Tag: Yoga Hoylake

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Photographs from Museum of the Moon Event at Birkenhead Town Hall on 13th November 2019

Hi Everyone, we have received some wonderful photographs taken by the official photographer at the Museum of the Moon event where we taught a yoga session under the moon in Birkenhead Town Hall. The session took place on Wednesday 13th November 2019 and was hosted by Wirral Borough Council.

Mark McNulty Photographer

My old friend Mark McNulty was wonderful photographer. I DJed with Mark for many years over in Liverpool at Liquidation / Uptight in Le Bateau. It was a nice surprise to run into him. You can check out his website and social media channels at;
http://www.markmcnulty.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/markmcnulty/
https://twitter.com/markmcnulty

Thank you for coming to the Museum of the Moon event!

Thank you to everyone who came to the event, it was such a great experience to teach under the Museum of the Moon and a real once in a lifetime opportunity. Also a big thank you to the Culture Team at Wirral Council and Imagine Wirral.

Check out the picture below and let us know what you think!

Our Wirral Yoga Classes

If you enjoyed the session and would like to join one of our classes, check out the detail of where we teach and when here: https://pauls93.sg-host.com/classes/

Thanks Paul & Steve x

  • Museum of the Moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga YogasmithsMuseum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Another Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose / crescent moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Dragon flying low Yin Yoga pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Ardha Chandrasana / Half Moon pose under the moon
  • pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Ardha Chandrasana / Half Moon pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Low lunge pose under the moon
  • pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Paul & Steve Yogasmiths introducing the theme for the session
  • pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Chandra bhedana / Moon piercing breath under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Chandra bhedana / Moon piercing breath under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Thoracic opening and mobilisation under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Vrksasana / Tree pose under the moon
  • Museum of the moon pop-up Wirral Yoga Yogasmiths
    Vrksasana / Tree pose under the moon
Pictures from the Museum of the Moon pop-up yoga session

 

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BWY Foundation Course Tutor Training in Grantham

As many of you know we spent Tuesday – Friday last week in Grantham on the (British Wheel of Yoga) BWY foundation course tutor training course led by Belinda Emberson with Dawn Wesselby.

The BWY Foundation Course 1 is a wonderful personal development course for those who want to delve a little deeper into the rich tradition of yoga. It also will give a solid foundation in yoga for those who wish to become yoga teachers.

BWY Foundation Course Tutor Training
Paul & Steve with Belinda Emberson!

There were long days of training involved (9am-7pm) and we learnt a lot from the tutors and also from our peers on the course. It was a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and practice how we would deliver the BWY Foundation Course 1.

Practical Sessions

There were lots of useful practical sessions around planning the course and all the associated paperwork involved. In addition we shared and discussed our favourite yoga texts.

It was an assessed course and I am pleased to say that both of us passed. We will shortly gain the status of being BWY Foundation Course Tutors which is the next rung on the ladder in our yoga journey. Paul had the nerve wrecking slot of being the first to do his presentation on the first day and Steve was second a little later in the day.

On one of the days we were also treated to a fantastic yoga asana session from the lead tutor Belinda. Belinda is a BWY Diploma Course Tutor and also the BWY Foundation Course Officer. It is a privilege to train with such experienced and knowledgable tutors.

Networking with BWY Teachers

It was also great to meet and network with other BWY teachers from across the country and to see some familiar faces that we had met before.

BWY Foundation Course Tutor Training group

The BWY Foundation Course Tutor Training was a great learning experience.  We will be organising our first BWY Foundation Course 1 very soon and look forward to sharing the details with you.

You can check out further details of all the training we have undertaken to date here About

Links to the tutors

You can find more on Belinda and Dawn at their websites;

https://yogaingravesend.co.uk/

https://www.newdawnyoga.co.uk/

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Congratulations to our Duke Of Edinburgh Award Yoga Students!

We have been delighted to have been able to introduce yoga to a group of young women completing the Duke of Edinburgh award via our weekly yoga classes.

Faith, Katie and Maisie have been regular attendees at our weekly classes to fulfil the requirements of the Duke of Edinburgh for physical activity / sport.

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They have been and continue to be regular attendees along with their friend Esme. We have been very pleased with their commitment to their yoga practice and their progression within yoga. It was with great pleasure that we were able to sign off part of their Duke of Edinburgh award as assessors and wish them good luck in completing the rest of their award.

If you are completing the Duke of Edinburgh award why not consider attending yoga classes to satisfy the Sports / physical activity requirements!

As they are all under 16 they attend with a parent / guardian and we are pleased to have 2 of their parents as regular attendees to our classes now as well! If you are interested in attending our yoga classes with somebody under the age of 16 please see the student resources tab on our website for details of consent forms that need to be completed.

Namaste

Paul & Steve

The Duke of Edinburgh Award

Please see below for information about the Duke of Edinburgh award, taken from their website;

Since its creation in 1956 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the DofE has gone from strength to strength. Guided by the same set of principles and by young people themselves, it’s as relevant today as it was then. The DofE Award was based on Kurt Hahn’s Moray Badge, run by him while Headmaster at Gordonstoun School.

A flexible programme that helps to develop young people for life and work, the numbers speak for themselves: 93% of participants feel that DofE has helped them to work in a team and 84% feel that they have become a more responsible person.   From 1,000 DofE Awards achieved in year one to 142,961 last year, we have both a rich history and a bright future. Why not let our timeline and our young people tell you more?

The DofE has a positive impact on young people’s lives, in terms of their personal development and employability, and on wider society, from charities gaining active and engaged volunteers to businesses hiring work-ready recruits.

Demand remains high. With increasing numbers of young people wanting to take part in the world’s leading youth achievement award, it’s our ambition to give another one million 14 to 24-year-olds in the UK this life-changing opportunity by 2021.

Thanks to our fantastic team of employees and volunteers and the generous donations made by our supporters, we look forward to doing just that.

Find out more here;

https://www.dofe.org

Read our other blogs here: Blog

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Mental Health Awareness Week – helpful tips to deal with stress

At all of our weekly classes this week we discussed Mental Health Awareness Week and the topic for this year which is stress.

Stress has been shown to be one of the main contributory factors in triggering a mental health problem. Research has shown that two thirds of us will experience a mental health problem during our lifetime.

In the spirit of Mental Health Awareness week we decided we would start the conversation about mental health and ask our yoga students to share their tips and ways of dealing with Stress.

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We had our Stress board at all the classes and students all wrote down on a post it note what they do to deal with stress.

At the end of this week we had a mountain of post it notes with lots of helpful tips and ideas. We typed them all up and entered them into a special website of wizardry which came out with a wonderful word cloud with the most common suggestions in a bigger font. Here are the results;

Screen Shot 2018-05-19 at 17.40.32

The top 3 helpful suggestions were going for a walk, talking to someone and doing yoga! Have a look at the word cloud and see if there are any ideas that you may like to try next time you are feeling stressed.

We would like to sincerely thank all of our students for taking part in this activity and sharing their own personal strategies for dealing with stress. Sharing our ideas can help others and remove the perceived stigma around Mental Health. The greater our awareness of Mental Health is and the knowledge that many of us will experience a mental health problem in our lifetime will help those who are suffering in silence. There is no need to suffer in silence, talk and reach out. People have lots of tips and strategies that may help you too.

Paul & Steve

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Our top 5 tips for balance

Following on the heels of our Mini Balance workshop at the Om Yoga Show Manchester, here are our Top 5 Tips for balance!

Balance is not just a physical element to a pose. Balance in the mind and the breath is equally as important. 

Our Top 5 Tips for balance in practice!

When the mind becomes agitated, so too does the body.

Breath practice (pranayama), breath-led movement in asanas, and guided relaxation can be utilised to find this balance in the mind, the body and in life

In order to find balance in your balancing asanas these five top tips are essential:

Our Top 5 Tips for Balance

1. Strong foundation and sthira (steadiness)

A strong, steady base in those parts of the body that make up the foundations of the pose, drawing energy up through the body from our stable foundation.  e.g. in standing balances lifting and spreading the toes, gripping the mat with the toes, weight in the heel and side of the foot, a natural arch to the foot. Active muscles in leg, micro-bend to the knees, engaging pelvic floor and core.

2. Sukha (ease)

Finding ease and lightness in the posture. The pose isn’t stiff and adjust it whenever required. Softness in the pose and fluidity in mindful movement both in and out of the pose. Using the breath to cultivate a sense of sukha. 

3. Drishti (focus)

Very important – focus with a soft gaze on a particular point e.g. The hands in Low Lunge pose (anjaneyasana). The drishti aids concentration, focus and mindfulness. Still mind = still body

4. Satya (truthfulness) 

Practise with truth, listen to your body. Use a staged approach into each posture. Use modifications and props when needed (props are for all!). Props allow us to explore what our own body’s ability is in each posture whilst aiding correct alignment. Same benefits are achieved with props e.g. using the wall to aid balance in tree pose we still gain leg strength, balance, focus and hip opening. Remember to rest when needed and ease back or release if uncomfortable. Listen to the body and make any micro-adjustments throughout.

5. Have a try!

Don’t worry about being wobbly or losing your balance. Try to let go of attachment to the ego – self judgement/frustration. If wobbly, ease back or perhaps try previous step on staged approach e.g. Keeping toes on floor in Crow Pose (Bakasana). Can always gently release and rest when required and perhaps try again. Remember to make use of props and modifications to posture. Approach wobbliness/losing balance with a gentle smile on our faces – find lightheartedness in practising poses and in losing balance/wobbliness and trying again. Can we approach life in this way?

 

If you enjoyed our Top 5 Tips for Balance, check out our other blogs: Blog

For details about the Om Yoga Show click here: https://www.omyogashow.com/

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