Relocation Relocation!
In the last few weeks I have waved goodbye to Hertfordshire and hello once again to Essex and London and as sad as I am to be leaving all my classes and wonderful students and clients behind I am thankful to have been able to pass on some of my classes to my student Suzy Jowitt who I know is going to do an absolutely fabulous job of teaching!
I do intend to head back to Hertford once in a while to do some workshops so if you’re interested in these then do let me know and keep an eye on the website for more information on these too! For now I will be settling back into London and Essex so if you’re interested in hearing more about where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly!
Clare
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Yoga Magazine!
I am thrilled to be writing a new monthly feature on Yoga for Sports for Yoga Magazine, a wonderful UK based publication with a growing worldwide following. Each article will focus on a different sport dependant on the season and will take an indepth look at the sport in question and exactly how yoga can be used to aid both training and performance as well as reduce injury and improve lifestyle. This is a great opportunity for me to share my passion on Yoga for Sport and will hopefully help more athletes and yogis to see the wonderful benefits of combining an active lifestyle with a regular yoga practice. The first article is published in the June issue, out now, and is available in larger magazine retailers such as WHS. Alternatively subscriptions are available through their website.
Yoga Matters!
As a yoga teacher I am forever searching for the best products and companies out there and there is one company that has never failed to please. Yoga Matters are a UK based company and they are entirely run by fellow yogis. They source some amazing products and are generally a great bunch of people! To reach their site just click on the image below or find the link on my homepage. Happy yogic shopping! x
Yogaholic
The other day I was asked why I practice yoga and why I choose to practice and teach yoga above anything else, a question that has been on my mind ever since. I know that I love my yoga practice and I love to teach, but why?
Yoga has been in my life now for 12 years and though in the past I have occassionally drifted from my practice I always knew from the moment I stepped into my first class that I wanted to teach one day. I started yoga as a route to better health having suffered with near constant illness and poor health throughout my teenage and early adult life. With regular practice I found that both my health and energy levels improved and so for me yoga became a neccessity at times, but one that I was more than happy to have in my life. As my health improved I was able to focus less on myself and more on the actual yoga and content of the classes which gave me a chance to really think about what it was I liked about it. Initially I favoured the physical movements, the poses that I found so empowering and the wave of satisfaction everytime I managed to get the hang of a new one. Then before long I found happiness in the peace and quiet of my classes, I knew that even after a hectic day I could rely on my yoga class to calm me down and make me feel stronger, more confident and ready to face the world once more. Very often my yoga classes were the one place that I felt really comfortable in my own skin and they provided me with an opportunity to think about the direction in which my life was going, something that I’d not really managed to do while my health had been so bad. Yoga was opening my eyes!
Now years later, with far more knowledge under my belt, I am finally teaching and I feel fully dedicated to my yoga practice and to my teaching. I still love all the things I used to love about it but now there is so much more to love! I still adore the physical element of it and I am still satisfied whenever I manage a new asana though now the satisfaction is different somehow, almost quieter. Instead of being excited about the shapes I’m making I am excited that I have another posture to explore in detail and then potentially share with others. And now instead of just finding peace and quiet in my classes I find that my whole life feels calmer and more peaceful thanks to my regular practice and ability to relax. My yoga practice has become a journey that I know I will be on for the rest of my life, there is no rush to master everything and with my daily practice I know that improvements will come slowly and when I’m ready for them. Of course I still keep an element of effort and concentration in my practice as it would be so easy to get lazy and stuck in one place. The discipline remains but without force, I just breathe and allow things to happen and actually since I’ve learnt to do that the physical aspect has become so much easier and far more enjoyable. I may be a teacher but first and foremost I am a student and will forever remain a student because I know that with yoga, there is always something else to discover and learn and there is always something else to improve upon. To me that is perhaps one of the most refreshing and exciting prospects of yoga.
‘Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it’
Greg Anderson
Recently one of the things I have been increasingly fascinated by within my yoga practice and my teaching is how much yoga allows you to get to know yourself. I know my physical body, I know where I’m tightest, I know how my hips move and exactly where in my spine my back is a little tight, I know what range of movement I have in my shoulders and I know that I only ever get cramp in my right foot and never my left when I point my toes! I know the quality of my breathing, I know and have experienced the effect that breathing properly has on my body and on my mind and I am fully aware of how the process of breathing works. I understand the difference between bending from my hips and bending from my waist and I understand that when I draw my belly in and use the bandhas it really does make a difference to how far I can forward bend. But more than that, I actually fully recognise the days when my body feels remotely tired or, conversely, the days when my body feels full of energy and when my muscles ache or my body hurts I know what I can do to help it feel better and when I’m stressed I know how to relax. I know my body and I know my mind! Moreover by teaching I get to witness other people learn about their bodies and their minds!
In this day and age it’s so easy to get caught up in the stress of life and end up living so entirely within your thoughts and mind that you can become completely detached from your own body to the point where it’s almost as if some people don’t realise they have one at all! And they certainly don’t realise it’s amazing capabilities. Teaching yoga to people that have become detached from their physical bodies is something that is a real learning curve for me and is often something that I find extremely challenging. Yet when I see them begin to learn how to move their bodies and I see their backs start to lengthen and their shoulders start to let go of tension, when I see a downward dog transform from a near plank position that is hard to maintain to a beautiful inverted V position with a long back, a calm face and a steady breath; well that is a gift that is hard to put into words. Then as people begin to progress in whichever way is appropriate to them I am proud and priviledged to be able to pass on a little knowledge, to be able to provide them with more challenging postures, more information and more philosophy. Everyday I start to see people get stronger and healthier and now and again I get to see peoples lives change! And when a fellow student comes to me and tells me that they feel calmer and their bodies feel better that’s when I know they’re on a journey all of their own!
So to the question……..why yoga? Well, why not? I’m not so sure that it’s always wise to question everything but if you really want a reason then the answer is simple. I love it, I believe in it and it makes me smile!
My name is Clare Dobson and I am a Yogaholic.
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Earth Hour 2010!
On Saturday 27th March, Earth Hour will take place for the 3rd time. Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney and the event has grown year on year with more countries and people taking part so let’s try and make 2010 the biggest yet! Please pledge your support and show your love for the planet by switching your lights off for 1 hours at 8.30pm on Saturday 27th!
In fact why not add some Yoga to your Earth Hour and spend an hour focusing on the 5th limb of yoga, pratyahara; withdrawal of the senses. With no lights and no sound why not treat yourself to a nice long meditation and a much needed savasana!
For more information click here to see the Earth Hour website.
Wishing you lightness within the dark.
Clare
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Yoga for Sports Performance
Over the past several years Yoga has gained acceptance among athletes and triathletes and with very good reason; its effects are both physical and mental and it has endless benefits including increased strength, balance and flexibility, injury prevention and improvement in existing injuries and general health. It even helps increase lung capacity and function which is a key part of any endurance sport and is something I will be elaborating on much more in the future. But this isn’t anywhere close to where the benefits end for on top of all the physical benefits it also teaches the art of relaxation and improves concentration and focus. It teaches the practice of integrating the body and the mind. If you’re already competing then you should know the importance of a healthy mental attitude when racing. If you haven’t realised this then be sure that you’re nowhere near hitting your potential! And for anybody considering a future that may include swimming, biking and running for anywhere between 2 and 10 hours then I promise you, it’s the mental attitude and focus that will get you through it. Train as hard as you like but if your mind isn’t in the right place then the finish line will feel a lot further away!
Many of you may be wondering how you might find the time to fit yet another thing into your already full schedule but a decent yoga practice can be incorporated into your existing training programme in many different ways. Many professional and amateur triathletes choose to do a yoga class or practice on their rest day but you can also use yoga as part of your warm up and cool down routine and a restorative yoga practice once in a while can be massively beneficial to help open up tight muscles and help relax your body, particularly after a gruelling training session or a challenging race. No matter how busy your schedule there is an element of yoga that is right for you and your lifestyle and ultimately, wouldn’t you rather spend an extra 15 minutes here and there improving your body and decreasing the likelihood of injury than spending a potential 3 weeks or more not being able to do anything at all because of an accident, injury or illness that could well have been avoided if you’d only spent a little more time focusing on the recovery and maintenance part of your training?
If you’ve not tried Yoga before, then give it a go and see if in a few months everything feels a little better, maybe even a little easier and a little more enjoyable. You tweak and tune your bike to perfection, you expect the best out of it and so you should. Why not make 2010 the year you tweak and tune your own body to perfection and see what you might be able to get out of that too. Imagine the possibilities, expect your best!
Article also available through
Festive period…
Over the festive period things can get so busy for us all. Between the work parties, having the kids off school and trying to visit friends and family there seems to be a never ending list of things for us to do. Even though you may miss a class or two during the festivities I encourage you to continue with your yoga practice as much as you can even when you can’t get to a class. A relaxing 15 minute Savasana followed by a hot drink and a little time to yourself can make the world of difference especially if things start to get a bit too busy and stress starts to take over. You’ll find you stay calmer and get much more done in the long run if you dedicate even just a little bit of time to yourself. It’s important to remember that time for yourself isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity and everybody will thank you for it when you manage to keep your cool throughout all the madness that can arise during the season.
My classes will be running up until Tuesday 22nd December and will restart on Tuesday 5th January 2010. If you can’t get to your normal class then do consider coming to one of the others so that you still get your yoga fix, your class passes can be used for any class, anytime!
Wishing everybody an enjoyable festive season and don’t forget to relax and take care of yourselves!
Namaste
Clare
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Get ready to ride…!
A great friend of mine Tony has recently started a brand new company called UK Bike Skills, a progressive bicycle skills coaching company based in Hertford but offering training all over the UK.
Tony has been riding since the age of 4 and has since been a competitive Triathlete and Time Trial Racer but now commits his riding mainly to technical freeride mountain biking. He rides like nobody I’ve ever seen before! With a very professional and experienced team of instructors between them they can offer the best coaching you will find anywhere in the country, with a little more time I’ve no doubt they’ll have taken over the world! They truly raise the stakes in progressive bike riding and I would be happy to recommend them to anybody as they really ooze passion and professionalism in what they do.
For more information please see their website www.ukbikeskills.co.uk and mention my name if you take the wise decision to get in contact with them!
A new venue for Tuesdays!
It is with much pleasure I announce that starting next week on Tuesday 10th November the Tuesday evening Dynamic Flow class will be held in the wonderfully warm Hertford Town Church, down Hartham Lane. Times remain the same, all that’s different is that it will be more enjoyable to remove your socks and jumpers when you arrive, surely never a bad thing in a yoga class!
Look forward to seeing as many as possible on Tuesday!
Namaste
Clare
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October Class Update!
Sadly due to prebooked venue commitments there will be no Thursday night classes on either the 22nd or the 29th October so if you attend this class or are planning to attend then please make a note of this in your diaries.
I will try to source an alternative venue for these two nights so please do check the website for more information and I will be sure to let anybody on my mailing list know. If you would like to be added to my mailing list then please drop me an email with your name and email address.
Thanks!
Clare
