MANAV YOGA

🌴 WE HAVE A WINNER!

And she's going to Bali. ✨

After so many of entries, countless tags and some of the most moving messages we've ever read — congratulations, .tabet 🏆

Patricia is joining us for the Elements of Bali Yoga Retreat in Ubud, 29 August – 4 September 2026. Seven days of rice fields and jungle mornings, daily yoga, meditation, cacao, sound healing, Balinese ritual and food that nourishes from the inside out. 🌿🧘🏽‍♀️

Patricia — check your DMs. Your reset starts in 11 days.

To everyone who entered: we read every single word. So many of you wrote about being exhausted, stretched thin, ready to come back to yourselves. That isn't a small thing to admit out loud, and we don't take it lightly. 🤍

Thank you for being part of this. More giveaways coming. 🌴

What if you don’t actually need another holiday… but a place to finally slow down?

I’ve spent years teaching yoga, travelling to the Himalayas, and watching people come to the mat carrying the weight of their busy lives.

We are constantly connected.
Always rushing.
Always thinking about the next thing.

And somewhere along the way, we forget what it feels like to simply -be.

That is one of the reasons I created **Sharnam Dharamshala.*🏔️

A space in the Himalayas where you can step away from the noise, breathe deeper, practise yoga, reconnect with yourself and experience a different rhythm of life.

And something very special happened…

50% of Sharnam sold out within the first week of launch.❤️

I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who already trusted this vision.

But if you’ve been feeling tired, disconnected, overstimulated or simply longing for something more meaningful…

maybe this is your sign to come home to yourself.

The mountains are waiting.
And I would love to welcome you to Sharnam.

DM me “SHARNAM” and I’ll personally share the details with you.

Most of us spend the day folding forwards. Desk, steering wheel, phone, sofa. The front body shortens, the chest closes, the breath gets shallower — and we call it "just getting older".

Backbends are the answer to that shape. Not the dramatic ones you see online, but the intelligent, well-supported ones that teach your spine to move again.

Over two hours, we'll build the foundations of safe and effective backbending — spinal mobility, the strength to support it, and the trust that lets you go further without forcing. Mindful movement, breath, and time to actually understand what you're doing.

What it gives you:
▸ Better spinal mobility and posture
▸ Stronger supporting muscles
▸ Open chest, shoulders and hips
▸ More breathing capacity and body awareness
▸ Less stiffness from sitting
▸ More confidence, energy and resilience

Suitable for all levels — this is about your spine, not anyone else's.

📅 Saturday 8 August · 4:00–6:00pm 📍 Forgewood Community Centre, Crawley 🎟 [PRICE]

Book via Punchpass — link in bio.



Post 4 — Benefits slide, standalone

Post Tue 5 Aug · file: 04_backbend_benefits.png · also works as a reel cover

Six things a backbend practice gives you that have nothing to do with touching the floor.

Swipe past the photos you've seen online. The point of backbending isn't the shape — it's what the shape asks of you: mobility through the spine, strength to support it, space through the chest, and breath that finally has somewhere to go.

Two hours, this Saturday, to learn how to do it well.

📅 8 August · 4:00–6:00pm · Crawley Book via Punchpass — link in bio.
https://manavyoga.punchpass.com/classes/20448814

🙏 Guru Purnima

Years ago a student came to a teacher and said, "Teach me the highest asana."

The teacher handed him a glass of water and said, "Hold this. Arms straight."

After one minute the student smiled. After ten, his arm shook. After twenty, he was in pain.

"Teacher, the glass has become so heavy."

"The glass never changed weight," the teacher said. "You did. It became heavy because you refused to put it down."

The student asked, "So what do I do?"

"Put it down. Rest. Pick it up again — lighter."

That was the whole teaching.

We do this with more than glasses. We carry the argument from last week. The version of ourselves we've outgrown. The mistake from years ago that no one else even remembers.

It isn't heavy because it's big. It's heavy because we won't set it down.

This is what the mat is really for. Not to become flexible — to become *light.* Every exhale is permission to put something down.

Today, on Guru Purnima, I bow to every teacher who taught me that. And I bow to you — because every student who walks in has taught me something too.

What will you put down today?

Happy Guru Purnima. 🕉️