Tag Archives: yoga

What’s On This Week!

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What’s On This Week!

Mat and Chair Yoga

This term our practice is coming from the Heart Space, as we focus on different qualities and energies that reside in this space. Last week, we focused on courage since courage gives us the energy to change, grow and evolve, and to follow our Dharma (life’s purpose). This week, through our yoga practice, we shall be focusing on presence. When we are present, we are able to let go of the disappointments of the past, forget the anxieties of the future and enjoy the moment just as it is, in peace. Being present also enables us to lean in to experiences, rather than running from them. From that quiet space, change happens 🙏 

Meditation

Last week saw the first meeting of new Meditation Group at Wake House for the Introduction to Meditation sessions. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and it was wonderful to share some thought provoking conversation and relaxing meditation. Thank you to all who attended. I feel that, over time, we are going to grow and develop into a wonderfully cohesive group. 

If you would like to join us on Tuesday evenings at the Community Centre in Crowland, or Thursdays at Wake House in Bourne, a warm welcome awaits.

For more information, or to reserve your space, contact Sarah. WhatsApp/Telephone/Text: 07817623330. Email: [email protected]. Website: freetothink.co.uk. Facebook: Free To Think.

New Year, More Yoga!

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How lovely it was last week to be back together in class for another whole new year of yoga. It was heartening to see so many mats rolled out for practice, and to welcome faces old and new.

There are so many ways in which we can embody our yoga practice, and this term we shall be focusing on a different perspective each week.

Last week we began by exploring how we might let go of things that no longer serve us through “Releasing”. Letting go of the old, the outdated and the unhelpful allows us to make space for the new, the desired for and the hoped for. It encourages change and a growth mindset, and it is a helpful focus during any yoga practice. We can release through the breath with a sigh, we can release through the body with a stretch, and we can release from the mind with mantra, affirmation, meditation or mindful walking.

In contrast, this week is all about discovering our experience through “Listening”. When we create the time and space to focus inwardly towards our Selves, rather than outwardly towards the world, we may discover a whole universe of unexplored territory. Listening encourages Svadhyaya, which is self-study and self-reflection, and through svadhyaya, we find we can tune in to the rhythms of body, breath and mind, and really “hear” what is being revealed to us. As we become more proficient at tuning in, we find that we begin to learn a great deal more about what makes each of us so individual, and yet so connected.

Yoga Returns To Crowland

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2015 – And we haven’t changed a bit!

I am so excited to be teaching in Crowland again. I originally began to teach there after a conversation with a gentleman by the name of David Grundy, who I met at a networking event. We were chatting outside in the sunshine, and he suggested that I bring yoga to his home town. I remember saying something blase along the lines of: “Well if you help me get there, I will come!” It turned out that David is an extremely helpful and proactive individual – he was keen to practice yoga! – and in a very short time we had a class up and running. That was back in 2012, and since then, we have practiced in a number of venues, the most popular being the old British Legion Hall. Then, sadly along came the pandemic, which put a stop to all classes, and to the hall itself.

However, this story has a happy ending, as the hall was bought, and turned into the Crowland Community Hall. Now, almost four years after we last rolled our mats up, we shall be returning to the hall, to unroll them again.

I am not just excited to be teaching back in Crowland. I am also incredibly grateful to all of my Crowland students who have practiced with me over the past 12 years, many of whom are still with me today.

We have created more than a yoga class over the years, we have become friends and confidents; we have partied together and walked together, chatted together and shared special moments together. (I still have my yoga cake topper from my 50th birthday cake, almost ten years ago!)

And we have done more than just practice yoga: we have grown individually and collectively, as we explore our many layers and make new discoveries about our Selves.

Crowland students, past, present and future, I feel very grateful and honoured to teach you, and here’s to the next twelve years!

For more information about classes in Crowland, click the Yoga Classes tab.

Community Yoga Group Yoga Day With Carole Tovell and Sarah Kemp

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On: Friday, 10th January 2020

At: St Mary’s Church Hall, Rose Lane, Pinchbeck, PE11 3RN

Cost: One Session: £7:00 Full Day: £13.00


Morning Registration: 10:30am

Morning Class: 11.30am-12:30pm

Afternoon Registration: 1:15pm

Afternoon Class: 12:30pm 3:00pm

Lunch (bring your own): 12:30-1:30pm. Whether you are attending just one session, or the whole day, feel free to join us for lunch!

Just For Today – a Meditation by Tom Evans

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Hi Everybody!

This week’s “guest speaker” meditation was given to us by Tom Evans and it is called “Just for Today”. It is designed to be practiced first thing in the morning, as we set intentions for our day. If you would like to practice it again, this is the link:

How Yoga Can Help us to Evaluate and Manage Stress

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One of the most frequently heard expressions today is “I’m stressed”. Stress is an inevitable part of modern-day living, however, most stress can be reduced considerably and even eliminated.  Here are some considerations when contemplating stress in your life, and suggestions for reducing it:

(1)     What causes me to become stressed? Commonly shared examples of stressors are: Time-keeping, negative relationships, and money …  However, stress is very personal.  What may stress one person, will not stress another.
(2)    What can I do to reduce my stressors?  Take, for example, being unpunctual.  If being late stresses you, then allow more time for your journey, plan for the unexpected, and add extra time if necessary. Give yourself more time than you are likely to need so that you can relax and  enjoy the journey, rather than rushing and arriving stressed and on edge.
(3)    What can I not change? If you cannot change it, then try to make it acceptable by viewing it from a different perspective.  Annoying relatives perhaps will seem less annoying if you can understand and accept your differences.
(4)    Invest some time on your mat in quiet contemplation.  Ask yourself “why am I stressed, and what can I do about it right now?” Allow the question to settle, and quietly watch your breath. Trust in your vijnanamaya kosha, the wise part of us that holds the answers, and wait for inspiration to come. It may not come as quickly as you like, and it may not always been the answer you were hoping for, however it will be the right answer for you.
(5)     Contemplate the Serenity Prayer, and let it’s wisdom inspire you to trust in the guidance you receive:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”
(6)    Be active and expunge negative energy.  Use the adrenalin that your body is supplying: Run, walk fast or choose a more energetic yoga practice … whatever works for you.
(7)    Breathe consciously – slowly and deeply, comfortably and with control.  Focus on the body as you breathe.  Notice the rise and fall of the front of the body with each breath-round.  Notice the lungs expanding with the in-breath and the body softening with the out-breath.  Allow the breath to ease the mind and the body into a state of tranquillity.  Remind yourself that it is impossible to breathe slowly and calmly and be stressed or anxious at the same time.  So now you have a choice to be calm or stressed.  Although stress starts in our mind, we can  erase it through the way we use our thoughts, our breath or our body.  And a combination of all three is powerful … it is what we call yoga!
Om Shanti (Peace to Everyone)
If you would like to know more about yoga, stress and anxiety management, mindfulness or relaxation techniques please contact Sarah, email me at: [email protected], find me on Facebook under Free To Think, or text or telephone me on: 07817623330

What Happens During a Yoga Therapy Session?

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Yoga therapy is about treating a person holistically.  In other words, regardless of why the person has come to see me, all aspects of the individual, and all of our levels of being are taken into account.

Restorative poses are prescribed for their ability to relax and heal on a deep therapeutic level.

Restorative poses are prescribed for their ability to relax and heal on a deeply therapeutic level.

Sessions are structured so that we can explore the best treatment methods, using yogic techniques that encourage the Self to heal and flourish and move towards optimum wellbeing.

Yogic techniques might include pranayama (breath-work), asana (posture-work), relaxation, mindfulness or meditation, restorative yoga (placing the body in supported postures to promote rest and healing), nidra (deep relaxation) and sankalpa (purpose).

The experience of yoga therapy creates a partnership between client and therapist which allows the therapist to deepen her/his understanding of the client and devise a home practice for the client to take away and use.  This empowers yoga therapy clients to take responsibility for their own wellbeing, and gives them the necessary insight to develop their own intrinsic ability to self-heal.

If you would like more information about yoga therapy, or to make an appointment, you can email me at: [email protected], or text/telephone me on: 07817623330.

Stay well!

Spalding Sponsored Charity Yogathon

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I have to say that I am so excited about the  Spalding Sponsored Charity Yogathon that will be taking place on Saturday, 24th January!

Yogathon - Agape 3The event is in aid of two Spalding-based charities, who help disadvantaged people in our local community. Agape runs the food bank, which also collects from a radius around Spalding, and serves a lot of the areas in between. The food bank helps people who, usually through no fault of their own, find themselves ‘down on their luck’ and struggling to make ends… meet. Some of our visitors are homeless, with nobody who cares and, again, they never envisioned themselves ending up in that situation.

Yogathon - SpotsSpots helps children from less affluent families, through performing arts, by giving them somewhere to be and something to help them shine.

All 40 places for the event are now sold out (which is fantastic!) and all of our Yogathon participants will now be looking for sponsorship. If you would like to sponsor this event, please contact me. Just £1 will give a homeless person a hot meal at Agape, so if that is all you would like to offer, it will still make a real difference and your support really will be very much appreciated!

If you would like details of future charity events please contact Sarah.