Children's Yoga

Dear Yogis

I’ve been promising to look into YouTube offerings for children's yoga. The first thing I looked at was Fun Yoga For Kids for ages 4-10. After 4 minutes of waffle in the beginning (a bit annoying!) the 50 minute class goes at a good pace. It includes children doing the class with a teacher punctuated by cartoon characters announcing the next posture. It’s pretty Ashtanga, really!

The next is a bedtime story. It’s only 6 minutes and is an extract from a book called Good Night Yoga by Mariam Gates. It has a postures section and a visualisation ending (see screengrabs below). It's very sweet. If you like that, there’s a Good Morning one! My next choice is a proper class, not a game. Yoga for Kids - Vol 1 (All Standing Postures). With posture instruction and names in Sanskrit, this is what earnest yoga teachers will have their kids doing from toddlerhood onwards! Actually...I could learn a lot from it. It finishes with Sun Salutations. Here are the seated postures.

Home Studio

Thankfully it cooled a little last week and yogis were slightly less cooked (medium rare) during class! Some classes are already full next week, some are not. Come along. (You must click the 'Complete Booking' button to secure the space when booking online.)

I sometimes hear senior teachers complain that people only come to class to dress up in Lululemons (oops) and show off!  I can’t tell you how this baffles me. Show off what?! I only ever see people giving it their best shot and practicing with concentration... and enjoying the results so much that they want friends and family to come along. It’s truly lovely. It really is a practice for every ability.

Cyclists

The blessed day of the Tour de France Depart arrives tomorrow. Cycling can be a posture killer: tightening hamstrings, straining the lower back and bringing the shoulders forward. Why wouldn’t a cyclist do yoga! Here’s a lovely demonstration of 5 key postures for cyclists.  

Training

This weekend I’m training with Philippa Asher at Triyoga Camden. Phillippa is apparently the only British woman to be certified to teach the traditional Sri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga yoga method. I’m so used to American accents talking about ‘Guruji’ this might be a culture shock! Come with me. There are places left.

Grenfell

Yogahaven has its fundraiser this Sunday and here’s another yoga fundraiser for Grenfell victims if you’re in the Wandsworth/Clapham/Battersea area on July 7th. It’s run by Union Station Yoga. Hopefully these events will continue.

Yoga in the News

The hilarious news that Heathrow's opening a fitness studio so you can work out while you wait for a flight appeared in City A.M this week. I wonder if this is an admission that delayed flights are on the increase or if they think you might want to add to the stress of flying by turning up early and taking a yoga class! Anyway, Heathrow is “opening a studio in Terminal 2 this autumn, offering passengers instructor-led yoga and cardio classes”