I’m a big fan of books. Any kind of book- fiction, non-fiction, hard back, paper back, kindle. I thought I’d share 10 books with you that I’ve loved over the past 12 months or so. There’s a variety, but they are all focused on yoga and mindfulness, and cover the breadth of my classes from pregnancy to meditation to menopause.

Whether you add them to your Christmas list, or are looking for a gift for a friend, you can find all of them (and lots more recommendations) on my https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/Breathingspaceyoga pages – if you buy from there you support local bookshops and also a little tiny commission comes to me. Otherwise they are available from most of your usual booksellers.

Let me know if you read any of them…

10 Teacher Trainings

When you choose to train as a yoga teacher, there is a huge range of training that you can access. In the Western World you usually choose a 200 hour yoga course, or similar, to begin with, and then from there the world’s your oyster!

Read about some of my favourite teacher trainings over the past ten years and why my students are my biggest teachers…

10 Reasons to Try Yoga Nidra

Yoga nidra means ‘yogic sleep’. It is an effortless yoga relaxation and meditation practice that anyone can do, by themselves with an audio recording or with the guidance of a teacher in person.

Yoga nidra brings you to a deeply relaxed state of mind and body, whilst you are still awake. This is the state between sleep and wakefulness (called the hypnogogic state in psychology), where you float between consciousness and unconsciousness, being aware of the resting state of the body and mind as it is happening in the moment.

Yoga nidra has been shown to be effective in supporting and healing many areas of body and mind including stress, tension, anxiety, insomnia, pain, trauma, addiction and PTSD.

I have found yoga nidra to be one of the best ways to relax and release my body completely, and one of the easiest ways to enter the meditative space. It really is effortless.

In this blog I offer ten reasons why you should try yoga nidra, and a link to ten free yoga nidra practices on my website.

My Meditation Journey

Today, 22nd May , is World Meditation Day. I wanted to share with you my meditation journey, how meditation is simple and effective and maybe inspire you to try it!

15 years ago in a California yoga studio, a shift in my yoga practice happened. One day on the mat I experienced a deep resonance as I moved in a sun salutation, like I had become one with the movement and the space around me. It felt amazing and I realised that yoga was not just a physical movement experience.

As I journeyed through my practice, widened my knowledge and trained to teach yoga I came to realise that what I had experienced in that California yoga studio was a meditative state through movement.

Meditation was something I was intrigued by, had sat and done guided by teachers and using recordings. But I didn't really understand what meditation was supposed to feel like, where it was supposed to take me or if I was doing it right. Recordings were lovely and relaxing, but there must be more to it than just following them and feeling rested. I wanted to really know how to meditate.

Four years ago I joined a meditation teacher training with Mick Timpson at Beanddo, Manchester. I didn't plan to teach meditation, just deepen my understanding of it. The accessible meditation tools I learned underpin every meditation I do, and actually everything I do in daily life. Read on to find out more about my meditation journey, why I teach meditation and how meditation might help you too.

4 Books to take you into 2021

Over the past year I have been reading a lot, some fiction, lots of yoga books and these four books that I highly recommend.

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

A brilliant book which explains in a pretty straightforward way why enough good quality sleep is essential, what gets in the way of sleep and how we can sleep better.

Nobody Told Me by Hollie McNish
This book includes not only candid poetry about her journey of pregnancy and new motherhood, but also includes some lovely prose giving context and background to the poems and her experiences.

Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Busy Moms by Kate Northrup
In 14 'Experiments' Kate suggests simple ways to look at your work flow, daily working habits and also self-care to work better and do less. You can implement the ones that resonate easily one by one or a few at a time.

Becoming by Michelle Obama
This one needs no introduction. Michelle is an inspiration and her book won't disappoint.

Read on to find out why I love each of these books

Occasional Thoughts Blog

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