Recent Articles in Pranayama & Meditation

Duration: 11 minutes

Emphasis:  Take a break from your busy day to relax with this simple meditation. The mind is often so active, incessantly scrolling through thoughts, past events and future possibilities but this short practice aims to give you some respite from this. Rest your brain as you focus on the sounds and sensations of the world around you. If possible do this meditation outside, but if the weather or technology won't allow that then sitting by an open door, or even a window, works just as well.

Props needed: A cushion/block/folded blanket/chair to sit on, either outside or by an open door or window.

Mat direction: n/a

Duration: 10 minutes

Emphasis:  In this pranayama practice you'll deepen your breath and pause at the top of the inhalation (known as Antara Kumbhaka) and then pause at the bottom of the exhalation (known as Bahya Kumbhaka). This practice will help to increase your lung capacity and also calm the nervous system.

Props needed: None needed.

Mat direction: N/A.

Duration: 10 minutes

Emphasis:  In this short practice you'll combine the meditative experience of linking the breath and the movement together. It's simple - you'll raise the arms up on the inhalation and bring the hands together, down the centre line of the body on the exhalation - but effective. As well as encouraging you to focus on the present moment and deepening your breathing, it will gently stretch the muscles of the ribcage and encourage mobility of the shoulders.

Props needed: None required.

Mat direction: n/a

Duration: 7 minutes

Emphasis:  This is a lovely relaxing technique to calm and centre you when you're feeling stressed or anxious. Simple and easy to do anywhere (except, of course, if you're driving) the exercise traces the outline of your fingers in time with the rhythm of your breath - try it and see how you feel afterwards.

Props needed: None needed.

Mat direction: N/A

Duration: 6 minutes

Emphasis:  If you find that your mind often skips off to think about other things during your Pranayama practice, try this simple breathing technique to help you stay focussed. You'll imagine a square box in front of you and trace the outline of it in time with your breath.

Props needed: None.

Mat direction: n/a.

Duration: 7 minutes

Emphasis:  A meditation on the colour blue to soothe, relax the body and mind.

Props needed: A chair to sit on.

Mat direction: n/a.

Duration: 7 minutes

Emphasis:  Quieten the thoughts in the busy mind and relax the nervous system with this simple meditation. We'll slowly count backwards from 10 to 1 and repeat it again, allowing body and mind to settle and surrender into peace.

Props needed: Folded blanket to sit on, or, if you'd feel more comfortable, a chair.

Mat direction: N/A

Duration: 13 minutes

Emphasis:  Take a few minutes out of your busy day to relax in Savasana and practice these simple breathing techniques. They'll calm your nervous system, relax your muscles and quieten your mind. Bliss!

Props needed: A blanket to keep you warm if required.

Mat direction: n/a.

Duration: 6 minutes

Emphasis:  Take a few minutes to sit... be still... breathe well... and relax.  Alternate Nostril Breathing calms the mind and helps make it easier to concentrate. It relaxes the nervous system and helps reduce high cortisol levels. It encourages deep, even, smooth breathing which increases the supply of oxygen to the body and the brain and utilises all the breathing apparatus (nasopharynx, trachea, bronchioles and lungs) and helps keep the diaphragm (the major muscle of respiration) healthy and flexible. For best results practise Nadi Shodhana or other gentle forms of Pranayama on a regular daily basis.

Props needed: None required.

Mat direction: N/A

Duration: 5 minutes

Emphasis:  A simple breathing practice to relax your body and quieten your mind. As you breathe in and out for a count of 5 you will also be helping to your lungs and your diaphragm to become more flexible and expansive.

Props needed: None needed.

Mat direction: N/A.

Duration: 12 minutes

Emphasis:  Sometimes you just don't feel like doing any yoga but you do want to rest. In this class you'll be lying down for 12 minutes as I guide you through a meditative Savasana and into rest and stillness.

Props needed: A bolster or a rolled up pillow for under your knees (use a bathrobe tie to keep it in shape) and a blanket to keep you warm.

Mat direction: N/A.

Duration: 9 minutes

Emphasis:  We live in a culture that celebrates perfection and the correction of 'faults' so we have been conditioned to think of our physical differences from each other as problems. How often do you hear someone say 'I hate my feet/legs/hair/nose'?. This meditation invites us to see our bodies in a different way - to remind us that all the myriad parts of ourself working together is a miracle. Let's retrain ourselves to think about our bodies in this more positive way. Just so you know, the words of the meditation are not mine but I can't remember where they came from so I don't know who to credit.

Props needed: A cushion, blanket or chair to make yourself comfortable in an upright seated position.

Mat direction: n/a