multiple naps, pretty much business as usual.
Thanks to everyone who sent kind words and good vibes as he was going through his multiple health dramas. We are still waiting on a couple of follow up kidney tests but it certainly seems like our guy is loving life and feeling good right now.
Scroll through for some bonus Heart content and more photos of both cats being adorable 😻💗😻

🌿 Plant your Intentions Garden 🌱
Download this FREE creative self care exercise from my book Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga: Adapting Practice for Accessibility, Neurodiversity and Physical Support. The link is in my bio 💕

This illustration comes from the Brahmacharya section of my book. Brahmacharya is sometimes translated as celibacy but can also be defined as right use of energy. This exercise can help you define your personal code of ethics and clarify where to direct your energy.

I’ve created a loose garden plot where you can plant seeds (intentions) name boundaries (fences) and decide what you want to nurture, water and fertilize in your life.

Feel free to ‘plant’ your intentions in the pots and beds with words or pictures. You can also write in things you are already doing and want to continue to cultivate.

There’s a path, and you can write on the steps if you are working your way towards something.

If there are any ‘weeds’ you want to pull out feel free to name them and designate a bed for the compost heap!

I started out coloring the garden in the background to get in the zone while I was filling out mine and added words to the different sections like a steam of consciousness while I colored. If journaling is not your vibe I highly recommend this process as an alternative!

I hope you find it helpful to cultivate creativity, positivity, mindfulness and purpose 🌱

🌸 When you download the illustration you will be added to my mailing list where I share more about my book and the other things I have going on.

🐉 Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga is published by Singing Dragon and available at all the major retailers, or ask for it at your local independent book store. Or if you’re local I also have copies for sale at the studio!

The Flow Artists Podcast is on pause.

This would usually be our episode publication day, but we’ve had a lot going on behind the scenes, including the death of Rane’s Dad.

We love recording the podcast and really appreciate everyone who listens and supports us, but it does take a lot of time and energy to schedule, research, record, edit and share each episode.

Keeping a sustainable balance between work, health, creative projects and family life is something we talk about about with many of our guests and we are going to listen to their wise advice to rest when you need to.

We are going to take a break and we look forward to returning in early 2027.

Thank you to everyone who came to my book launch for Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga: Adapting Practice for Accessibility, Neurodiversity and Physical Support published by Singing Dragon 💗

It was very heartwarming to be surrounded by so much support and I’m honored that people wanted to buy not book and even get copies for friends. This is my author dream come true!

We had a mix of friends and friends of friends, studio regulars, podcast listeners and yoga teaching buddies.
Rane Bowen also gave a lovely speech, lead the Q & A and did a great job with photos and books sales!

It was also really lovely catching up with some of the book contributors - here’s what’s happening in the photos:

1) Moment of gratitude with my book
2) Inside view of the studio during the author talk
3) Everyone outside during the talk
4) Danielle Raphael This Wild Soul Photography who did the book photography
5) Maggie Turner-Miguel who modeled in some the photos and helped with the section for older adults
6) Freya Bennett-Overstall who helped me with the Reproductive Health and Inversions chapters
7) Heather Tetu and Tiny from Showtech Australia who helped with the section on rigging safety
8) Gabe Invert You ~ Gabe who helped with the mental health and trauma informed teaching sections
9) Rane Bowen presenting with me
10) demonstrating the vestibular stimulating possibilities of the aerial hammock
11) Book signing
12) Hanging out 🙃

Thanks so much to Rote Torte , Invert You ~ Gabe , Heather Tetu and Rane Bowen for taking these photos and Debbie Dean for the wonderful food!!
Oh and a few people asked about my tshirt - it’s from Captain Robbo a super cute local designer.

Join Silky Ashe Wellness for an introductory aerial yoga workshop!
✨3 - 4.30pm Saturday October 10✨
Learn the foundations of aerial yoga in a joyful and relaxing way!
Head to my bio for bookings!

Silky offers aerial yoga classes that invite students to become more present, reconnect with their bodies, and move mindfully, whether through a dynamic flow sequence or a deeply supported restorative practice. She encourages choice, rest, and self-paced movement, creating a welcoming environment where students can explore what feels right for their bodies.

With a background in Health and Physical Education and training in both yoga and aerial yoga, Silky brings a strong focus on alignment, intelligent sequencing, and accessible movement. As a neurodivergent person living with chronic illness, her teaching is informed by lived experience and a deep respect for the body’s changing needs. She was drawn to aerial yoga for the fluidity and freedom of movement the hammock provides, as well as the soothing, meditative experience of being cocooned.

Drawing on a wide range of philosophical, spiritual, and therapeutic influences, Silky weaves together grounding breathwork, mindful movement, and intentional rest to support nervous system regulation and emotional wellbeing. She warmly welcomes students of all experience levels, encouraging them to move with curiosity, compassion, and care.

‘I was able to both hear my body (not disassociate) and then listen to my body and hear what it needed, and that was go slower, do the easier options. And yes, I felt so good afterward, like I had given my body a big hug and a deep breath. Also, the hammock itself, being in the cocoon, helped to soothe my overstimulated and rattled nervous system from the day.’

Thank you Wendy Jasper for your wonderful contribution to my book Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga: Adapting Practice for Accessibility, Neurodiversity and Physical Support!!

Wendy is autistic and has ADHD and has been to many yoga and exercise classes where she felt uncomfortably singled out as ‘the bigger woman’ as she shared in my book. I really appreciated her sharing these personal experiences and insights, and how the aerial hammock helped her work with her mind and body in a nurturing way.

‘For the first time in nearly 30 years, I felt like an equal when going through the [aerial yoga] practice in class. My body size or fitness level was irrelevant. That alone was so amazing to experience and embody... Exercise for me had become something like self-flagellation, something that was truly unpleasant and uncomfortable to do (and in environments which felt unsafe and overstimulating), but to be a good person and take care of myself meant I simply had to grin and bear and push through ‘for the results’. No wonder I was disassociating all the time (I didn’t realize at the time that was what I was doing; only looking back, I can now see it, and see it was the only way my nervous system could cope with the intensity of it all).‘

Wendy demonstrated many of the restorative postures within my book and she bought such calm and serene energy on the day and really embodied the nurturing restorative vibe. All of these photos are by Danielle Raphael This Wild Soul Photography - it was a lovely experience collaborating with them both!

My book Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga is published by Singing Dragon - head to the link in my bio for more information.

Or if you’re local to Naarm Melbourne I’m having a launch event at my studio this Saturday 3-5pm!

Does anyone else have to take multiple breaks during every workout to take photos of their plants and cats?
🪴 This isn’t a problem for me in yoga or aerial yoga but since I take little breaks between sets in strength work anyway I get distracted so easily 🤣

Thank you to Kelly Sound Bath | Sound Healing | Reiki | Wellness Studio Melbourne and everyone who joined our Floating Sound Session today 💕
I loved sharing the space and the sounds with you all!

We had a few people who were new to aerial yoga today and it’s such a pleasure to introduce people to this practice in such an immersive and gentle way.
I loved how these two quite different practices of sound meditation and aerial yoga can work together so and enhance each other so beautifully.

Our next workshop will be on Sunday October 25 3-4.30pm and that will be the last one for the year. Head to my bio for bookings and more information.
Sending you peaceful vibes for a relaxing weekend xo

My heart goes out to the people of Nepal and Tibet after seeing the news of the flash floods and earthquakes.
We look to these cultures for practices that help us attain peace of mind, and they contribute so little to global climate change yet feel the effects so harshly.

I am donating a portion of the proceeds from the upcoming Floating Sound Session to the Nepalese PM disaster relief fund, and I’ll share that link (along with some other recommendations organizations) in my stories if you feel inspired to do the same.

Kelly Sound Bath | Sound Healing | Reiki | Wellness Studio Melbourne sources many of her instruments directly from a family run business in Nepal and visits regularly on her retreats. Her local friends are based in Kathmandu out of the danger zone, and we looked to them for recommendations on where to best make a donation.

This has been such a sad week, sending 💗 to you all.