The most frequently asked questions about yoga, practice

At the start of practice, we might start in a comfortable position on the floor. I will guide you through a lovely process of connecting our body and breath to help us raise our self-awareness. If you have cold feet, you can keep your socks on at this stage. Still, when we practice poses that flow, I always advise removing our socks, so we don't slide around on the mat. We feel more comfortable and connected to the earth's energy.

Yoga is a practice for life. It provides us with a tool to help us with life's challenges. This could mean doing a 5-minute breathing exercise before a demanding presentation, practising in the morning before the children wake up, or doing a yoga bedtime routine late at night to help relax and unwind. Yoga is a practice that works for your life and needs. Personally, I love to do a meditation practice in the morning when it's quiet, focus my mind on the day and practice in the morning or later in the evening.

Wear something comfortable. Nothing too tight, because you want to feel free, stretch and breathe easily. Where light fabrics, leggings or jogging bottoms and a comfortable top. I always recommend bringing an extra layer (a blanket or another top) to keep us warm when practising our final deep relaxation. After good yoga practice, your body temperature will drop as you lie down and follow a guided relaxation of 10 minutes.

Yes, however, some poses are not suitable during pregnancy. Still, a good class will always inform you exactly what to do, what to avoid, and how to adapt a posture to meet your needs. Yoga is for everyone at any point in life.

Kapallabhati is a breathing exercise that focuses on eliminating and avoiding pregnancy. However, calm and conscious breathing is a brilliant alternative as it floods the body with oxygenated blood.

During pregnancy, your body secretes hormones that soften the pelvic ligaments. Therefore, opening poses need to be practised with caution and guidance.

Because of the softening of ligaments during pregnancy, the body can feel very flexible. However, caution and care must be taken not to overstretch and weaken the body.

Poses that apply a lot of pressure on the tummy should be avoided, as should intense backbends, twists, and forward bends.

All poses can be adapted during pregnancy. Yoga is a wonderful support and prepares the body and mind for your birth.

It is important we feel comfortable with our mat, so I'd advise starting with a thickness of 1/8-in or 3.175 mm. This is a pretty standard measurement and will help you feel stronger, more stable, and connected to the ground during your poses and flows.

Yes, yoga can burn from 180 to 450 calories per session depending on the type of yoga, the length of the yoga class, and the practitioner's intention.

I always explain in my classes that as we consciously breathe into our bodies, we create space, length, and ease within our skeleton and energy. Your skeletal measurement will not change; however, you will feel more open, lengthened, and lighter.

It depends on your goals and what you want to achieve from your Yoga practice. For example, a 15-minute yoga practice every day is a wonderfully nourishing healthy habit to create and manage with a busy lifestyle. I meditate every morning to calm and centre my mind, and practice 3 times a week for 1 hour, alongside another movement-based exercise I enjoy. Yoga was what we do on the mat and what we do OFF THE MAT. Therefore, we can practice yoga throughout the day, mindful and self-aware.

Yes, yoga is absolutely excellent for toning muscle, and with a wholefood diet, your body will benefit from yoga.

Yes, we lie on our backs or practice on our knees in a comfortable position. Hence, the mat helps us feel more comfortable, enabling us to enjoy our practice safely and effectively.

Yoga blocks are a great aid during yoga practice and can be used in many ways. I always teach with a yoga block to show those who might need them how to use it during their practice. A yoga block can be an excellent balance aid or help to sit more comfortably to support the body in certain poses to enjoy each pose's benefits with the rest of the class.

Namaste means bow, as means to thank the teacher or used as an expression of relief upon the ending of the class. Therefore, it means "I bow to you". It's a beautiful way of showing respect for each other and recognising each other on a soul level. I always end my practice in a prayer pose with a "Namaste. " It's also a beautiful way to close your practice.You place hands together at the heart, close your eyes and bow.

Yoga pants are comfortable and allow you to move without restriction.

Although yoga cannot cure varicose veins, it can help you manage them. Varicose veins often cause swelling and soreness in your legs. Yoga can help relieve these symptoms.

No, we do not do yoga in socks. As I mentioned in an earlier question, when we are relaxing at the start or end of a class, it is possible to wear socks or cover them in a blanket. However, your practice must be done without socks to ensure you are practising safely and have a good connection with the ground and earth energy.

Moderate breathwork and yoga practice 3 times a week will improve flexibility. Intention and consistency are essential for steady and sustainable progress.

Yoga is a great way to warm up and cool down. Yoga allows the body to balance and be very intentional in oxygenating the blood, exercising the lungs and heart, preparing the muscles for training and stretching them out, and relaxing the body and mind after intense training.

I will always ask permission to touch a student and respect their answer. If a student allows me to touch them, I will do so simply to help their body improve a posture so that it is practised safely and correctly. Sometimes a simple touch can also help us relax and release tension in an area, for example, the shoulders.

Yes, do not drink too much before a yoga class because you might need the toilet during your practice (will it never be a problem to pop out to the bathroom)? Still, it might distract you during your practice. We have little sips of water during our class. Then, after class, it is always advised to rehydrate. Water intake will also help the body flush out the toxins we have helped remove during our practice.

No, yoga is a system for life that provides us with tools to help us with daily challenges. The practice of "doing poses on a mat" is a tiny part of the whole yoga system. Yoga is like our inbuilt medical kit, as I call it, helping us heal as we learn more about ourselves, how the body functions and operates holistically, i.e. emotionally, physically, mentally, energetically, and giving us tools to understand our relationship with others, our environment and the world. Yoga promotes inner peace, and the right tools on and off the mat will help us liberate the body, mind and spirit and improve the quality of life.

A yoga head stand is a great pose. Put your elbows and wrists on the floor, and raise your shoulders to engage your upper body. When you have established this stable base, lift your legs off the ground and invert your body so that you are balanced on your head and forearms. This is the standard cue for teaching Headstands.

In a bowl, combine warm water and a few drops of dish soap. Dip the rag into the soapy water, then wipe the mat in a circular motion, focusing on the dirty areas. (Be careful not to add too much soap.) Dry the mat with a towel. 

YES, this is exactly what yoga is designed to do..... Let's look at what stress is and how yoga can help.

When we feel stressed, our sympathetic nervous system (NS) releases hormones (those hormones again!!!), which triggers a "fight-or-flight" response in our body.

What is necessary for short-term circumstances, i.e. running from danger or performing well in a presentation... it helps raise the heartbeat and makes us act... 💃

However, prolonged stress in the body is when we HAVEN'T allowed our parasympathetic NS to do its job to help calm us down (keeping it simple) and rebalance our hormone level.

Many inner systems are at play within the body in managing stress/hormones, including the endocrine, nervous, and more.

However, prolonged stress occurs when our body doesn't "rest and digest" properly, keeping us in heightened tension. Because we have been in this state for so long, we think it's "normal" to feel this way. It's not, and it can cause many diseases within many within the body, mental and physical.

.... leading to diabetes, headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, intimacy problems, mental wellbeing, depression, anxiety and more.... 

So, yoga...

Yoga provides us with the tools to slow down, tune in to these subtle layers of Being, and RESET by calming the nervous system. 

Practically, this means...

• 🧘‍♂ We learn how to breathe correctly = calming the nervous system and mind
• 🧘‍♀️ We learn through guided movement how to assist the endocrine system
• 🧘‍♀️ We learn how to relax and focus the mind, moving ourselves out of anxiety and into our bodies (presence and meditation)
• 🧘‍♀️ We learn "Active Sleep" methods to help us let go and reset the NS.
• 🧘‍♂️ We learn about how subtle bodies and mind is connected.