Find Your Why | Find Your Balance

Drive Your Life With Passion, Purpose and WHY

Sun, 30 Apr 2023 21:25:54 GMT

Ok, let's jump straight in. Here goes...

Are you happy?
Are you aware?
Are you living with purpose?
Are you living with passion?
Are you living in you WHY?

Perhaps we come back to these questions later...perhaps the most important question is....what makes you LOVE LIFE?

You see, life has a funny way of throwing curveballs, hurricanes, thunderstorms and a sh*t load of crap our way. So how do we respond to these obstacles, yet stay grounded, focused, connected and empowered?

Or perhaps, let me ask you this - how do you deal with a tricky yoga pose when on the mat, say, peacock pose or camel pose? Do you face it front on and give it a go, ground down, stack your joints, connect to your breath and recognise all that you need to work on to make the pose serve you as best it can on that given day on the mat? Or do you get up, roll up your mat and walk out the studio door and give up?

What do these 2 questions have in common?

You see, yoga teaches us to show up in life how we show up on the mat. We either give the yoga pose a go, keep trying, dust ourselves off and try again, or we run away. And what helps us with all of this? Yep, you guessed it...your passion, purpose and your WHY. It's your vision. Your vision for your yoga practice. Your vision for your life.

Personally, I have struggled with meditation and consistency. So I created tools to help me, one of which is a vision board. As you carve out your future plans, hopes and dreams, put them on a vision board and start to design the future life you want. As a visual and creative person, this was a massive game changed for me. My vision board is placed by my mirror in my bedroom and I look at it every morning and night before I go to bed. I also use it to sit with meditation sometimes when I feel I need to be anchored and inspired and secure with my future. Every Christmas I re-visit my vision board in case I wish to change anything....I sit and study the board with a cuppa and explore where I still see my vision, hopes and dreams. Having a regular Vision Board Meditation practice can work wonders - especially if you are a creative and visual person.

Try the FREE Vision Board Meditation Challenge below, where I'll guide you across 3 days of how to create and sit with your vision board ready for meditation.

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Learn Your WHY & Find 5 Ways To Track Happiness Through Yoga

Sat, 25 Mar 2023 23:29:58 GMT

Let me ask you something…how do you measure your happiness? For me, it’s simple – if it puts a smile on my face, then I’m happy.

When tracking your happiness, what one thing can deliver on exercise, mental health, goal setting, making new friends and connecting to your why? All this wrapped up in one word - Yoga.

We all need tools to get through this crazy thing called life. And for me, and so many millions of others, Yoga is a brilliant tool to have in our toolkit, for many different reasons. Here, I list my top 5 reasons of how Yoga can help guide you through life, put a smile on your face and guide you to find more happiness:

1) Asana & Dhyana (Movement & Meditation)

ASANA (MOVEMENT):

Yoga is a beautiful way to move your body. The movement you find on your mat, works every muscle, every joint, and every ligament in your body.

I started practicing Yoga to help look after my scoliosis – not only has Yoga helped me understand my body and my back, but it’s helped me to look at those ‘pain points’ within my body as a positive. Because with those ‘pain points’ comes queries and questions, and with those queries and questions comes answers as to how to look after our bodies and feel good. And boy, does yoga make your body feel goooood. And feeling good makes me happy, makes you happy.

There are many different types of Yoga styles, so I would always encourage everyone to explore and experiment different lineages of Yoga and find the best one for you. Here are just a few of them:

VINYASA – continuous movement, creative like a dance, linking the breath to the movement of the body
ROCKET – designed to get you there faster, an energizing power practice full of handstands and all the fun stuff!
YIN – the complete opposite to power yoga, a calming soft and relaxed practice, holding a set of postures for multiple minuets to encourage the muscles to lengthen with time, creating more space in the body
POWER YOGA – fast, energizing, think HITT on your yoga mat!
ASHTANGA – a demanding series of set postures all designed to work the body, carried out in an orderly structure.
HOT YOGA – think Vinyasa or Ashtanga in a sauna (35-42 degrees)! A fabulous way to sweat through your yoga practice, where the muscles relax and lengthen more as a direct reaction from the heat! (Definitely one of my favourites!)

Yoga Journal easily breaks down all the different types of poses – you can find them here: https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/types/

I teach Vinyasa and Yin (both types to compliment the body and mind – you can book your classes here and if you email me mention Tracking For Happiness, I’ll give you a free class…to make you happy! :)

DHYANA (MEDITATION):

Along with the movement of your physical asana practice, Yoga has a strong connection to meditation. The work you do on your mat becomes a moving meditation. However, Yoga isn’t always about the relationship you have with your mat. More so, the work you do off your mat, in meditation.

On a personal note, I struggle with meditation. But there are extra tools within the tools of Yoga to help with the practice. Meditation can be done seated, standing, listening to music, gazing into candlelight, even when walking the dog or dropping the kids off to school! Meditation can be 10mins or 2 hours – whatever works for you.

When we can calm the mind down, and learn to meditate, our relationship changes to the world and the reactions it demands from us, thus making us more calm and relaxed, ultimately giving us more peace and happiness. And having more peace in my life makes me happy, makes you happy.

Gelong Thubten’s speech on ‘A Monk’s Guide to Happiness’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1gY7RWE48U&t=6s hosted by Action for Happiness beautifully describes meditation is made up of three things: breathing, noticing, and returning. Over and over again. And if your physical asana practice is a moving meditation, then notice the journey of your breath returning over and over again throughout your yoga class. Gelong Thubten also beautifully describes how your meditation practice is like the sky – ‘your mind is the sky and your thoughts are the clouds…let them pass by’. Simple. Beautiful.

Personally, my WHY is to be ‘strong and confident on / off the mat.’ Strong and confident on my mat with my asanas (arm balances, inversions, headstands, handstands – you know, all the fun stuff but all the hard stuff!) Strong and confident off my mat in daily life and the challenges it brings (enter Covid-19 and lockdown!)

To quote Find Your Why Foundation: ‘yoga can provide you with techniques to teach you how to, at any moment, step into the eye of the storm.’ https://findyourwhyfoundation.com/finding-your-why-through-yoga/

So, what does my WHY give me? It gives me ease, strength, confidence and guidance, but ultimately peace and happiness. When I think back to the quote highlighted above by Find Your Why Foundation, I get a warm sensation and a little smile starts to form – not because life is easy or joyous 100% of the time. But because I’m using the tools I have in my toolkit to deal with the storm head on! And wow, my toolkit is ever growing, which makes me happy, makes you happy.

So, I would urge you to find your WHY. And if you don’t know what it is – that’s fine. Explore it, dance around it, then connect and nurture it through your Yoga practice.

4) Achievement

Ok, so I know we shouldn’t mark ourselves against success, but we’re only human, right? Through the physical asanas you practice on your mat, you can see the fruits of your labour as you come back again and again to your mat. What I noticed early on in my Yoga practice was how you could easily measure your success and development.

There is nothing like the feeling of trying to balance in Pincha (forearm arm balance with legs in the air) – a pose you might have been trying to accomplish for ages - for you to finally ‘get it’, and hold it, and nail the arm balance, if only for 2 seconds!! The smile on your face stretches from ear to ear as you punch the air with your fist and you do a little happy-dance! This will always make me happy, make you happy.

All the hardwork you do prior to that ‘get it’ moment has paid off – this is known as ‘the edge.’

'The edge is where we come up right up against ourselves and what we can do and be. It is the boundary between where we are and where we grow, the place of comfortable discomfort, where all the growing and healing happens. The edge is the point in every pose when you are still within your capacities but are challenging yourself to go just a little bit farther. Stepping up to this edge and daring to leap is how you break through and thus break with old ways of being’ – from the book Journey Into Power by Baron Baptiste.

5) Friends

Last but not least on my little list of ONLY 5 ways to find happiness through Yoga (it was hard to narrow it down to only 5!) is friends. Making new friends through new loves, new passions, new hobbies, is always good, and always deliver happiness!

Cherish the new friendships and new journeys your friendships take you on – yoga retreats in Ibiza or Portugal, yoga festivals in the English countryside – you name it I’ve done it! And all with friends and smiles on our faces! Happy friends, happy faces!

So there you have it folks, my top 5 ways to find happiness through Yoga. Yoga is a practice that makes you more mindful and more present – so ask yourself this: why wouldn’t you want to be more mindful of your happiness? Why would you want to maybe take that happiness for granted? Next time you smile, take the time out and witness the feeling in your cheeks as your lips curl up either end and your eyes widen with excitement and happiness! Enjoy the moment. And hey, this could even be your meditation for the day! Embrace it!

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WHY you need to Shake Things Up

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 17:54:19 GMT

WHY you need to Shake Things Up!

Here's a question for you - what does your yoga practice give you? Does it give you flexibility? Strength? Peace? Or perhaps space, freedom or mobility?

So, here's another question for you - where do you want your life to be and what do you want it to look like, in say, 5 years time? Dream home with the walk-in wardrobe and double garage? Dream job giving you both the financial freedom and better work-life balance? Or perhaps you'd like to release enough equity for you to travel the world and live a life of adventure?

And here's a third question for you - will jogging help towards that dream home? Will HIIT help you get that promotion? Or does swimming give you the drive and confidence to quite everything and travel the world in all its glory?

And fourth question - drumroll.....what does yoga, swimming, HIIT and running all have in common? (Aside from the obvious that is!) Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Yoga is different from all other forms of fitness because it teaches us about who we are as a person, as a whole, it's a complete practice. OK, I'm a little bias, being a yoga teacher and all that, but yoga - if you give it the chance - changes you! It works on the body, flexibility, strength, range of motion, mobility (as do other forms of fitness which are equally wonderful in their own rights...personally, I love swimming over jogging, and prefer HIIT over the gym) but it also exercises the biggest muscle of it all - our minds.

And it is this work - the mental side of yoga, the 'mind-stuff' that we all need to explore and push for so we can get that dream house with the walk-in wardrobe and double garage! Yoga teaches us to show up BIGGER, BETTER, STRONGER, and more POWERFUL and BADASS! And I am dedicated to helping you achieve this next-level BEAST MODE! How? Simple, we are IN IT TOGETHER.

It's gonna take a lot of effort on both our parts. It's gonna take lots of small consistent steps. It's gonna take small consistent habits. It's gonna take your inner strength to SHOW UP! But it's MY job to help you, to guide you. Here's how:

From YOU, you need to promise to yourself:

Commit to your COMMITMENT
Commit to YOURSELF
Connect to your WHY everyday
Practice at least 10-20 mins of yoga / meditation a day

From ME, I need to promise to you:

Commit to YOUR growth
Commit to YOUR vision
Commit to YOUR yoga practice

Hold you accountable to show up

Everything we do consists of habits and learned behaviours. And as I work through my own personal journey of self-development and discovery, I'm realising it's less about YOGA (shock, did I just say that!?) and more about HABITS. Small consistent habits, every day, make up the sum of all parts.

So don't let your yoga mat collect dust by sitting in the corner. Just practicing yoga once a week isn't gonna cut it. Fact.

WAIT, what...?
I'll say it again - practicing yoga once a week isn't gonna cut it. Fact. It will stop you from feeling guilty of NOT doing any yoga, but it won't change your life, it won't massively help towards touching your toes or finding your backbend, or closing the gap between the OLD you and NEW you! We need to think differently. We need to action differently.

Look at the word manifest - what comes to mind?
Now look at the word action - what comes to mind?

Manifesting is great but sometimes it only portrays the end result, ie, the dream house, the handstand, the happily ever after.

But outcome-based thoughts (ie manifesting) highlights what you don't have.
Whereas, action-based thoughts builds habits and delivers courage.

So, if you're on this journey, and you'd like to SHAKE THINGS UP, connect to your WHY , grab all the tools you can to LEVEL UP - and check out some of our most recent FB LIVES with some of the hottest topics all about levelling up, and becoming the BETTER and BEST version of ourselves!

That's all folks! :)

For more information on finding your WHY, closing the Gap, Upgrading to 2.0 or all-things-yoga,

then join the Facebook LIVE Classes - Wednesday's 6pm* (GMT)

*subject to change

Or, sign up below to gain access to Free classes, teachings, 20% discount on clothing and more...

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WHY You Need To Close The Gap

Sun, 08 Jan 2023 23:29:22 GMT

Closing The Gap & Levelling Up!

WELCOME To 2023...

Happy New Year! I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year break and time-out. It's been a while since I last caught up with you and hope you've been happy & healthy! :)

Over the last few blog posts and years, we have stood by certain words to help guide us through the challenging years the whole world has experienced - those words were CHANGE and PRESENT . In the first year of the pandemic and lockdown, we welcomed CHANGE . Firstly because we had to. We had no choice. But secondly because it was vital that we change the narrative and perspective and make CHANGE a positive experience. To embrace change. Because without change nothing happens. Without change, we do not grow. Because if you change nothing, then nothing changes.

For me, personally, I struggle with CHANGE . I like a routine and order. It allows me to know where I am and feel safe. With CHANGE comes uncertainty, and with uncertainty comes anxiety and worry...all an illusion (a habit I'm trying to stop, or at the very least pull back.)

Then, coming into the second year of the pandemic, we embraced the word PRESENT . To remind ourselves to live in the now, not to live in sadness with the past or worry with the future. To live in the here and now and experience those PRESENT moments. Being PRESENT is a fundamental skill to craft and tool to guide us. So often we are reading a book and thinking about what outfit to wear for the party Saturday night. Or doing meal-prep and planning the email response to your boss. Or practicing yoga and worry about an argument we might have had with a loved one. Being PRESENT is also a habit I'm practicing daily.

Coming into 2023, we are still going to embrace CHANGE and continue to explore the practice of being PRESENT . But we welcome the GAP.

Do me a favour, and have a think about the following:

Who were you LAST year?
Who do you want to be THIS year?
Where do you want to BE this year?
And how are you going to CLOSE THE GAP between the OLD you and the NEW you?

You see, everything we do consists of habits and learned behaviours. And as I work through my own personal journey of self-development and discovery, I'm realising it's less about YOGA (shock, did I just say that!?) and more about HABITS. Small consistent habits, every day, make up the sum of all parts. And if you look at your yoga practice, you'll notice that you body remembers habits and patterns, your muscles remembers learned habits of stretches you've done or asanas you've practised.

Think about it, when was the last time you practice the physical yoga (asanas) and you were TRULY PRESENT - I mean, fully connected to your breath for the whole 60mins, fully aware of the touch of your clothing on your skin, fully connected to each transition you move your body through and into, not just each pose. How did you breath respond to the pose and how did the pose respond to your breath? A lot of the time, for a lot of people who practice yoga, they are physically on the mat, but their minds are elsewhere (let's come back to the story of cooking and mentally planning your reply email to your boss)...it's the same with yoga - 'I must remember to pick up a cucumber on the way home!'

So if we come back to closing the GAP between the OLD you and the NEW you - what positive habits with you adopt? Which negative habits will you stop? And WHY should you care?

Because - how do we look after our loved ones, without looking after ourselves?

Because - yoga is more about self development and finding peace within our minds, then moving on the mat.

Because - if we want that dream house, dream job, dream life, then we need to change.

How do we change? We embrace being PRESENT and we accept CHANGE . We connect to our WHY and use it to ignite the power within us all. We use our WHY, or North Star, to guide us on the days when we are struggling.

Because - to be our NEW, Upgraded 2.0 Version of ourselves and to live that dream life, we need to build new small consistent habits. We need to close the GAP.

For more information on finding your WHY, closing the Gap, Upgrading to 2.0 or all-things-yoga,

then join the Facebook LIVE Classes - Wednesday's 6pm* (GMT)

*subject to change

Or, sign up below to gain access to Free classes, teachings, 20% discount on clothing and more...

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Interview with Anna Kichenside And Discovering Her WHY - Accessible Yoga

Mon, 12 Jul 2021 07:32:37 GMT

Interview With Anna Kichenside and Discovering Her WHY - Accessible Yoga

It’s the connection you have to your WHY which guides you through your yoga practice, on and off the mat, and guides you through life and troubling times. Your WHY, coupled with your breath, are two of the most powerful tools you have to guide you through life, which is why I love teaching about these two areas in my yoga classes.

1. Where do you teach? Do your students comprise a specific population, and if yes, what is it?

I teach online yoga with an emphasis on ‘finding your WHY’ through your yoga practice.

2. What made you choose to teach this specific group?

Through my yoga teacher training we did deep transformational work where we covered what our ‘WHY’ is. It’s personal and different for everyone, but I describe your WHY as the driving force, which gets you up in the morning on the days where you really don’t feel like it.

3. Do you have a special style or manner of teaching that benefits the students who you teach? Tell me a little about how you teach.

I wanted to teach ‘normal yoga’ to ‘normal people’ by a ‘normal teacher’…and by that I mean, I didn’t want to only teach power yoga for the power-driven, action-handstand-junkies, or teach yoga for runners, or pregnancy yoga.

A lot of people join yoga because they want to feel good in their bodies but are swamped by their day-to-day lives. They are ‘normal’ people like you and I. They may not be super-skinny with perfectly defined abs, or Instagram-savvy flipping into backbends. They possibly just want to bend over and touch their toes without feeling out of place or not good enough compared to what Instagram and online portrays as yoga in the modern world.

I teach Vinyasa and Yin yoga, to a lovely bunch of people who simply enjoy rolling out their mats and having a giggle as they practice with me.

Each time we bring our hands back to heart center, we all come back to our individual WHY’s as we flow through the class.

4. Can you share an experience from a class or private session that stands out––perhaps a moment when you or your student learned something new about the practice?

A particular moment that stood out to me was during my Yin-Yang-Yoga classes, which I teach on Sundays. (This was before the pandemic, so I was teaching in a private studio).

At the beginning of class, we were discussing our WHY and how to find and connect to it…

“why do you come to yoga?” I asked

“ to be flexible” was the answer most people said

After ping-ponging the question and answer back-and-forth, people started to get it:

“I want to run around and play with my kids in the garden without being out of breath” one student said. The RESULT was to be fit and flexible. The WHY was his kids.

I had another moment very similar – at the beginning of class we were discussing our WHYs and I asked my students to come up and write their WHYs on the whiteboard I bought to class. After several minutes of deep thinking, everyone reluctantly came up to write on the whiteboard. We then set to practice and started to flow through our class. About 30 minuets into class, a student stopped flowing and walked over to the whiteboard and added / changed her WHY. This was PERFECT. This showed that she not only understood the ‘concept of WHY’, but that she was connected to it throughout her yoga practice that day. I couldn’t have asked for anything else, it was a perfect moment.

5. Do you plan to change or add some new element to your teaching, and if yes, what is it? How will it benefit your students?

Currently, there are no plans to change or add any new elements. I teach group and 1:1 private classes, where within the private classes there is more room to dive deeper into our WHYs.

For more information on finding your WHY, or all-things-yoga,

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Find Your WHY - Follow Your Heart

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 18:56:21 GMT

Find Your WHY - Follow Your Heart

Imagine this. You are plodding on with life, as you do, getting up for work, going to work, coming home from work, setting your stuff down, maybe chilling out for an hour or so before you start on the cooking, and then you finally slump down in front of the TV to binge-watch the latest series on Netflix. . . and. . .you. . .love. . .it!

Or at least, you don’t know that you don’t love it. Why would you?

Life is pretty good. Yes you do the whole 9-5 thing, but you enjoy your job and like spending time with your work colleagues. You spend time with your friends the odd evening during the week and your weekends are full or friends and family and good times.

And again, you. . .love. . .it.

Or at least, you don’t know that you don’t love it. Again, why would you?

Then, one evening, you go to your first yoga class. Game changer.

But for now, your weekly yoga class is just that – another thing to squeeze into your working week evenings and the odd weekend. You like how the physical movement makes you feel, and ultimately that’s the reason you started yoga – to ‘get fit’, and be ‘more flexible’.

As you practice and develop your body through strength and flexibility, you sense a connection to when the teacher peppers the class with the odd yoga philosophy quote or reading or teaching. The concept of yoga philosophy is triggering and sparking interest with you, but you aren’t quite sure why? You just know that whenever you leave a yoga class you feel good – through the physical and the mental. You’re being drawn to it, drawn to maybe even teaching it, learning more about the history of yoga and the deep meaning of yoga philosophy.

You come to see the benefits of yoga, way beyond the physical. Yoga is such a personal thing that it’s different for everyone. It connects the mind, body and soul.

Onto me, I’m not particularly spiritual, but I believe in something more, something bigger, something that you can’t quite put your finger on, with the emotional feeling leaving you warm, connected, happy, smiling, content, peaceful and calm.

Back to you and your life with the 9-5 / Netflix weekly scenario. Again, this isn’t bad one bit. Please don’t think that it is. But perhaps ask yourself if you get all those feelings - warm, connected, happy, smiling, content, peace, calm from the life you are currently living? I’m guessing maybe not. This is the life we have lived for years and followed for years. This is how we have been programmed since day-dot. And when I say programmed, it’s not a bad thing. It’s just the observation of how we all end up living our lives the way we do.

Back to me again and that emotional feeling. I wanted more of it. I connected more to my yoga practice, to my learning, to my growth, and I ended up finding my WHY. Up until then, I didn’t really know what my WHY was. Yes, I heard about the concept of it, but never gave it much thought – why would I? I was happy doing my 9-5 thing with Netflix, friends & family and the weekly yoga class!

Personally, my WHY is to be ‘strong and confident on / off the mat.’ Strong and confident on my mat with my asanas (arm balances, inversions, headstands, handstands – you know, all the cool fun stuff but all the tricky stuff!) And Strong and confident off my mat in daily life and the challenges it brings (enter Covid-19 and lockdown!)

In the last 3 years, I’ve signed my first ever mortgage and moved into my first ever home of my own, only to be made redundant within 1 month of moving in. I stepped away from the 9-5 and changed my whole career around, becoming a yoga teacher (I used to design shoes!), I lost my job again because of this current global pandemic and had to rent out my flat, moving back home with my dad. And somewhere in the middle of all of this, I lost my mother suddenly to lung cancer. My family and friends helped me through it. But my WHY guided me through it, and still does, every...single...day.

So, what does my WHY give me? It gives me ease, strength, confidence and guidance, but ultimately peace and happiness. I get a warm sensation and a little smile starts to form – not because life is easy or joyous 100% of the time. But because I’m using the tools I have in my toolkit to deal with the storm head on!

So, I would urge you to find your WHY. And if you don’t know what it is – that’s fine. Explore it, dance around it, then connect and nurture it through your yoga practice.

I would urge you to find what makes your heart and soul sing.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART & FIND YOUR WHY. - Read the blog post here on EXHALE YOGA RETREATS where Rachel followered her heart.

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What 'Word' Are You Going To Stand By In 2021 And WHY

Sun, 24 Jan 2021 23:38:05 GMT

What 'Word' Are You Going To Stand By In 2021 And WHY

Ok, so I think we all agree 2020 was a shit-storm of a year! Right? But with the dark comes light. With the rain comes a rainbow.

After a personal tragedy in 2019 for myself and my family, 2020 was meant to be THE year for distractions - healthy distractions of success and growth and pushing forward with life even when you go through the devastation of loosing a loved one. But Covid happened and bought everything to a grinding halt!

I had big plans for 2020 - launching my yoga clothing line, exhibitions booked, retreats planned. . .all to be cancelle d

Why am I telling you all this and what does it have to do with a ‘word’ you’re going to stand by this year? Well, I soon realised during the lockdown we had back in March 2020 in the UK, that Covid (and the loss of loosing a loved one) was so far beyond my control that I had to simply surrender to the fate of the universe and it’s plans for me. So I made the decision to accept CHANGE.

Now, those that know me and know me well, know that I don’t take to change all that well. I like my familiarity, my creature comforts. But the moment I accepted CHANGE in 2020 I felt lightness to what we were all subjected to during lockdown. And with this lightness and acceptance of CHANGE , it allowed personal growth and freedom for me to explore...and it continues to allow me to live with our current global crises with a sense of ease. That and my WHY (bring strong and confident on and off the mat). Sounds weird huh!? I guess it’s changing perspective on things. To quote: ‘life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you choose to respond to it’. . .and that is how I chose to respond in 202 0.

In 2021, my word to stand by is PRESENT . It was going to be EMBRACE - ie. to embrace and take charge of future plans and life goals despite the global economy up shit-creek. But I found myself thinking of the future sometimes with concerns of a financial income and place of my own (I lost my design job and flat with covid). And so, to pull me out of that place of concern, I simply said to myself to be PRESENT . Live in the moment. What will be will be. Don’t think about the future with worry or anxiety due to what is going on right now. That doesn’t mean not to plan for the future (I’m most definitely planning my future). . .but I’m doing it living in the PRESENT moment. And again, guess what, I feel at ease with it all.

SO, HOW CAN WE LEARN TO BE MORE PRESENT?

So, what is YOUR word to stand by during 2021? Have a think during your run or your walk or your yoga practice. Notice how it makes you feel when you find the right word for you for 2021. And LIVE BY IT.

Here are some of my personal preferences on the above, with links if you wish to explore further:

Learn to Meditate -

Spotify has some amazing playlists already curated with meditation in mind - check out the meditation playlists here
I have x3 different Meditation Challenges, helping you with your meditation - check out the Free meditation challenges here

Cup of Tea -

I am a massive fan of T-sticks for any infusion teach with isn't 'classic British builders tea'. . .try either of the following:
Sticksology (their Moroccan Mint is so refreshing!) - check out Sticksology tees here
T-Sticks (their Rockin' Rooibos is perfect just before bed!) - check out T-Stick tees here

Go for a Run (or Walk) -

Ok, you'll have to bare with me on this one! I'm a footwear designer outside of yoga, so trainers (and high heels) is my weakness! Here are some of my recent favs:
Adidas - I'm not a massive runner, but when I do run or spin, then I'm in my Adidas Ultraboost (perfect lightweight upper made from recylced plastic from the ocean with a super cushioned insole and forgiving sole!) - check out Adidas and their recyled plastic ocean trainers here
Sorel - recent guilty-pleasure-purchase during lockdown, I treated myself to their 'Out N About'! Beautifully soft and puffy upper made from cushioned nylon (think puffa jacket for your feet!), super comfy frame and no need to wear socks! - check out Sorel and their cushioned nylon traines here
Converse - another cheeky little purchase during lockdown, I treated myself to their Run Star Hike High Top - elevated with a thick platform, feeling great wearing them to the weekly shop at Tescos or out for a long (dry!) walk - Check out Converse trainers here

Time to Journal -

Ok, I'm a sucker for lovely stationary! Paperchase is one of my favourite shops and have some lovely prints on their books / journals! check out Paperchase's collection here
Or, Papier - check out Papier's collection here
Or, John Lewis (always a trusted favourite!) - check out John Lewis's collection here

Roll out your Mat -

Hands down, I vouch for my mat every single time! It's quite pricey, but well worth it if you are dedicated to your yoga practice! Mine is from B-YOGA and my mat is the B-MAT everyday, 4mm - check out B-Mats here

For more information on finding your WHY, or all-things-yoga,

sign-up below and join the Flamingo Yoga Maya tribe and become a Flamingo Fan!

#flamingoyogamaya

#marjorietheflamingo

WHY Yoga Is More Than Just Your Asana Practice

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 10:02:06 GMT

WHY Yoga Is More Than Just Your Asana Practice

How do you define your yoga practice? Do you practice yoga because you 'should'? Because your doctor told you to? Because it's in vogue?

Yoga in the western world is very much a visual thing, which kinda makes it easier to understand. We come to class (either in the studio or online) and see our teachers sit on their mats before us. We copy what they show and teach us as best we can. We can see it. We can understand it. It's visual, it's copy-cat, it's obtainable . . .just. We see yoga all over Instagram with images of glossy backbends and insane arm balances, and these images are etched into our minds, burning imprints of what apparently yoga is. But I'm here to tell you all that yoga is sooooo much more than that.

I always say to practice yoga on the mat AND off the mat. And it's the 'off the mat' part of yoga which is the hardest. WHY? Because you can't see it. You can't copy it. You haven't got your favourite teacher following you around for the 23 hours of the day when you are outside of the studio, with them showing and guiding you as to what yoga is off the mat. You stumble and fall and make it up as you go along, trying to practice yoga mentally off the mat. But its this practice here off the mat, which ultimately shapes us, nurtures us, guides us, comforts us, inspires us . . . in all areas of life, as well as on the mat.

Let's look at some examples of how we can be more mindful and in touch with our emotions and ourselves, be less anxious and be more grounded, finding yoga in little pockets throughout the day.

These are examples of how to carve out some time for yourself, and learn to find the yoga in the smaller things that fill our days. Being more mindful and learning to see these things as experiences will help to teach us not to take things for granted (something I am not good at doing as I rush a lot of things!) For example, I'm in my car I'm always rushing and it's not because I'm late (I'm the most organised on-time person ever!) I just hate driving the speed limit and driving slow. So one of the things I'm learning to practice is taking my time and being in the moment, and driving the speed limit and observing my drive and my journey. It's a great exercise to help teach me to slow down. It's exactly the same with pouring the hot water into the cup for your tea - I rush to pour it in to get the job done. But why? Again, I'm in no rush, so why rush the process. I'm learning to take my time, slow down and be in the moment.

There is a lot more to yoga philosophy than just being mindful. But for now, I think this is a good place to start when wanting to learn to practice yoga off the mat, with conscious movement of being present. It's a great place to start where these little pockets of mindfulness are teaching us new habits and teaching us to break old habits. They are setting the groundwork for future yoga philosophy learnings. Looking after our minds is THE MOST IMPORTANT element of yoga and it starts with self-care. Let me know how it works for you and get in touch - would love to hear from you and how you practice yoga off the mat.

#flamingoyogamaya

#marjorietheflamingo

WHY It's Important To Just Breathe

Sun, 23 Aug 2020 09:59:53 GMT

WHY It's Important To Just Breathe

I want to ask you if you are aware of your breath. I mean, really aware. Aware of how your ribs expand as you inhale and inflate the lungs. Aware of how your ribs sink as you exhale. Aware of your shoulders as you inhale – do they rise up? Aware of your shoulders as you exhale – do they round and collapse forward? Aware of your spine as you inhale – do you lift up creating more space? Aware of your spine as you exhale – do you crumble forward letting your body hang off its bones?

I teach yoga, with my main focus of practicing yoga off the mat, connecting to our breath. This is our ‘RESET BUTTON’ . Whenever I’m challenged with negative things, where normally I’d react on impulse (you know, the type of things where you’ve received an angry work email, or had arguments with friends or loved ones, or challenged with your confidence), I take a moment, ground down through my feet, step-back, and take 5. DEEP. BREATHS. RESET. This has helped massively when in any negative situation and allows my mind time to gather thoughts and face the challenge from a different angle.

I also connect my breath to my WHY . Do you know what your WHY is? Your WHY is your connection to life. It’s your driving force. For example with yoga, why do you practice? To be more flexible, to build strength or be less stressed? Those are all results of yoga….but I encourage my students to find the real reason why they practice yoga. For me, my WHY is to be ‘strong and confident on and off the mat.’ Strong and confident with kicking up into handstand….but more so strong and confident with life off the mat. Life is the biggest challenge. Having strength and confidence in my life decisions, going against the grain and breaking the norm, connecting to my breath to guide me.

Through a very challenging year last year, I learnt just how powerful our breath was and how it guides you in moments of devastation. Taking a deep inhale as I write this (my ribcage expanded, shoulders kept low, my eyes becoming slightly watery with the start of a tear) I lost my mum to cancer very suddenly. Exhale. Reset. Last year, my family was suddenly thrown into a world of cancer, chemotherapy, a cocktail of drugs and treatments, all in the space of 5 months before we lost my most amazing mum.

I remember having a conversation with my sister about the diagnosis and remember how quickly my thoughts are connected to my body and how these thoughts sent my body into breakdown mode. All in a space of a couple of minutes. I had to gain control of my mind and body. I did this with breathing. I focused on my breathing and stepped back allowing my breath to do all the work, calming my heart-rate down, cooling my skin down, relaxing my stomach from doing any more knots, and more importantly feeling calmer.

My mum had lung cancer, so was hard to ask her to focus on her lungs and breathing. But I look back and cherish the long hard days, nights and chemotherapy sessions where mum was panicked, in pain physically and emotionally, a broken shell of the person she once was. Together we managed to work on calming down her breathing whilst listening to relaxing music, holding hands. It bought us much closer together in her final months, so I love how yoga bought me to my breath and my breath bought me closer to my mum. And for that, I’m truly fucking grateful.

How would she feel about me writing and sharing this with you I don’t know. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to or could share it with you – the world – a bunch of strangers. But if I can help show how your connection to your WHY and your breath can help you, then I think my mum would be proud.

Losing a loved one, especially your mum, is the single hardest thing ever to go through. But my awareness of my breath helped me control my emotional state over something I had no control over. And my WHY helped me stay strong.

If any of you are going through troubled times, I would encourage these simple 5-steps to ground yourself and RESET:

Step 1: Ground down through your feet (if standing) or bottom (if seated)

Step 2: Roll your shoulders back and lengthen through your spine

Step 3: Take 5 DEEP BREATHS with full awareness

Step 4: RESET

Step 5: Approach whatever difficult you are facing with a new perspective

I hope my sharing has helped you connect to your breath and your WHY . Together, let’s INHALE. EXHALE. REPEAT. RESET.

#justbreathe

#flamingoyogamaya

#marjorietheflamingo

WHY Get Yourself In Debt - Behind The Scenes Of Building A Yoga Fashion Collection

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 18:26:07 GMT

WHY Get Youself In Debt - Behind The Scenes Of Building A Yoga Fashion Collection

WHY create a yoga fashion clothing collection? If you are someone like me, who loves fashion and design, and equally loves yoga, then it comes with ease to bring these two loves and passions together. Read the rest of the blog post below to learn more about my WHY of creating this capsule collection of yoga clothing, and how the fashion industry works, with behind the scenes info. . .

DESIGN PROCESS:

What is the design concept behind the clothing capsule collection?

I wanted to create a range of tops that concentrated on absorbing sweat during a yoga class, specifically a hot yoga class. Having to pack your bag for yoga, remembering to bring your mat, water bottle, change of clothes and a towel, I wanted to design some yoga tops that included built-in towelling. So when I'd reach to pat my face dry, or dry my hands from a health & safety point of view, I would reach for my towel. Or in the cases where I'd forget it, I'd lift my top to wipe dry my face. This was my eureka moment! I've specifically designed the towelling on the bottom of the tops to dry your hands during your downdog, keeping the shape and fit loose enough to lift the top to wipe dry your face. I've also included within the range a hoodie with towelling on the sleeve to wipe your forehead.

The importance of Towelling:

The brands unique clothing consists of Signature Stretch Towelling Technology with moisture wicking technology to absorb sweat, and 2-way stretch to allow movement in your yoga practice. During the sampling process lots of towelling material options were sampled, some so soft to the touch, but not at all practical where the towelling wouldn't actually absorb your sweat and instead sticking to your sweat-soaked skin. Extensive testing has been carried out to ensure the best possible stretch terry towelling for your yoga tops.

Signature Flamingo Pink:

Designing the range of yoga tops in black and white, reflecting my great desire for a well-balanced life of Mind | Body, Work | Play, Cake | Salad, Wine | Water, Yoga | No-Yga, Yin | Yang, the monochrome colour palette has accents of the brand's Signature Flamingo Pink with matching stitching and logos.

Having fun with the triangle! :)

PRODUCTION PROCESS:

Production in Portugal

The Range:

Bringing to all you yogis, a capsule range of yoga tops with Signature Stretch Towelling Technology , married with recycled mesh and jersey, all designed to reflect a well-balanced lifestyle and absorb sweat.

Connecting to my WHY :

It has taken years to get the clothing sampled and produced. Originally sampled in the UK (too expensive), taken the sampling to China and tried 3 different suppliers (too high risk and can't project manage), coming back to sample and produce in the UK / Europe. Throughout the sampling and production process, I signed my mortgage and moved into my flat (am now a home-owner!), been made redundant TWICE (after investing thousands and thousands of pounds), suddenly lost my mum to cancer, randomly lost half my yoga students, now moved in with my dad and working out how to survive a global pandemic.

Through all of this, yoga has taught me to let go of attachment and results, and instead live in the now with awareness and be present. It's not easy. We are all having to figure our how to survive this pandemic, and certainly if I cancelled production on my yoga clothing, my credit card would have been much happier! :) BUT , I kept reminding myself to connect to my WHY (my WHY: to be strong and confident on and off the mat). I've been wanting to bring this yoga collection to you all for so many years, and with every up-hill battle we face, we have to figure out how to walk around it. It can be so easy to roll back down the hill. It can be easy to give up. Again, to remind myself of my WHY and quote 'if I want to give up, I'll find an excuse. If I want to succeed I'll find a way'.

I hope this blog post has shown you some of the insights into the behind-the-scenes of fashion and production. I hope it has shown you that you can create and achieve anything. And if you stay connected to your WHY and are on your right path, then everything will be aligned. . .not just your chakras! :)

YOUR WHY and MBS Intelligence

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 13:50:31 GMT

YOUR WHY and MBS Intelligence

What is MBS Intelligence? MBS Intelligence is a way to connect your unique mind, body and soul, for without your mind you cannot be sane, without your body you cannot move, and without your soul you cannot connect. All 3 components work together in harmony to deliver a happier, healthier well-balanced life that you deserve.

In the great big world of yoga, the choices are endless - cardio HIIT yoga for those seeking an action-packed fast-paced workout, slow yin for those craving stillness, chakra balancing for those needing to realign and connect to their deeper intuition. . .

I personally believe that yoga is EVERYTHING. Mind, body and soul, on the mat. Mind, body and soul, off the mat. In my classes I always talk about connecting to your WHY and practicing yoga both on / off the mat - it’s very easy to be zen in a beautiful yoga studio, surrounded by harmonising music in a sacred space. But how zen are you when you leave the classroom, get into your car and get cut-up at the traffic lights on your way home? This is where our WHY comes into play and helps to guide us through our yoga journey off the mat. So, what’s my WHY? = To be strong & confident, on and off the mat.

Personally, I believe in balance. Balance is key. If you’re busy and have a million-and-one things to do for a couple of weeks, then just make sure you find your mat as soon as you can and bring yourself back to your mat. The reconnection to the physical practice if you have been absent from it for a while, is a beautiful reminder of how much you love yoga, how much your mind, body and soul love yoga, and how much you won’t take it for granted. And in the meantime, there's always the 'mind stuff' of yoga you can practice when there is no time for the physical asana practice.

In Baron Baptiste’s book ‘Journey Into Power’ , he quotes: ‘ultimately yoga is about creating space: space within your spine; space within those secret pockets of tightness; space between your muscle fibres, bones and joints; space between your doubts and beliefs; space between your emotions and reactions; and most important, space between your ears.’ For me, this perfectly wraps up how yoga connects all three components of mind, body and soul.

Yoga and MBS Intelligence will get you to connect to YOUR WHY , visualising the life you want, whilst digging deep and finding the creative within you. Connecting your mind, body and soul with YOUR WHY, designing the life you truly deserve and desire. MBS Intelligence is an Introduction to yoga online course, and will show you how yoga can have a huge impact on your life. I promise you'll change as a person - and you'll like who you become, a lot. . .

Example of Relaxing Yin Yoga Class , part of MBS Intelligence

For more info on MBS Intelligence: https://www.flamingo-yoga-maya.co.uk/yoga-course

So, what happens if you are not connected with YOUR WHY , mind, body and soul? Fast-forward a couple of years and examine where you’ll be? The same job? Cool. The same job but with a promotion? Double-cool. Pulling yourself out of Covid-19 and signing a mortgage. Nice one. But just make sure you ask yourself what makes your happy, what drives you, what connects you, what stimulates you, what fulfils you. . . and ask yourself if you didn’t practice yoga, connect to YOUR WHY and learn MBS Intelligence then what are you afraid of?! Go on, I dare you. . .

The WHY, HOW, WHAT...

Mon, 01 Jun 2020 20:33:08 GMT

The WHY, HOW, WHAT...

To quote Find Your Why Foundation : ‘life is like a hurricane…where would you prefer to be if life is a hurricane?’

Pretty strong quote, right? Notice how you feel in your body and what thoughts creep into your mind when you re-read the quote . . .For me, it took me a moment to compose myself. My body felt warm, and my heart started to race a little, but my mind was fairly calm because I understood it. Hell yeah, life is like a hurricane. Ups, downs, forward folds, backbends, twists, lunges, arm balances, inversions, headstand and handstands! That’s your life’s hurricane all wrapped up in a yoga class!

Ok, let me take a moment. Let you take a moment. How is your life? Like a hurricane? Especially during Covid-19? Right now my life feels very much like, well, maybe a whirlpool….but hopefully a manageable whirlpool. Let me explain a little about me . . .

3 years ago I moved into my first ever home after signing a mortgage (I’m now a homeowner and on the property ladder!)
2 months later I lost my job and got made redundant, (I design shoes as well as teach yoga!)
Enrolled in my yoga teacher training - completely chained my life and love it!
Managed to get anther design job part-time, meaning: I have, or had, the perfect balance of both my passions - design and yoga. Part-time shoe designer. Part-time yoga teacher. Better work-life balance. Living. The. Dream.
Covid came and threw us all into a storm!
1 week into Covid lockdown, I lost my job and got made redundant - again!
I should mention within all of this, I’ve been investing into launching a range of yoga clothing that I’ve designed. And whilst investing money into it and getting production made, I’ve lost two well-paid design jobs, and lost two lucrative incomes.
I should also mention, I’m soon to be 38 years old. After feeling a huge sense of ‘life is passing by too quickly’ on my 37th birthday last year, where last year was the hardest year ever, after suddenly loosing my mum to cancer, I now can’t even begin to think how I’m going to cope with my 38th birthday coming up in June…my first birthday without my mum.

Most definitely, Life. Is. Like. A. F***ing. Hurricane.

Buuuuuuut, with all this said and done, what we need to be focusing on during all of this ‘drama’ - my drama, your drama, the worlds drama, is our WHY . Why? Because without our WHY , without that connection you find with yourself and with life, it is so easy to get swept up into the eye of the storm . . . and guess what - you may never come out of it.

So, how do you connect to your WHY ? Take a look at the below…

Step 1:

Understand the ‘The Golden Circle’ diagram and see how your WHY influences your WHAT and HOW .

Step 2:

Here is an example of a WHY : I come to yoga because I want to lose weight.

Question: ‘ why do you want to lose weight?’
Answer: ‘because I want to fit into a smaller dress-size’

Question: ‘ why do you want to fit into a smaller dress-size?’
Answer: ‘because when I’m thinner I’ll look better’

Question: ‘ why do you want to look better?’
Answer: ‘because when I look better, I’ll feel better’

Question: ‘ why do you want to feel better?’
Answer: ‘because when I feel better I can accomplish more, raise my vibration for myself and loved ones around me, and am ultimately happier’

BOOM!

Step 3:

Using this example, look back to the circle and now look at the HOW. HOW you feel better and more accomplished is by showing up everyday, connecting to your why, and working hard to lose weight.

Step 4:

Lastly, look at the WHAT . The WHAT is how you deliver that weight lose - in this case, through yoga.

Summary:

WHY: I want to lose weight

HOW: I do this be showing up every day, working hard

WHAT: I work hard through yoga

I hope this is making you sit up and think why you practice yoga. In fact, I urge you to sit up and find your WHY for your yoga practise . For me, my WHY is ‘to be strong and confident, on and off the mat’, because for me, it constantly reminds me to keep fighting, keep thriving, keep pushing, keep evolving. On the days I struggle to show up and have no energy, I come back to my WHY and it gets me on my mat. Not always. But most of the time. Yes, I’m a yoga teacher, but that doesn’t mean us yoga teachers practice all day, every day. People have this vision that yoga teachers must be completely stress-free and zen all the time, with their sh*t together. In fact, far from it. I don’t sit on a rock looking out into the ocean, practising 5 hours of meditation. I don’t sit and chant listening to sacred mantras. I don’t wake up, jump out of bed and come into full splits against the wall whilst straightening my hair with GHDs. What do I do? I practice yoga - when I can - on and off the mat.

So, who am I? I’m normal - just like you. And I use all the tools that are within each and every one of us - our breath, our body, our third eye and our intuition . . . and hopefully, our WHY . I use yoga as a tool to guide me through this thing called life. Through this hurricane.

To quote Find Your Why Foundation : ‘yoga can provide you with techniques to teach you how to, at any moment, step into the eye of the storm.’

For more info on the lovely ladies of Find Your Why Foundation, Dr Cheryl Chapman and Dr Marion Bevington:

https://findyourwhyfoundation.com/finding-your-why-through-yoga/

#whyhowwhat

#flamingoyogamaya

#marjorietheflamingo

Change

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:17:30 GMT

Change

Today, on Friday 24th March, I was meant to be launching my Yoga Clothing at the Om Yoga Show, Manchester . Instead, I'm waiting in for a food delivery order, during lockdown of Covid-19. #WTF!

Change.

I started exploring the idea of creating a small capsule range of yoga clothing back in 2016. My background is in design (I'm a footwear designer) and I wanted to bring my two worlds and passions together - design and yoga - creating a range of clothing to help you move and sweat during your yoga practice. I found a UK-based supplier who I was happy to use, even though the cost-price per unit was quite high, I was ready to explore sampling, but then I was made redundant only 2 months after signing a mortgage and moving into my first ever own home! The project had to go on the back-burner as they was no way I could invest into more sampling and pay a mortgage with no secure income. Fast-forward a couple of years, 2018-2019, I secured another footwear design job and picked up the project again, this time exploring factories in China where the cost-price per unit is lower, even though the MOQs (minimum order quantities) were high. I sampled with a couple of different factories, invested into lots of different trials and concepts, but decided to bring the project back home to the UK . . .yes, the unit-price would be high, but the attention to detail and quality would be much better, not to mention a healthier lower MOQ. After securing another UK-based supplier, Fazane Fox Production Lab , the cost-price per unit was workable, and together we moved heaven and earth to get samples made, fit-testing and wearer-trials carried out, and the product fit for purpose for April 2020 - Om Yoga Show, Manchester, which was were I chose to launch my product and share it with the yoga world! Finally - after years in the making, FLAMINGO YOGA MAYA was ready to launch the capsule range of yoga clothing for you all, after years in the making! The exhibition space was booked and paid for, production of clothing paid for, thousands of pounds spent . . .and then BOOM! Lockdown! Covid-19!

I'm left with stock of clothing which is in the final stages of production & packaging, huge invoices to pay, and no show to launch at. . . all with a crippling economy. Oh, and I lost my job again one week after lockdown, because of Covid-19. Another day, another redundancy!

Why am I telling you all the above, you may ask? What has this got to do with yoga, you may ask? It is because we have to learn to CHANGE. Change with what is going on around us. Change with what we are dealing with. Change and manage our solutions to the problems. And learn to let go of the results.

One of the best teachings from yoga philosophy that I find to be really helpful with life, and I'm sure you will too, is to learn how to let go of the result and practice non-attachment. Once we realise not to put all the energy and focus on the result, we are taking away the results power it thinks it has over us. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not 100% perfect at practising this (I'm only human!) but that is why it's called a yoga practice - because it takes practice every single day to stretch a little further, hold that Dancers Pose a little longer, practice yoga philosophy and non-attachment more and more.

I remember when I got made redundant (the first time round!), after just moving into my new home and it was then that this practice really started to help guide me - I kept reminding myself that my home is just a home, my things are just things, a job is just a job. If need be I"ll rent my flat out, if need be I"ll cut-down on all my spending of things to jazz up my gleaming new home. I lined up an interview for a part-time contract footwear design job (my dream job as didn't want to go back to the 9-5 job and craved more flexibility with work to teach yoga), and I rocked up for the interview. I remember my mum stressing over the interview with "what happens if I don't get it. . .what happens if it won't cover your mortgage. . .what if you don't like the people" and so on. I just sat there, taking deep breaths and reminding myself to practice non-attachment. Non-attachment to the job interview - what will be will be. And oh my god, did that ground me and help with my mental state.

And this, my fellow fabulous yogis, is what we must try and practice during Covid-19 - non-attachment and change. We have been forced to change through what has happened, so how do we deal with change? Like I said, I'm not 100% perfect at it, but I'm reminding myself to PRACTICE it. Practice non-attachment of the results after Covid-19, as no-one knows what world we will wake up to. Will it be better? Will it be worse? No-one knows. I'm hoping it will be for the better and I'm sure, within time, we would have learned from all this and we will have a better world - or at least, I'm making my world a better world after Covid-19. And I'm doing this by accepting change. Be open to change and evolve - go with the flow, ride the wave, and learn to live in the now, survive and celebrate the now, because ultimately, right now, that is the only real thing we can (for want of a better word) control.

So, my word for 2020 is CHANGE. What's yours?

# change

#flamingoyogamaya

#marjorietheflamingo

Connect To Your WHY

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 11:27:27 GMT

Connect To Your WHY

I'm going to ask you a question - why do you come to yoga? Let me guess the answer: 'because I want to be more flexible...' or 'because I want to loose weight and get more fit...' or 'to help me with my anxiety and to relax more...' But these are not the reasons why you come to yoga. These are your results behind your reason.

Confused? Let me give you an example...

I started practising yoga in my early-30's because I 'should' do some kind of exercise. I have scoliosis and I hate the gym. This was my 'original' why (or original 'reason' I should say). I instantly fell in love with the physical asana practice. But I soon realised that I kept coming back to yoga for the mini philosophy talks of yoga that quite often is peppered throughout a yoga class...and it was the philosophy of yoga that develops you off the mat, in your life, more so than the physical yoga we practice on the mat.

It was this mental side of yoga that I wanted to learn and understand more and drew me into doing my yoga teacher training, and it was here that I really found my why... 'to be strong and confident on and off the mat'. Strong and confident on the mat - maybe doing a tricky headstand and not falling over - ok cool, so what big deal, right? Strong and confident off the mat - with all my life decisions, beliefs of who I am and the drama that life can throw at me: buying my first home and signing the mortgage only to loose my job 2 months after moving in (aarrgghhh!!!), taking a part-time job 2.5 hour drive away, launching a range of yoga clothing and investing into it, committing to the decision NOT to go back to full-time employment and finally have a healthier and happier work-life balance I was seeking, nursing and looking after my late mum with enough strength and confidence to handle the big change that life was about to throw at me. It's these things that are all part of my why . And it's my whys that keep me coming back to yoga - to be strong and confident on and off the mat...in anything that life throws at me.

In my classes, we take ownership of our ‘whys’ and celebrate them - using them as a driving force to keep coming back to yoga whenever life gets too much for us to handle. Your why becomes your intention for the class. Your intention becomes your driving force. And your driving force changes your life. Your why is a reminder whenever you may find a yoga pose too challenging, you come back to your why and focus your mind...because yoga is ultimately the balance of mind, body and soul, which helps to change your life.

Not so long ago, before Covid-19 hit us all, in one of my Sunday classes, I had a student who wrote down her 'why' on our whiteboard, and then half way through the class, she allowed herself to get up and add more why to her 'why' ...how AMAZING is that! Her yoga practice, her moving meditation that is yoga, helped her to enlighten her life's why with more clarity and more purpose. You couldn't ask for anything more than that! That right there is why I love teaching yoga...it is to help you off the mat as well as on the mat. To help you outside the studio as well as inside the studio. Yoga is life. You can easily find 'zen' for the 1 hour class that you go to - but what about the other 23 hours of the day? How does yoga help you then? By connecting to you why.

#w hatisyourwhy

#flamingoyogamaya

#marjorietheflamingo

Welcome

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome everyone.

This is my first blog post.

I've wanted to write this blog for sometime, but never quite knew where to start. My intention was to create a blog simply about 'things that make me smile' , appreciating design in all its form - be it fashion, art, music, dance, yoga, graphics, architecture, nature, colour, the list goes on. It can be anything. If it makes me smile, then it's going in the blog!

Throughout my yoga journey, and especially after my training, I've come to realise that it's the little moments in each day that we should acknowledge - take a breath, be in that moment and appreciate it - for that is a mini meditation. And so, this blog was originally going to be a Visual Meditation about Things That Make Me Smile.

Smiling is one of the best things! But how often do we recognise it or connect with it? If you see a beautiful painting by a famous artist, and it makes you smile - you might say to yourself 'wow that's an amazing painting'...but how often do we then say 'wow that's an amazing painting - it's just made me feel good and put a smile on my face!' That right there is a mini meditation and being in the present moment, connecting to a feeling or emotion.

However, as I'm working my way through this thing called life, I'm realising that as well as holding mini-meditations and recognising the great feeling of a great smile, I've become increasingly aware of actually how important it is to find 'balance' and find 'your why' . Read on and through the blog to find out more about creating balance in your life and connecting to your why. Because it's balance that helps to bring peace into your life, and it's your why that will guide you through everything life throws at you.

So, back to my original intention of the blog - here is my Visual Meditation. It's a photo of my little sausage dog, Millie, who not so long ago went to heaven. Love of my life who ALWAYS made me smile.

Hope she puts a smile on your face too...��

#thingsthatmakemesmile

#flamingoyogamaya

#marjorietheflamingo