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So What Does Hatha Vinyasa Krama Mean Exactly?
The word “Hatha” pretty much means the same as Yin/Yang except it’s Ha/Tha (pronounced ta, not tha). Some poses and exercises are heating and more dynamic, others might be cooling and / or more passive. Generally though, our mind serves us better somewhere in the middle. A “Vinyasa” is a dynamic yoga-based exercise (a fluid […]
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Get Off the Treadmill (& Say No to Calorie Counting)
It’s a fair observation that many people who do intense aerobic exercise just because they want to burn calories and lose weight often don’t really lose much weight – or if they do, it’s never for that long. Do you know anyone like this? Always exercising and on the “health” treadmill, but finding long-term physical […]
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Exercise Physiology, Posture & Breath: Being a Total Halfwit, what would I know?
If you don’t know my background, let me fill you in. More than 20 years ago now, after 15 or so years of dabbling in Yoga now and then, loving the idea, but not quite able to commit, I met my fabulous teacher in a local hall in Newtown (1998). I never looked back. Simon […]
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How to…..Get “Better” at Balancing!
Balances are amazing for your health, both physically and mentally and so I’ve been thinking a lot about the answer to this question since someone asked me the other day; What is the best way to get better at balancing?
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Core Strength? Butt Firing? Cardio? How do we Interpret Fitness Fashion Words?
In a healthy physiology, just before we go to do a thing, a reflex signal is sent via the NS to the brain. For example, if I see a heavy-looking bag and go to pick it up, ideally, the required protective muscles activate automatically and I don’t have to think too much about it. This happens when things are functioning as they should.
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Let’s Twist Again…
It’s all the minute, subtle activations and bandha that make the difference in most yoga poses. This is what turns a posture that may look “easy” or feel relatively simple into something reasonably dynamic and deliciously intense. It’s one incredibly good reason to create a deeper understanding of certain poses properly before moving too quickly […]
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Are You a Spice Girl or Boy?
Are you a spice girl or boy? I was a child of the 70s and 80s but despite having my fair share of convenience dinners, my (English) Grandmother was an amazing cook and really took on the role of the Cypriot housewife to my Greek grandfather – who wasn’t much of a cook but made […]
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What Do You Prefer In a Group Class?
Over the past 20 or so years of actually teaching and continuing to learn, what I teach now, has been pared back considerably, but, yet, I know it’s actually way more useful for the most amount of people. Many of us are managing injuries and conditions and so what we do is also practical and therapeutic and still challenging enough for the majority.
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Why Practise if It Hurts Rather than Heals?
Good Question! For most people, the reason for beginning Yoga is to feel better – whether physically or emotionally. Obviously these are two sides of the same coin, but it can take a long time to realise how powerfully each affects the other. There are many different styles of physical Yoga these days but when […]
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Are You Sympathetic?
I’ve been posting a bit of stuff about the nervous system lately and what it means to be sympathetic dominant. I just wanted to explain this bit from a previous post: “…Whenever you pull a muscle after moving quickly and suddenly, it’s…(a) sympathetic nervous system preventative measure to stop you seriously injuring yourself. So, if […]
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