As we move into the Spring Term, our energy begins to change from that of resting and retreating to a more externalised experience of the world. The sun seems to have found its way back to us, and the days are lengthening at last. We begin to spend more time outside and, all around us, Nature is waking up and beginning to blossom.

Throughout March, we shall be focusing on the “Yoga Mind”, through the lens of yoga philosophy. Over the next four weeks, our asana practices will reflect each of the four expressions, or manifestations of the yoga mind.

We shall begin, this week, with Manas – the everyday conscious mind, the coordinator of the senses, and the mental screen on which thoughts and images occur. Manas is the part of our mind that reveals the outside world through the five senses. Everything we understand about the world around us is a product of, our interpretation of, the information brough to us via the senses.

In both our chair and mat yoga classes this week, we shall explore how we might deepen our connection to Manas, through meditation, relaxation, asana and pranayama.

If you would like to join us, we currently have space available in all three Bourne classes. There are currently no spaces in the Gedney Hill Class. You can text, telephone or WhatsApp Sarah on: 07817623330, or email: freetothinkmail@aol.com

What’s Happening This Week in Class?

As we continue our exploration of the Seven Primary Chakras, our focus this week will be on Ajna, the Third Eye Chakra.

Through meditation, asana, visualisation and relaxation, either on our chair or our mat, we will be connecting with and stimulating the energy centre that shares responsibility for so many of our physical and mental processes. Known as “command centre”, Ajna chakra is situated in the mid-brain and connected to the pituitary gland. As we activate the energy of this chakra through our practice this week, we shall explore how we might connect with our intuition, perception and understanding of the Self.

If you would like to join us, we currently have space available in all three Bourne classes, and you can text, telephone or WhatsApp Sarah on: 07817623330, or email: freetothinkmail@aol.com

Here’s What’s Happening This Week In Class

This week, in our Chair Yoga class we will be focusing on our core muscles, with a practice designed to engage our awareness and our core muscles as we focus on Manipura – our solar plexus chakra. This chakra is to do with our sense of empowerment, will, determination, ability and achievement. The element of Manipura is agni – our inner fire, so you may find that you leave feeling stronger and more purposeful than when you arrived! If you would like to know more about our Chair Yoga classes, you might like to go to the page entitled Chair Yoga.

It is our week for yin in our mat classes, so we are side-stepping Manipura, and working with Anahata – our heart chakra and the centre of our spiritual heart. Don’t forget to bring all your yin props – for a reminder of what to bring, just click here: What Props Do I Bring To Class and When Do I Need To Bring Them?

And if you would like to know more about yin yoga, then head for the page entitled this will be your first yin class, you might like to also read this post: Surrendering Into A Yin Practice

Be prepared to enter your practice with an open heart, as we lean into compassion, loving kindness and heart-centred awareness.

We currently have space available in all three Bourne classes (and possibly one space in the Gedney Hill class), so if you would like more information or to book a place simply email Sarah at: freetothinkmail@aol.com or WhatsApp/telephone/call on: 07817623330.

Our current term has seen us begin our exploration into Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. We started with a Beginner’s Mind in week one, and moved through the weeks from Quietening the Mind Stuff, to  Abiding in Our True Nature; Finding a Comfortable, Steady Base; the Breath and Prana. We shall finish this term, as usual, with a restful restorative practice called Working From the Heart.

Next term, throughout September and October, we shall continue our journey into Prana (Universal Energy), as we begin our inquiry into the Pancha Prana Vayus, or five ‘winds’ of the body. For students (new or old) who have no knowledge of yoga philosophy, or who wish to recall, or brush up on their existing knowledge, these sessions will ensure that, by the end of the term they will have a better understanding of how energy works both inside and outside the Self.

We currently have space available at Wake House in Bourne, and limited spaces in Gedney Hill, so if you would like more information or to book a space simply email: freetothinkmail@aol.com or WhatsApp, text or call Sarah on 07817623330.

For those of us practising on our mats this week, the intention is to be in the bliss zone that can be found through the practice of restorative yoga. We will settle in on our mats, safe in the knowledge that there is nothing to do, nowhere to be and that nobody wants anything from us. From this place of peace and tranquility, we invite in the experience of just being, feeling and listening to the ever-present Self. This is our opportunity to withdraw from the world for some precious ‘time out’, as we experience nourishment, nurturing and complete relaxation.

And if you are able to be at chair yoga this week, we shall also be ‘listening in’ with the through the practice of Pawanmuktasana I, a traditional practice that will enable us to rest our attention on energetically clearing anything that has become stuck in our joints, in order that our energy may flow freely once more. This practice encourages profound healing throughout all the layers of our being: physical, energetic, psychological, wisdom and bliss!

Enjoy your practice, you deserve it!

If you would like to come along to class, or for more information, you can contact me, Sarah, in the following ways: Telephone/Text/WhatsApp: 07817623330; email: freetothinkmail@aol.com; Facebook: Free To Think; Website: freetothink.co.uk.

For mat-based students, the first part of this term is all about Pawanmuktasana (energy block release).

In the highly regarded seminal book “Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha” by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, we are told that “the Pawanmuktasana series is one of the most important groups of practices that has a very profound effect on the human body and mind and is thus a most useful tool for the yogic management of various disorders and maintenance of health.” As with all three Pawunmuktasana practices, this week’s practice – The Digestive Series – encourages us to better understand the meaning of asana by developing an awareness of the movements of the body and the subtle effects these movements have on all our layers of being.  

Meanwhile, in chair yoga, we shall be focusing our attention specifically on opening up the side body in order that we might create more space in the lungs to breath, and encourage energy to flow more freely throughout the body and mind.

If you would like to come along to class, or for more information, you can contact me, Sarah, in the following ways: Telephone/Text/WhatsApp: 07817623330; email: freetothinkmail@aol.com; Facebook: Free To Think; Website: freetothink.co.uk.

This week in our Chair Yoga class we will be focusing on our abdominal organs, and reflecting on how often we think about all the work that happens tirelessly in our abdominal region, day in, day out? We tend to only notice when something goes wrong. Ayurveda, the sister medical science of Yoga teaches us that our health begins and ends in our digestive system. Not only are we literally what we eat, but how we eat, and when we eat. And before I get carried away about digestion … Suffice to say that optimal health depends on keeping our abdominal organs in good, clean, energised and nourished working order, which is why the intention for our practice this week is to move towards those goals.

If you are attending a mat-based class, you can look forward to a little bit of physical, mental and emotional spring cleaning. We shall be working on the areas known as the Four Corners of The Body, namely the hips and shoulders. This week we shall be easing them open, and giving them a good old dust and polish, in order that we can rid ourselves of what no longer serves us, and create space for new intentions, habits, thoughts, ideas … and anything else that you would like to invite into your body, your mind and your heart.

We currently have space available in all three classes (limited in the 6:00pm class), so if you would like more information or to book a space simply email Sarah at: freetothinkmail@aol.com

Everything that we do on our mats is preparation for our life off of our mats. When we are on our mats, we are investing time in ourselves to get to know and better understand our true Self. When we do this, we can begin to recognise, and become familiar with our natural felt state of equibrilibrium and also have a better sense of when we have moved away from that state. When we check in at the beginning of our practice, we are observing all the different parts of the Self, just as it is, without judgement, criticism or blame. And we try to hold onto that process of observation (often described as focused awareness) throughout our practice. Regardless of whether we are practising pranayama (breathing), asana (postures), meditation or relaxation, we try to stay in the moment as much as we can. That is the practice of yoga.

As we progress through yoga, we learn more and more about our Self, and we begin to take our practice off of our mat and incorporate it into our daily lives. We find we can use the understanding we gain about our Self on our mats, to help us in everyday life. Challenging situations may remind us of how it feels when we practice balancing on our mats. We wobble, and we try to re-centre ourselves. We wobble again and we refine our posture. We wobble again and fall out of the posture, and we wobble again, and again and again. And still we come back to the posture, until one day we find we are wobbling and yet still holding the posture. And on another day, we become still.

And that stillness we experience in a balance is a tangible thing. We might feel, peaceful, victorious, strong all four, or any number of other emotions or physical sensations. Balancing on our mat takes patience, tolerance, determination, perseverance, self-compassion and self-awareness. Yoga balances require a strong core, a sense of self-belief and kindness towards the Self. We have to let go of our need to achieve, perfect or strive. We have to let go of attachment to the outcome.

Instead, we practice and observe, practice and observe and one day, we suddenly realise that we are are there exactly where we wanted to be. This can be said of so many situations off of our mats, when we might feel wobbly, out of sync or uncomfortable. In those kinds of situations, yoga teaches us to observe, and connect with those qualities and resources we have discovered through our practice. In this way we can mindfully focus on what needs to be done in order that we can return to equilibrium.