The joy of Double Evenings

When we turn back the clocks we (often reluctantly) let go of British Summertime as we close the curtains at 4pm.

Love it or hate it, the season is shifting!

So can I offer you a new way to view the darkness?

The practice of Double Evenings

Firstly, I need to say that this is not my original idea, but that of my teachers, Nicola and Jason Smalley (The Way of the Buzzard). In the seasonal way of living that they advocate, the changing of the clocks is an opportunity to relish, rather than something to grumble about.

The concept is that when daylight fades and you’re forced to turn on a light, STOP what you were doing. Take this moment in time – the turning on of the lights, the final look out at the darkening sky as you draw the curtains – to pause and shift gear. 

This is the First Evening.

You have a couple of hours before eating your evening meal. So instead of simply carrying on, use the time to do something different.

These long dark evenings, in reality, last a very short few months. So why not make the most of being cosy indoors and tune into gentler, soul-nourishing pursuits?

Possible uses of the First Evening are
~ Read a book
~ Study something new
~ Create or make something
~ Phone someone or write them a letter
~ Sort through stuff
~ Play music
~ Get the recipe books off the shelf and cook up something a bit different
~ Light candles and soak in the bath 

If you work for a living, like me, then make a conscious choice to move onto a task that is more creative and that will set you up for a good start again the following day. 

If you don’t work, the theory still holds. Do something different that makes a ceremony of the shift from daylight into darkness. Then you’ll be ready for….

… the Second Evening

After you’ve eaten, there’s a whole extra chunk of time stretching away, still to be enjoyed. For lazing in front of the fire, or snoozing through the news, or reading in bed. 

So there you go. The practice of Double Evenings, which I highly recommend and which I’ll be experimenting with myself in the coming weeks.

So let’s compare notes when we reach the winter solstice and the return of the light. I think we’ll be glad we made the most of the darkness!

The journey back to your Seasonal Self

March winds and April… flowers!!

April is blessing us with sunshine and doesn’t it feel good!

And have you noticed the primroses this year? They are abundant and everywhere in big clumps of glorious yellow, lighting up the hedgerows. The beautiful glade of them in the photo above is along the lane from Halsway Manor. I was walking there this week and I really hope the weather holds for the Spring Wellbeing Week at Easter (fingers crossed!).

What is your Seasonal Self?

I’m a spring baby, so this time of year is when I really start to get going again after the cold months. My energy increases quite naturally, whether it’s sunshine or showers that accompany me on my walks. 

Do you have a particular time of year when your energy levels rise? Maybe it’s birthday time or maybe to do with the seasons. I know plenty of people who come alive after the heat of summer has dissipated. And also those winter souls who love the sparkling cold of January mornings. 

I firmly believe that our yoga practice is a way of coming back in tune with our personal energy rhythms, as well as the seasonality of the place where we live. Getting to know our innate cycles of high and low energy as we move through the day, and through the year, is a very sensible way to approach life.

Yoga teaches us to pay close attention to how we’re feeling, so we learn to notice what’s going on, to be able to create the space to respond with kindness.

Choosing to live in tune with Nature’s ebb and flow

I see this as the journey back to our Seasonal Self. A coming home to ourself as a creature of Nature, who is happier and healthier when in flow with the cycles of the natural world.

Living seasonally has been deepening in me over many years and I now realise that my passion (my mission) is to help others attune to the seasons again.  

Mostly this happens through sharing yoga practices that follow the wheel of the year. And with that in mind, I’m inviting you to join the next season of classes, as we approach Beltane.


Beltane 

Beltane, May Day, whatever you choose to call it, it signals the start of a vibrant, playful, intensely fertile time of year. In nature, nearly everything is sprouting, blossoming or reproducing. It’s a truly creative time of year!

Our yoga begins to flow more freely as the warmth of the sun increases. Steadily and purposefully, we establish the good movement and breathing habits that will serve us well through the rest of the year. 

Come and join me in Minehead on Fridays or online on Tuesdays and let your Seasonal Self out to play!

All the dates and details are here – Beltane Yoga

Are you ready to Spring?

The days are slowly lengthening, the sap is rising and springtime is on its way!

Join me for a weekly practice to make the transition from winter into the warmer months. The next block of classes Online and in Minehead begin in March.

All the details are below.

If you’re tempted to join me, get in touch for more information or to talk about whether the practice is right for you.

ONLINE CLASSES

Tuesdays 10am – 11.30am
11th March – 8th April  £55 paid in advance (£14 drop-in)

~ a steadily-paced class, adaptable for most people, to set you up for a great day. If you can move from the floor, to sitting/kneeling and to standing, with reasonable ease, this practice will suit you.

~ ~ ~

Thursdays 6pm – 7.30pm
13th March – 10th April   £55 paid in advance (£14 drop-in)

~ a delicious end-of-the-day practice, with the potential for more challenging movements and a deep relaxation to soothe you into the evening.

Both classes INCLUDE access to the recording for 7 days.

 ~ ~ ~

Minehead Community Centre, Irnham Road Recreation Ground, TA24 5DP

Fridays 9.30am – 10.50am     

14th March – 11th April   £55 paid in advance (£14 drop-in, if there is space)

~ a friendly, accessible and interactive class, with plenty of inward focus and reflection.

INCLUDES access to a recorded class for 7 days. 

~ ~ ~

Recordings-only Option 

If you can’t make a live class and would like to receive the Recordings-only option (equivalent to £8 per class), please let me know which practice you’d prefer (Tuesday or Thursday). As soon as enough people have subscribed to the live classes, I’ll be able to send you more details. 

Knowing What’s Good for You

Flowing with the season as we approach winter solstice

I think the roosting longtailed tits photo perfectly sums up this time of year. Get cosy and huddle with your family and friends. Get lots of sleep and rest as we approach the winter solstice, so you’re ready to shine when Christmas arrives!

If we follow the flow of nature’s seasons, we’ll also be ready when the first stirrings of new life begin to emerge at Imbolc (late January/early February) and we’ll feel our own energy levels begin to rise again because we made the most of the quiet time. It’s about knowing what’s good for us in every season.

~ ~ ~

Imbolc classes

The 2025 yoga classes will begin at Imbolc (which feels much more like a new start to me than the first of January!). The dates and details are here.

SPECIAL OFFER if you sign up now!

Sign up for the Imbolc classes now and to tide you over through January, I will send you these recording links to access as many times as you like…

  • 2 x 90 minute asana classes, which both include a breathing practice and a guided relaxation
  • One is a seasonal January practice to get you moving after the Christmas pudding has digested
  • The second was recorded in summer, but focuses on ajna chakra, with slow, gentle movements and a face massage. Perfect for a quiet January afternoon!

You’ll also have access to the ‘Winter Light Breathing Space’ – 50 minutes of guided meditation and a delicious yoga nidra deep relaxation. It was recorded live in the depths of the winter lockdown of 2021 and perfectly conjures the feel of the season and the hope of springtime.

Pay for a full block of Imbolc classes (including the recordings-only option) by 29th December and I will send you the recordings package for the start of the new year.

And remember, you can access these recordings as many times as you like throughout January, at no extra cost. 

The class dates are here. Contact me to sign up now and get the special offer.

Harvest and Holidays!

Lammas is usually celebrated on or around the 1st of August and it marks the cutting of the first corn or wheat. It’s a cross-quarter festival on the Wheel of the Year and whereas the solstices and equinoxes are precise astronomical events, the cross-quarter festivals are affected by climate and weather and vary considerably from place to place and from year to year.

Lammas is more of a feeling in the air that the season is shifting. I’m already noticing the sun is waking up a bit later and going to bed a little earlier (like me!). The morning and evening air is a little fresher, even though the days are often the hottest of the year (hold that thought… they are coming!!). 

If we look to nature, we see the ripening of the harvest in the fields and on the trees. The birds all but disappear in August (just like me!). They’re exhausted from rearing their broods and as they moult their feathers they hide away and rest.

We can do that too. Lammas is a perfect moment to rest and reflect on the year so far. Lie back in the sunshine and take stock and replenish your energy before things begin to get busy again. This is only the start of the harvest season and soon enough we’ll launch into the ‘beginning again’ energy of September.

There is a well-used phrase in gardening – “Have the right plant in the right place” – meaning that you need to have the correct individual conditions for life to really thrive and flourish. It’s the same for us. We have to work out what we personally need at each point in the cycle of the seasons. We need to learn what gives us energy at different times of year, and what depletes us. And focus on the first!

Some good ‘summer stock-take’ questions to ask are:
~ What have I learned so far this year about taking good care of myself?
~ What’s worked well?
~ What hasn’t?
~ What can I change now, in order to have an even better harvest?
~ What do I need to graciously let go of? …have any plans ‘failed’ to grow well?

Have fun with these musings. They’re best contemplated on a lazy day at the beach, or under the shade of your favourite tree. Be like the birds… chill out, it’s holiday time!

I stop teaching in August and I relish letting go of that routine. It’s my time to replenish my own yoga practice and let new inspirations bubble up whilst I’m not really thinking about it.

I want to recapture the feeling of being eight years old at the start of the six-week summer holiday. Back then, August was endless and September may as well have been a different country. You remember it too! Let’s conjure it up again and let August’s magic melt us into timeless relaxation, playfulness and pleasure.

Then we’ll be ready and raring to go again in September. (you’ll find dates and details for the autumn restart here.)

I wish you the best of the season and I will see you on the other side!

If not now, when?

As April settles into its pattern of sunshine and showers, I hope you are making the most of the rising energy and the warmth of the sun when it comes through. 

I’ve been spring-cleaning and clearing, creating a nice clear space for the year ahead and planning some exciting new things. I’m also looking ahead to May and the yoga practice I’ll be sharing with you. 

~ ~ ~

The month of May often feels like a gap between the seasons.

One day it’s definitely Spring…. the next, it could be Summer!

The vagaries of our climate, and the unpredictability of the weather, make May a month of contrasts. Adaptability, a positive outlook and layering are the keys to enjoyment!

Beltane (celebrated from the evening of 30th April to the evening of 1st May) heralds the coming of summer just around the corner. This period that we are about to enter, from May Day to the Summer Solstice, is the most energetic of the year. Nature is burgeoning, blossoming and overflowing with new life. 

Let’s get swept along with it!

~ ~ ~

Now’s the time to fill our days with action towards our goals and dreams; to be energised by the increasing power of the sun; to expand our horizons, to try new things and pick up old favourites again that we hibernated over the winter. 

If you identified any goals or plans for your year back at Imbolc, at the first stirrings of life in early February, now’s the time to get behind those plans and really push them.

If not now, when?

Notice how you feel on a glorious warm day, with the sun on your face and a fresh breeze gently encouraging you onwards. Take that feeling and turn it into action towards the things that make your heart swell and want to sing from the treetops! 

~ ~ ~

Join me in May for a new block of yoga classes that capture the spirit of the season. All the dates and details are here – May yoga classes

Following the Wheel of the Year

Nature is stirring and maybe you are too?

We are now well past Imbolc and heading towards the Spring Equinox. The shift from winter into spring is underway and even though the harshest weather may still be to come, the light is returning into our world and with it, a little more energy and verve! The birdsong is ramping up, territories are being established, animals and birds are pairing up ready to mate and plant life is pushing up from the warming earth. 

~ ~ ~

What I love about following the wheel of the year and the cycle of traditions from our shared agricultural heritage, is that every six or seven weeks there is a marker to celebrate. Either a subtle seasonal shift like Imbolc, or a precise astronomical event like the eqinoxes and solstices. 

It helps divide up the year, and especially the long winter months, into more manageable phases. It encourages me to notice the gradual changes in the landscape and to gently log where I’m at in terms of planning and acting on my dreams and goals for the year. 

~ ~ ~

Spring is obviously the time for new beginnings, but Spring Equinox is also a good time to consider balance. When the hours of daylight and darkness are the same, we might enquire where the imbalances are in our daily lives.

~ Are we spending our time on the things that really matter to us or are we getting distracted?

It’s a good time to look at resistance and apathy and where they show up in our lives and the effect they have on our sense of wellbeing.

~ What new things do we want to dive into this year? …and how might we get in our own way?

~ ~ ~

February and March are also the spring cleaning months and I learnt recently that the period from Yule to Spring Equinox used to be called The Cleansing Tide. It’s the time to clear out, wash clean, let go of unnecessary clutter and prepare a clear space for the coming year. It was a mental as well as a physical space-clearing, in tune with the shifts happening in nature. 

If life is already full to the brim, there’s no room for new experiences and adventures.

~ ~ ~

All of this, of course, is fuel for our seasonal yoga practice. On the mat, we can explore resistance as a physical force. We can play with our capacities to push and to yield, to reach and to rest, to take ourselves in and out of balance in a safe space.

We benefit hugely from the physical practice to refresh our bodies, rejuvenate our breathing, clarify our focus and thinking. Every time we move our body in a conscious and caring way, we’re respecting its innate intelligence and capacity to heal. Our yoga practice is a laboratory for experiments in living well. 

~ ~ ~ 

If you’d like to join me in this life-long experiment, a new Springtime round of yoga classes begins from the 12th March. All the dates and details are HERE.

Get in touch for more information and to book your place.

Uplifting yoga for darkening days

Autumn isn’t everyone’s favourite time of year. As the nights close in, so can our mood. And once the clocks go back, there’s no denying that winter is just around the corner. 

~ How do you keep your spirits up?
~ Do you have favourite ways to priortise cosiness and wellbeing?

Yoga can help us bring in the light during the dark months of November and December. We can help ourselves by committing to a regular practice that uplifts our spirits as well as satisfying our natural rhythms and the need to rest more, maybe to hibernate.

To help you through the darkening days, I’m offering a six-week block of classes to take us from Samhain through to (almost) the Winter Solstice.

These are special weeks in Nature’s calendar. As the nights lengthen to the longest night of the year, we enter a dreamtime, a liminal space, the pause before the sun begins its long journey back. And of course, it’s a natural pause before we dive headlong into Christmas celebrations – also an acknowledgment of the return of the light.

If you’d like to join me, sign up now. All the dates and details are below. 

Let’s keep the light shining and brighten up the darkness together!

TUESDAYS online  10am – 11.30am

7th November – 12th December  £66 paid in advance (£14 drop-in)

~ a steadily-paced class, adaptable for most people, to set you up for a great day. If you can move from the floor, to sitting/kneeling and to standing, with reasonable ease, this practice will suit you.

THURSDAYS online  6pm – 7.30pm

9th November – 14th December   £66 paid in advance (£14 drop-in)

~ a delicious end-of-the-day practice, with the potential for more challenging movements and a relaxation to soothe you in the dark evenings.

FRIDAYS   9.30am – 10.50am 

Minehead Community CentreIrnham Road Recreation Ground, TA24 5DP

10th November – 15th December   £66 paid in advance (£14 drop-in, if there is space)

~ a friendly, accessible and interactive class, with plenty of inward focus and reflection.

~ ~ ~ 

All class options INCLUDE access to a recording of the practice for 7 days. 

If you have queries about any of the classes and whether they’ll be suitable for you, please do get in touch.

Yoga helps us transition from summer into autumn

It doesn’t seem to matter how old we are, September always has that quality of beginning afresh, the ‘back to school’ energy that says summer is over and it’s time to get on with things. 

But not everyone enjoys letting go of summer. Autumn can seem like an inevitable slide towards winter…. which of course it is. But we can also see it as a mellowing of the year, a softening into something deeper and more subtle than the full glare of summer.

Preparation is the theme of this season – getting everything ready (including ourselves) for the darker half of the year. It’s the time to establish the habits that will carry us through in good heart and health.

Yoga can help us – and it’s so obvious that I forget to mention it enough!

     ~ Intelligent approaches to movement can reverse the negative effects of cooler, damper weather on our joints and muscles

     ~  Improving our breathing can help us resist seasonal coughs and colds (along with the immune-enhancing effects of gentle physical movement)

     ~ Practising challenging poses builds self-trust and confidence, releasing feel-good hormones when we need a lift in our spirits

     ~ Making time for high quality rest at the end of our practice allows the ‘squirrel energy’ of mind and body to be soothed and fully integrated, so we can move into the rest of our day with renewed energy and focus

And of course, there is so much more that we get out of our yoga when we come to the mat regularly and with clear intention. 

Build up weeks, months and years of yoga practice and we make huge impacts on our health and quality of life. In uncertain times, taking responsibility for our own wellbeing is a priority and yoga gives us plenty of ways to do that. 

~ ~ ~ 

If you’ve already signed up to ‘begin afresh’ in September’s classes, I look forward to seeing you and sharing some Autumn Equinox yoga. 

There are just two places left in the Friday class in Minehead, but plenty of space on-screen in the online classes. All the dates and details are here. 

Get in touch to book.

See you soon!