From a hormonal perspective, it's clear that timing plays a key role in optimizing our daily routines and long-term goals. Understanding our cycles, whether it's a daily rhythm or a monthly one, can empower us to work with our bodies instead of against them.
Read moreEssential Life Tips: Your Quick Start Guide to Living Well
Are you a full manual reader or a button presser?
When you buy something new, do you meticulously read the manual or dive in, pressing buttons like you’re playing Beethoven's 5th on the piano? I’ve been known to leave my shiny new gadgets completely untouched, waiting for that mythical 'perfect moment' to read the manual, which, let’s be honest, never actually arrives.
This got me thinking about life – We humans don’t come with a manual, though I’d argue our parents/guardians are like those quick start guides – they give you just enough information to not break everything immediately. But in essence, life is all about trial and error.
Imagine if we had an official Quick Start Guide for life -a simple, actionable guide with essential tips for living well. What advice would you include?
Read moreAerial Yoga: History, Benefits, & What to Expect in Class
When I first decided to try aerial yoga, I envisioned being strung up high from the dome of the Royal Albert Hall by my ponytail, attached to a fuse, which, as it burned, would unleash me spinning Cirque du Soleil-style, landing in the splits an inch from the floor.
I was wrong.
What Happens in my Aerial Yoga Class
Aerial yoga combines traditional yoga postures with the principles of aerial arts*.
Read moreYoga Retreats
If you’ve ever organised a wedding, then that might give you an idea to what it’s like to put together a yoga retreat. You need to hunt for the perfect venue, the best chef, the most delicious food, select the classes and activities, find gifts for the goodie bags… The to-do list stretches like the horizon.
Read morePelvic Floor -Waggle Your Bits
If I said “engage your pelvic floor”- who knows what would happen. You might squeeze the front as if trying to stop yourself from peeing. Or you might squeeze the back as if trying to stop a sneaky fart. Or you might squeeze the whole caboodle- everything from the waist down, (Like driving down a country lane praying that the oncoming lorry won’t squish you. You clench like crazy, hold your breath and shut an eye too)
So, which is it? The front? The back? The middle bit? Something else?
Read moreDebunking the Core Strength myth?
Back in the late 1990s, “Core Stability” started getting popular. Studies found that people with back injuries and chronic lower back pain had wonky timing in their trunk muscles, basically, their muscle coordination was off. This got researchers thinking -maybe strengthening certain muscles, like the transversus abdominis (TrA), could help fix this and prevent pain and injury. They came up with all these exercises: the "tummy tuck", “trunk bracing” and the “core stability” craze grew.
Read more36 Questions to Fall in Love
Love is such a big topic. But what sparked this week's musings isn't the fact that next week is Valentine's day, nor me hearing Tina Turner asking 'What’s love got to do with it?' or even Dolly Parton / Whitney Houston promising to always love me, but Arthur Aron, a 20th-century social psychologist, who came up with 36* questions designed to gradually make 2 people fall in love.
Read moreBenefits of Yoga
My premise here is ‘do yoga, it’s good for you’.
I could leave it at that, but I think you might feel a tad short changed. Instead, I’ve gone to the opposite extreme and have sought out evidence: research papers, yoga texts, and even cues from nature as proof for 4 alleged benefits of yoga.
Read moreConfirmation Bias
I set out to craft a piece extolling the benefits of yoga. I began by outlining the benefits and then proceeded to research PubMed and Google Scholar to find substantiating evidence. However, in this process, I soon realized that I had fallen into the confirmation bias* black hole. Allow me to explain.
Read moreMandalas & Mandala Yoga
Meditating with a mandala can be a transformative and calming experience. Here's a simple guide to try.
Read morePut your best foot forward - Ode to feet
As we massage the feet, I realised I couldn't remember a single thing to say about the feet, except they are 'kinda useful'. (In my defence the whole class was a last minute decision and feet are kinda useful.)
So to put that right, here are somethings I could have said...
Read moreGratitude Galore
According to Harvard Health Publishing, individuals committed to daily gratitude practices report a 25% increase in happiness levels. (Let’s be honest -who wouldn’t want to be happier?)
Read moreKnees & their Knobbles
Our knees are remarkable joints, like bridges connecting two mighty structures - the thigh bone (femur) bone and the lower leg (tibia). Unlike the skull or pelvis, there are no big bony walls in the knees, instead, they rely on ligaments, tendons, muscles, and fascia.
Read moreHow to Live Longer
I feel I may have to write ‘spoiler alert’ if you are planning on watching the documentary on how to live longer as I am about to break it down and give away all the secrets.
Read moreLoneliness
As a child, making friends was easy. You'd walk up to someone in the playground and say, "Will you be my best friend?" They said yes, and Bob's your uncle*, you had a hopscotch* partner for life. However, it gets a little more complicated the older we get
Read moreBackache, Pain & Yoga
You’ ll find a slew of studies. Just to share one I looked at was a review of 10 studies involving a 967 chronic low back pain patients. The results showed strong evidence that yoga can provide short-term relief in terms of pain, back-specific disability, and overall improvement... More and more studies are raving about the benefits of yoga.
Read moreInversions
And although all these benefits are fabulous, the main thing I want to say about inversions is that they are fun.
I defy for anyone to tell me they didn’t have a whale of a time as a kid trying to do a cartwheel, handstand, wheel, rollie-pollie…
Read moreTaking Stock
Have you ever felt at odds when you heard yourself answering the question ‘What have you been up to’? That realisation that you thought you would have answered differently, but the reality takes you by surprise?
Read moreBunions, Onions & Yoga
What do Marilyn Monroe, Oprah Winfrey, Camilla Parker-Bowels all have in common?
What do the Dutch call knobbel op de grote teen, the Portuguese joanete and the French oignon?
From my ‘extensive and highly scientific’ research on the humble bunion, do more yoga and loving your feet more is the way forward. I can help you with the first part, you have to do the second part.
Read moreA Dreadlocked Fierce Warrior
The emoji on my phone representing yoga is someone in a lotus position. If you ask me I think Warrior 2 is a far better choice. I feel it's a more popular pose, accessible to most people. It’s a deceptively simple pose, which can make even the hardened yogi cry for mercy.
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