Yoga Kiss

If you’re thinking of becoming a yoga teacher but wondering what the point is?! Or you are a new yoga teacher and thinking that the opportunities you want don’t exist- let me tell you, they didn’t for me either and I never let that stop me (I still don’t).

And if you want to share some advice, a mistake you didn’t make - please add it for all the yoga teachers past, present and future in the comments so that we can all be inspired to keep going! 👇🏼

Advice from a dedicated yogi… and your mind can (& no doubt will) fill in the blanks.

In all seriousness though, it’s a natural human reaction AND the breath will actually probably decrease the chances of this coming out of your mouth, but not 100% of the time. So let’s just be real about that shall we?

Who is she?
Who am I?

These are the questions we all asked - not an existential crisis or anything - but how often do we actually sit with ourselves, in full acceptance of where we are, what we contributed to get to that moment (good and bad) and the depths of the beauty that is within us irrespective of that.

We don’t need to practice or meditate ourselves away from who we are, we practice, we show up, to gain a deeper appreciation for the complexities and intricacies that exist no matter who we are.

This Self-Care weekend with my incredible friend Kim Morrison , her wonderful Twenty8 team including her daughter Tayla Morrison brought me to tears often, to witness women being who they are, in their full spectrum of inner beauty, to see the love and the care given and most importantly received was beyond what I could conceive and made me realise that receiving is as strong as giving.

Women in rooms like this change the world, one moment, one thought, one word, one breath at a time, and I’m forever grateful that I got to be in this room, with them, for a whole weekend.

Kim Morrison - you are something else darling, to know you is the biggest privilege, and to see your heart and passion in action is abso-f*cking-lutely phenomenal!

And for anyone who wasn’t in the room - the next time you see this - don’t just lean in, as Kim says: Leap In! I didn’t really know what I was arriving for or too, it was scary AF AND it was the gift Kim knew I needed to receive (Ofcourse she did!).

We get asked it from a young age in school. Like a title is going to give us purpose.

Then perhaps we grow up to see that the real purpose of life is to live as slowly as possible, to be loved & love others, to use our hands and our brains, our bodies and our hearts equally, to give back & connect, to grow the next generation of small humans to model to them what it means to be human, on this earth.

The titles are one thing. How you show up in them, how you curate life & live it is another.

So what do you want to be when you grow up?

If you closed your eyes and tuned into your natural breathing pattern would you feel your breath in the side of your rib cage?
How long does it take to roll in and back out again?
Does it feel like it jumps or gets stuck?

Here’s the thing… for whatever reason which can include a combination of life, events, stress, genetics, habits and more we can create a pattern of breathing that is shallow, short & strained.

This shallow, short & strained breath pattern is literally draining your battery, both moment to moment & in the longevity that you might have otherwise had.

Studies have shown that due to the way in which we breath, which often doesn’t make use of the lower parts of the lungs our breath capacity declines over time and worse than that the tissues of the lungs die off - because like every other part of our body, they too require oxygen to survive and thrive.

So what can you do about it?

You can put your hands on the sides of your lower rib cage, close your eyes and breath into your hands slowly, without force, in and out through your nose. To breathe into your rib cage you do not need to take in any more breath than you usually would - stick to wear you are at and instead try to use the organ of respiration, the diaphragm a little more and your chest and belly much less.

Take 3 breaths and notice, maybe you make a subtle shift, maybe the first time nothing changes at all. But keep coming back to it and notice the return of energy instantly each time you do. Imagine banking that up every day ready for a long, healthy life ahead!

And let me know what you find in the comments below 👇🏼 you never know who you might inspire to start breathing well by doing so!

I think that the physicality of yoga’s most recent history does it a huge injustice.

Where you think it’s about giving yourself a good old stretch I see that it’s an exploration of how the mind can react & the breath can hold when we’re placed under pressure.

Or even better, how the mind steadies & the breath finds its fullest & most efficient potential when we move our joints, our bodies & our muscles and connective tissues with both strength & mobility.

You see someone meditating looking peaceful and I see someone who closes their eyes to simply be with everything inside of them - not fearful of what’s there but accepting that it is a part of that moment in time for them.

Yoga is not just asana. But asana absolutely was written in Patanjali’s text to remind us that we must be able to sit - literally or figuratively with ourselves and that way to do that to ensure vitality and longevity is with equal parts of steadiness and ease.

What do you think? Did I get close to what you need to know about what yoga is in 60 seconds?