Health is your Wealth - Ayurveda

‘Health is your wealth’ as we say in Ayurveda. We can have all the money in the world, but if we don’t have our health then we can’t get to enjoy our financial wealth. Thus in Ayurveda we see health as fundamental to our experience of life on Planet Earth, and strengthening our immunity is therefore paramount.

Furthermore, one of the things I love about Ayurveda, other than it is from the Vedas and therefore tried and tested over thousands of years, is its focus, not just on the body and the mind but also on the soul – the whole being therefore. This of course is very different to the allopathic take on things where we still separate the body and mind - the body is treated in the PEH, for example, and the mind is treated at Oberlands and as for the soul…

Not only that, but one of Ayurveda’s main objectives is the prevention of dis-ease (lack of ease, disharmony then) by strengthening the immune system, which makes the immune system a significant element of Ayurveda. As we all know, our wellbeing is dependent on the body’s resistance to dis-ease and the immune system plays a significant role in the prevention of disease and therefore recovery from disease.

What we also know is that some people are more prone to disease than others. For example, among people living in infected surroundings only some of them are found to be affected while others are left without any effect. It shows that the pathogen (bacterium, virus or other microorganism) requires particular favourable conditions and susceptibility of the individual in order for disease to form. Without these conditions, the pathogen will be destroyed by themselves. Thus the stronger the immunity, the greater our protection from disease.

In Ayurveda, the focus is not on prevention of disease, per se, but on strengthening the immune system as a whole. In this way we can maximise ‘ojas’. Ojas is a Sanskrit term which can be translated as ‘vigour’ or essence of vitality. Essentially, ojas is the vital energy that governs our immunity, strength and happiness – three things we want in abundance. If our ojas is weak, then our health, our spirit and our energy decreases.

Like any hereditary characteristics, immunity is also inherited and is greatly influenced by several other factors such as diet, environment, way of living, age, mental state, development or growth and pathological conditions of the individuals.

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a holistic approach to healing, which focuses on the root cause of any loss of wellbeing rather than merely treating the symptoms. Originating in India thousands of years ago, the word Ayurveda is made from two Sanskrit roots ‘Ayu’ which mean life and ‘Veda’ which means knowledge. Therefore, the term Ayurveda means the knowledge or science of life. Ayurveda uses a combination of diet, herbal medicine and lifestyle choices to promote wholeness and vitality.

Essentially, Ayurveda is a lifestyle, which offers a path to greater consciousness. Indeed a certain level of consciousness and self-responsibility is required to bring Ayurveda into your life, allowing you to move beyond habits and behaviour patterns which do not support your nature or indeed health and wellbeing.

In Ayurveda, factors which lessen immunity include:

·      Mental stress such as fear, anxiety, grief, anger and rage

·      Poor diet and nutritional disturbances

·      Lack of sleep

·      Excessive physical exertion/exercise

·      Alcohol, drugs and smoking

·      Severe infection

·      Injury, accidental or surgical

·      Excessive loss of bodily fluids

·      Wasting

·      Season, environment and age

·      Severe constitutional derangement.

In Ayurveda, factors which enhance immunity include:

·      Balanced diet appropriate to the constitution

·      Mental peace

·      Proper exercise

·      Favourable climate

·      Characteristics of race and generation in which birth took place

·      Genetics of parents

·      Constitutional characteristics (vata, pitta, kapha)

·      Adolescence

·      Proper mental stimulation

In the ancient Ayurvedic texts we are told that features of a healthy person include:

Dosha – the doshas (one of three biological energies circulating within the body) which are present in the body and mind (vata, pitta and kapha) and must be in a balanced state in order to keep a person healthy. When the balance of the doshas is disturbed, then this can lead to a state of disease and impact on the immune system.

Agni (fire) – in order for an individual to stay healthy, his/her digestive fire must be balanced and effective. When the digestive fire is weak, this can cause many diseases. It is well known that the health of an individual is dependent on the strength of their digestion.

Waste products – the excretion of faeces, urine and sweat must be balanced.

Tissues – the seven tissues of the body must be in a balanced state and able to function properly.

Senses – the sensory and motor organs and mind must be in equilibrium and able to discharge to perform their duties properly.

Mind – the state of mental health is more important than physical health. Look after your mental state!

Soul – awakened consciousness, unifying body and mind for eternal health and happiness.

How is this achieved through diet?

Eating for your constitution, being aware of the impact various foods/drinks have on your digestive capability, and resulting mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Avoiding foods/drinks which don’t support your wellbeing on all those levels. Lots of vegetables and fruits. Avoiding cold or raw foods as these can be difficult to digest properly unless your digestive function is brilliant! Nourishing soups using coconut milk and light spices, white rice, chicken, white fish, pulses, cereals, soft cheeses, pitta bread, that sort of thing. Think nourishing and warming (but not spicy).

Pitta - Those who are predominantly pitta (fire and water), need to be mindful of excess heat in the body, especially if suffering with stress, migraines, infections, acidity, stomach ulcers, inflammatory conditions and loose stools, tendency to anger, impatience and intolerance, and should therefore absolutely avoid chilli, tomatoes, vinegars, citrus fruits, red meat and fish and red wine.

Kapha - Those who are predominantly kapha (water and earth) inclined, being mindful of excess mucus, especially if you are feeling sluggish, lazy, sticky, heavy, cold, digestion I slow, feeling unforgiving and having a hard time letting go, should absolutely avoid dairy products and heavy foods such as creamy pasta dishes, fried foods, rich curries and puddings etc.

Vata - Those who are predominantly vata inclined (air and ether) need to be mindful of feelings of anxiety, insomnia, nervousness, cold hands and feet and constipation (like rabbit droppings) and should avoid excessive bird foods such as nuts, seeds and dried fruits and other light and crunchy food such as crackers and crudities.

Anything else which helps?

·      By maintaining proper function of the digestive system, only eating when hungry and avoiding excessive snacking.

·      Yoga for promoting mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing. Practising gently and consciously to nourish and support the constitution, not creating further imbalance or exhaustion 

·      Taking adequate rest – Yoga Nidra (guided relaxation) can help and there are a plethora of free ones on my website.

·      Appropriate exercise such as walking and swimming.

·      Socialising with friends and family whose company you enjoy. Avoiding the company of anyone who adds stress to your life.

·      Avoid ingesting anything which depletes you such as alcohol, smoking, drugs, junk food, social media, news channels etc

·      A clean and clear environment – throughout junk and clutter!

·      Getting out into nature when you can. Walking on the beach and cliffs. Noticing the sun and moon cycle, watching the stars at night, listening to the birds etc.

·      A positive outlook. Reducing exposure to negativity, including places and people.

·      Engaging in activities which make you feel happy such as reading, writing, artwork, singing, watching feel good films etc.

·      Connecting into your heart and smiling and laughing as much as you can.

·      Wearing/holding crystals.

·      Taking Ayurvedic medicine where needed.

In short, only we can make the difference that we seek with our health and wellbeing. We have to take responsibility – it is no good waiting for someone else to do it for us because they can’t, we have to do it for ourselves. This is an empowering experience and once we take responsibility, we will wonder why we didn’t do it earlier.

For anyone wishing to explore Ayurveda further then pleased contact Emma at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk.

Is your Pitta out of balance?

The Pitta dosha consists of the fire and water elements. It is responsible for digestion, metabolism, and energy production.

Tell me about Pitta people

Predominantly Pitta people are likely to be passionate, fiery, intense and goal orientated. Their body will likely be of moderate weight and height, with good flexibility, muscle strength and athletic ability. In theory, a Pitta person has a lustrous complexion, perfect digestion, abundant energy and good daily routines established.

Pitta dominated individuals have a strong intellect (often in the gifted/talented areas of learning) and have good concentration skills. Thus, Pitta types make excellent academics, scientist, leaders, entrepreneurs and pioneers. Good decision-making, rational processes with the ability to lead and teach are all therefore qualities of Pitta dominance.

When out of balance, you might find the Pitta person is outspoken, bossy, controlling and/or domineering. Pitta imbalance can also lead to someone becoming judgemental, jealous, impatient and angry. The excess heat in the mind can cause a Pitta person to be in constant conflict within their relationships, and find it hard to see another's point of view – this can create a rigid outlook on life and lead to controlling and paranoid behaviour.

What aggravates Pitta?

The Pitta dosha is aggravated by excessive amounts of the pungent/chilli, sour and salty tastes. It is also aggravated by excessive use of alcohol and caffeine. Furthermore, irregular daily routines i.e. shift work, and excess exposure to hot environments (including the sun) will disturb Pitta.

Pitta is also disturbed by doing things to excess, such as eating excessive amounts of red meat, red fish,oily and heavy foods, leafy greens, raw vegetables, meat from wild animals, vinegars, mustard and fermented sauces and pickles, chilli and turmeric, root vegetables and raw vegetables. It can also be disturbed by excessive consumption of hot drinks (hot in temperature and in quality such as caffeine, mint and green teas.

Furthermore an overly luxurious and hedonistic lifestyle can disturb Pitta, as well as sleeping all day, eating meals too frequently or too many meals in a day and/or eating while feeling angry, hatred or frustration.

When experiencing a Pitta imbalance, people will crave cooling foods, a cooling environment and cooler clothing. They might experience excess salivation, excess thirst and hunger, burning sensations in the body, and general excessive body heat and/or sweat.

What conditions indicate a Pitta imbalance?

Excess Pitta may manifest as skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, cellulitis, and/or fungal or bacterial infections.

Furthermore, when Pitta is in excess, a person is more likely to suffer from hyper acidity, heartburn, ulcers, IBS, bleeding conditions, menstrual or hormonal imbalances, UTIs, migraines, mouth ulcers, hot flushes, disorders of the mind such as depression, schizophrenia and destructive/violent behaviour, or eye conditions such as conjunctivitis.

Also, Pitta is connected to any form of inflammation such as rheumatoid arthritis or an acute injury like a sprain.

How can you tell you have a Pitta imbalance?

An increase in body temperature, craving for certain foods, irritation of the eyes, excessive sweating, increase in desire, hyperactivity, quick temper, anger and frustration, night sweats, nightmares, excessive desire for luxury lifestyle and fear of loss of such lifestyle, being excessively goal orientated, feeling of dissatisfaction and depression., excessive self-criticism and judgement, desire for excessive control of food, activity and desire, being increasingly impatient and intolerant, also erring towards rigidity in mind and being very self-righteous.

General guidelines for balancing Pitta

 Balance work, rest and play: A Pitta person will tend to overwork and overdo and therefore struggle to place importance on rest and recovery. This must be made a priority, if only for a few moments a day.  Yoga Nidra can be really helpful in this regard.

Pitta people define the word “hangry” and will become agitated very easily digestively and within the mind too, if not eating regularly enough (every 2-3 hours is ideal).

Spending regular time in nature can be extremely helpful. The natural environment (especially around trees, running water and mountains etc.) cools and softens the Pitta character and is the ideal space for rebalancing the Pitta elements in the body.

Gentle walking, swimming and yoga can be ideal.

Being out in the full moon and embracing cool breezes will calm a Pitta dominated person.

Pitta types need more sweet, bitter and astringent tastes added into the diet and have foods that are moist and easily digestible.  Foods which have a sweet taste and cold potency) which doesn’t mean they are cold to eat - avoid raw and cold foods. Sweet and wholesome soups and stews are ideal, rice, pulses, sweet fruits, coconut, white fish and chicken.

Encourage a good laugh and a lightness to life. This will help the pitta person now take themselves and their purpose too seriously.

Spending time with friends who are not controlling and small children, family etc.

Pitta dominated people tend to favour clothes that are dominant in blues, greens and silver, which will help them stay cool and soothe their energy field.

 Aromatherapy oils such as sandalwood, rose, jasmine, mint, lavender, fennel, and chamomile are all great for pacifying Pitta.

 Holding pearls, Rose Quartz, Moonstone and Amethyst can help too.

 Is there anything else I can do?

You can book in for a session with me and we can look at your diet and lifestyle together to see what might need tweaking. There are medicinal herbs which you can take, which will help to restore balance, especially for women subjected to the hot flushes of peri-menopause and those who are currently experiencing infertility. But really, the herbs can help with all disorders, just trying to bring a balance to the digestive fire will help. Please email me at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk for more information.

Love Emma x

What is a dosha in Ayurveda?

Dosha in Ayurveda means the energies, which are formed by a combination of the different elements of air, ether, fire, water and earth.

These energies fundamentally construct and govern the workings of our entire bodily system. Additionally, the doshas can be observed in the very essence of all other sentient beings and nature itself.

As humans, we have all three doshas present in our bodies, Pitta, Kapha and Vata. These are made up as follows:

Pitta – fire and water

Kapha – water and earth

Vata – air and ether

What makes each of us unique however, is every individuals ratio or unique combination of the doshas. Some of us are dominated strongly by one dosha alone, while others share bi-doshic, being equally dominant in two doshas and for some, there is an equal balance between all three, making a tri-doshic body type.

Our doshic make up is made up from a combination of our parents genetics, our mothers pregnancy and health, our family history, time of conception, extrinsic environmental exposure and karmic factors too.

If you observe within your family, you will see that everyone is unique in their own way, despite sharing genetics. I am conscious that within my immediate family, our body frames, weight, hair colour and structure, skin, metabolisms and health susceptibilities all vary to some degree, albeit I can also see commonalities in dosha.

I am also conscious that as a mother, if my dosha is out of balance, if I am too fiery for example, because my Pitta is out of balance, then this will influence my children’s doshas and my youngest son, who is also Pitta-Kapha, will show more signs of fieriness too. If I am displaying a Vata imbalance and feeling anxious, then this will enhance my eldest’s tendency towards anxiety. This is the reason, as a mother and caretaker, we might take our own doshic balance seriously, because any imbalance affects those around us.

Ayurveda - an incredibly intelligent science - acknowledges our dosha individuality as the key foundation for lifestyle, well-being and healing strategies, not least for the individual but for the whole family.

If you are keen to explore your doshic imbalance then book in for an Ayurvedic session with me. During this session we will talk at length about your state of health and concerns, so that I can be clear on your imbalance and treat to this. It is only once the imbalance has been balanced that we may gain insight into your true constitution. For more information please click here.

I am biased of course, but working with Ayurveda since 2006 has been life changing. It is thousands of years old and has a philosophical underpinning, and offers a way of life that leads to greater consciousness as well as healing.

Belonging

There is a theme at the moment, around belonging. Where do we belong?

I feel it’s very simple. We come into this world on our own and we will leave on our own. Our sense of belonging begins and ends with our relationship with ourselves and with the Earth that we live on.

Yes, it can be helpful to feel a connection to our community - certainly I take pleasure from spending time with people in the Beinspired community, and I love the community down at Fort Grey, but I can survive without both; I don’t need either to define me or make me feel whole.

I believe it might be a conditioning of ours to believe that we need to feel part of something to experience a sense of belonging - the whole, “who is my tribe?” question, which often circulates among new age circles especially. Maybe also, we need to re-define our idea of friend, and how to be in relationship (in harmony) with others.

Certainly when we step out on the journey to know thyself we can find ourselves feeling quite alone. We don’t fit into the world we left behind, we might struggle to relate to friends, family members and colleagues, for example, and we haven’t yet reached a point of acceptance of our place in the world - so we long for something concrete to hold onto, some recognition of familiarity, so we don’t feel quite so alone.

But the truth is, when we do step out on this journey, it is one of aloneness. It is a solo journey. No one else can do it for us. Sure it can help to have friends and family we love who might buoy our faith and give us the courage to keep walking our path. But more often than not, they won’t understand us. Following a path of heart makes little sense to anyone else - at times it doesn’t even make sense to us because it has not been lived previously and the heart is not linear.

So yes, it can then be helpful to have people who understand, who know what it is like to tread this path, to live differently from the heart, to increasingly let go of the rational and intellectual take on things, to prioritise love, well-being and freedom over power and money in the patriarchal and capital sense, to step outside of mainstream and the comfort zone of conditioned living.

But even then, we have to do it alone.

We have to leave behind the comfort of the known and the certain, of all that we have believed and bought into - of all we thought we were to step into something much more authentic and real and yet unscripted and therefore unknown. There is a lag then between the person we were and the person we are becoming and it is this which causes us to cling for something which may give us a greater sense of belonging, because the aloneness can be scary, the unknown brings with it fear.

But to belong, means to know ourselves.

We cannot find it outside of ourselves. That was the old way - seeking validation of worth from others, people pleasing, sacrificing our sense of self to fit in. We can’t keep doing this. The path of heart, of greater authenticity, demands that we celebrate ourselves and all our differences, and settle more fully into an increasingly comfortable and wholesome relationship with our self, which is where we will find our true sense of belonging - not outside ourselves, but deep inside instead.

We will question it of course. We will wonder whether we have made the right decision to opt out of the mainstream, and we might consider a return. But we know that this won’t bring us the joy that we seek, that we will once again have to dumb down to fit in. For a time we are caught between a rock and a hard place, neither here nor there but somewhere in-between. This is a wonderful space to be if we can settle into it, a cauldron of potential, an opportunity to strengthen our faith, to cultivate greater trust and to lean more fully into our own true self, to find a greater sense of belonging deep within ourself.

You see, this journey teaches us trust, not only in ourselves but in the universe. It also offers us the potential to really know our own truth and to own and indeed celebrate our differences. We realise that only we can truly meet our own needs and we learn to forgive and let go of blaming others for not having met them previously.

We tighten our boundaries and take our energy seriously, protecting ourselves in the process. In short we take responsibility, not only for our health and wellbeing, but for treading lightly on this earth, while meeting our various obligations and earning an honest livelihood in the process.

There is this wonderful quote from Mary Angelou:

"You only are free when you realize you belong no place - you belong every place - no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great."

This quote does seem counter intuitive - how can you belong when you belong no place? Author Brené Brown (who wrote Braving the Wildness, about belonging) was asked this question in an interview with Lewis Howes and she said:

"I feel I belong everywhere I go, no matter where it is or who I'm with as long as I never betray myself. And the minute I become who you want me to be in order to fit in and make sure people like me is the moment I no longer belong anywhere."

It is not easy as I know from my own experience. It’s much easier - and yet much more painful - to be less of who we are to try to fit in, betraying ourselves in the process. It takes courage to be true and stand in our own power, even when this goes against the grain of friends, family and society. But actually following our path also gifts us courage and gives us our power back again; this is the paradox and the path to greater freedom in our lives.

It is my wish and my life mission to help others create a life on their own terms, without feeling the pressure to betray themselves and give up their authenticity and indeed joy, just to be accepted by others. We need to shift the perspective and learn to celebrate our differences, rather than giving ourselves a hard time for them. Anything which takes us towards greater freedom should be encouraged, not feared.

We need to keep breaking free from the binds of patriarchy, capitalism and consumerism and finding new ways to be, that help us to recognise that true belonging is found within each of us - it is never too late to become the person that we truly are, that truly belongs to each of us individually.

For those keen to step up into greater authenticity might benefit from my spiritual life coaching. This really helps people to love and accept their true self, gives them the courage to live their dreams - it doesn’t serve any of us to stay dumbed down and unhappy.

I am also intending to run a course on self-love this autumn as it seems such a travesty of our times for so many to waste this one precious life on planet Earth being their own worst enemy and constantly giving themselves a hard time - we need to shift the collective into something much more positive and heart felt. Keep an eye on the website for more information. You can also email me for more info at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk.

Have a wonderful week.

Love Emma

Happy solstice!

I hung out with the moon last night, I love how it does the opposite of the sun, rises far in the south east in the summer, and hangs low in the sky, while the sun rises far north east on the solstice and hangs high in the sky.

I was in a dolmen too, and they have a habit of connecting us more deeply with the earth if we let them, magic portals to other worlds, we just have to have the energy to transition and our society does it’s best to keep our energy lower than it would have been for the ancients with all the external noise, and of course the internal noise too.

I am certainly not a conspiracy theorist but I can see how we are being continuously dumbed down and distracted so that we cannot hear the earth so clearly, or our inner voice, which always knows…

I found myself up with the birds this morning and heading out to the coast to watch the sunrise. It’s not technically the solstice, that’s tomorrow, but the sun is already at the standstill and I wanted to check an alignment. There’s something quite incredible about watching the sunrise, I danced with joy witnessing this huge ball of pink light rise into the sky. I remembered what it feels like to be truly alive.

This is the earth’s gift to us of course, if we can be quiet enough to listen, if we can find the solitude that this requires, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Interestingly I was able to witness the sun rise at exactly the spot that I witnessed the winter solstice set, just in the opposite direction. There is order in the cosmos, even if it might not feel like it at times.

I hope you enjoy the magic of the next few days, of the sun reaching its farthest rise to the north east, and the full moon following on Saturday, and all that she gifts.

As always we are reminded, that we know it all anyway, deep inside us, and all this practice and connection is just helping us to remember, to get out of our own way, be quiet and still and listen and witness.

Happy solstice!

Love Emma x

We are impermanent!

We are impermanent.

We are not here forever.

One day we will die.

This is perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned from my meanderings into the world of sorcery, which has fascinated me for much of this year.

As a whole, our society lives as if we humans are permanent, as if our lives will never end. We put off today for tomorrow, and we struggle to let go of the past because there will be time to deal with that in the future…if it ever comes.

There’s this wonderful section in Carlos Castaneda’s book, The Active Side of Infinity, in which Don Juan, the sorcerer is trying to each Carlos, the apprentice, about impermanence:

“We beings are on our way to dying”, he said [don Juan]. “We are not immortal, but we behave as if we were. This is the flaw that brings us down as individuals and will bring us down as a species someday”.

Don Juan started that sorcerers’ advantage over their average fellow man is that sorcerers know that they are beings on their way to dying and that they don’t let themselves deviate from that knowledge. He emphasised that an enormous effort must be employed in order to elicit and maintain knowledge as a total certainty.

“Why is it so hard for us to admit something that is so truthful?”, I asked, bewildered by the magnitude of our internal contradiction.

“It’s really not man’s fault”, he said in a conciliatory tone. “Someday, I’ll tell you more about the forces that drive a man to act like an ass”.

As a note, Carlos is an anthropologist and he has placed an anthropology lecturer, Professor Lorca, on a pedestal. We all know how easy this is to do, the yoga world is rife with examples of people who have placed themselves on pedestals in the form of the (false) guru and of those who place others on that pedestal, be it their teacher or someone they have never met, imagining them far more evolved than themselves.

But it isn’t always helpful in our lives, because we are sometimes blinded to their truth and to acknowledging our own power. Don Juan’s advice to Carlos has been to get to know the professor, “don’t admire people from afar”, he said, “This is the surest way to to create mythological beings. Get close to our professor, talk to him, see what he’s like as a man. Test him. If your professor’s behaviour is the result of his conviction that he is a being who is is going to die, then everything he does, no matter how strange, must be premeditated and final. If what he says turns out to be just words, he’s not worth a hoot”.

I would say the same to anyone wanting to study with a yoga teacher, get to know them, make sure that they are walking their truth, and conscious of their impermanence and place in this world.

“It’s no great feat for me to assess your professor at a distance”, don Juan went on. “He is an immortal scientist. He is never going to die. And when it comes to concerns about dying, I am sure he has taken care of them already. He has a plot to be buried in, and a hefty life insurance policy that will take care of his family. Having fulfilled those two mandates, he doesn’t think about death anymore. He thinks only about his work”.

“Professor Lorca makes sense when he talks”, don Juan continued, “because he is prepared to use words accurately. But he’s not prepared to take himself seriously as a man who is going to die. Being immortal, he wouldn’t know how to do that. It makes no difference what complex machines scientists can build. The machines can in no way help anyone face the unavoidable appointment; the appointment with infinity”.

“Sorcerers…do have the upper hand; as beings on their way to dying, they have someone whispering in their ear that everything is ephermal. The whisperer is death, the infallible advisor, the only one who won’t ever tell you a lie”.

This is a concept I have embraced in my life and with my clients at times too, using death as one’s advisor - if you knew you were to die tomorrow, what would you do differently?

Using death as a an advisor is very helpful. It stops us putting off for tomorrow what we could change today. It helps us realise that everything we do in this moment has an impact on our future being.

“Svarasavahi-Vidusah-Api-Tatha-Arudhah-Abhinivesah”, II.9 in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras tells us that the desire to live is deeply ingrained, even in the wise. This, from a simple worry to complete panic, these forms of anxiety are only expressions of fear. The consequence of ‘abhiniveśah’ is an inflated instinct of self preservation, a very deep seated attachment to the body, which makes us want to survive at any cost. However, this doesn’t mean that we always act in a way that assumes we want to preserve our life.

We don’t always look after ourselves as we might if we realised our impermanence. We sometimes live as if we are invincible. It is only when we get sick that we may begin to take greater responsibility for our health and wellbeing. From an Ayurvedic perspective, there are six stages of disease, which i find fascinating. It’s a reminder of the importance of trying to maintain balance so that any imbalances do not progress into disease:
1. Initial stage
Imbalance is situated in the gastrointestinal tract and is best treated with diet. This stage is relatively minor and often the body’s own wisdom (if we allow it) corrects the imbalance.
2. Build-up stage
If balance is not restored, toxicity (ama) spreads into the circulatory system. Symptoms at this stage are a sense of being mildly uncomfortable. Most of us ignore these symptoms or suppress them with over-the-counter medications.
3. Spreading stage
Toxins journey through the main circulatory systems of the body causing additional symptoms. These symptoms often become chronic.
4. Accumulation stage
This is when toxins, after moving through the circulatory system, find a weak spot and settle. According to Ayurveda this is the beginning of actual disease. This is when most people finally visit the doctor hoping for a quick cure.
5. Manifestation Stage
At this stage western medicine will likely give a patient a clinical diagnosis. The actual structure of the tissues begins to break down making it difficult to reverse the progression of the disease. This is when most people finally visit the doctor hoping for a quick cure.
6. Complications Stage
The tissue is severely damaged and may begin to affect the surrounding tissues resulting in additional complications.

This is also another reminder to get to know thyself, to understand our mind and body and to be aware when we are living out of baiance to the extent that our health begins to suffer. We have to appreciate that just because society encourages us to live a certain way - or friends, family and our culture for that matter - this doesn’t mean that this will work for us individually. There is neurosis about being different, yet to me, we should be celebrating these differences. Many of us are neurodiverse and sensitive and are not meant to be living the mainstream way.

However, many reject ourselves because of not “fitting in”. which is often the greatest harming we can do to ourselves. It is an insidious within our society to not love or accept ourselves - this is the main issue facing my clients. They feel that they are not good enough because they don’t live up to the expectations of others, or indeed our idea of ‘success’ in society. They are down on themselves, loathing their body because it doesn’t resemble the idea of ‘beauty’ per social media and the latest fashion within society. They reject parts of themselves that they consider are ‘bad’ without realising that such concepts do not exist, at least from a soulful level.

At times we can be our greatest tyrant, harming ourselves with our internal noisy self depreciating and negative voice. Of course there are other factors. We live in an increasingly busy world, it is very difficult to find peace, we have to fight for it, to have time away from the demands of others, even if those are friends and family, to contain our energy. Our society is currently set up to distract us from knowing ourselves on a deeper level, the phone is one of our greatest enemies in that regard, not least because of the frequency it emits, but because of its constant distraction, which keeps us locked into the material and superficial world of comparison and ‘not enough’ mentality.

Furthermore, from an environmental perspective, life is noisy. We are surrounded by 4 and 5G, we have wires running throughout our houses, under our roads, over our heads, planes frequently filling the skies, some involved in cloud seeding, creating the ‘chem trails’, pesticides, vaccines, we are bombarded by all sorts of pollutants that have become normalised and yet all play a role in impacting our health and wellbeing. We have to fight to protect ourselves in this regard, to breathe fresh air, drink clean water and eat foods which have not been tainted by chemicals and poor soil conditions. Tight finances means that we struggle to shelter ourselves, to provide for our most basic needs. Life has lost its balance and mainly because of our ongoing separation from nature.

Furthermore, we may keep making the same mistakes and therefore receiving the same lessons over and over again. We may over eat or under eat, we may laze around or not be able to stop, we may keep falling for the same destructive relationships, or shy away from them entirely, there are many ways we deceive ourselves, ignore our truth, keep on doing what we have done previously and yet hoping for a different result. It is very easy to numb ourselves from our reality and hope for the best, put it off for tomorrow - the “I’ll get to it at retirement” mentality, without appreciating that there is no guarantee we will actually make it to retirement.

This is where yoga and Reiki can help us enormously. They help to shine the light into our shadows, so we can see more clearly the lessons and learn from them so we don’t keep repeating them. These practices help us to come to know ourselves - to understand the workings of our mind, to appreciate our body as a vehicle for this lifetime, to connect with our soul, to find a way to be in this world where we celebrate our differences, are kinder to ourself, see more of the bigger picture and step away from the slave mentality that permeates our world - it’s an interesting enquiry - what are we a slave to in our life?

Ultimately though, we begin to realise our impermanence and we orientate towards an increasingly moment to moment existence. We may begin to look after ourselves better, taking responsibility for our health and wellbeing, not believing all that we are told by politicians, scientists and media, finding our own truth and living authentically in the process, making decisions which will help us to thrive and allow us to live well.

We might stop caring so much what others think, so that we don’t expand huge amounts of energy masking and trying to be someone we are not and never will be. We stop trying to live like others because that is how we are told we should live. We stop people pleasing. We stop trying to be all things. We let go of the false conditioning that has been put upon us by our society, our culture, our family, our teachers, our friends, our religion, our traditions. We let go and become more of who we are, beyond what we have been told.

Ultimately though we begin to recognise our impermanence and we live increasingly in the present, healing our past and not putting off today for tomorrow. We learn to increasingly let go of all we thought, so we can realise more of who we are at essence.

Yet there is still fear about dying. Fear because we literally have to let go of all that we have cared about - our body, our world possessions, our loved ones. Our whole construct around money, power, prestige and status becomes irrelevant. A generation later and we will be forgotten, a name on a gravestone, someone now resting in peace. Or so we hope. The idea of losing our identity is terrifying and hence why Patanjali calls fear of death an affliction, one of the Kleshas then.

Yoga helps us to strip back the false layers of identify, until we can access Purusha, our eternal self, the part of us that lives beyond time and space, that is not subject to the kleshas or the gunas, that is an all pervading presence that continues from one lifetime to the next. Essentially yoga - and Reiki - helps us to let go and to let go and to let go. And let’s face not, the ultimate letting go is one of death, so the more comfortable we are with letting go in life, the more comfortable we will be in letting go at the end.

But really it isn’t an end. Death may cause an end to our body, to our connection with loved ones, to our worldly possessions, but it does not kill the soul. It is this connection that it eternal. Yet so many live with a complete disconnect to this part of themselves.

Many are awakening to their greater potential however. Realising that we are more than just our body and our mind. More are beginning to realise that we have the potential to know ourselves better than anyone else can ever know us.

My yoga teacher always says that our yoga practice is preparing us for a good death - because death is the ultimate letting go, so we let go during our practice increasingly so, it is familiar to us, this notion, and the easier we let go, the gentler our passing will be.

Increasing numbers of my students are considering this passing. There is an interest in becoming a death doula. I am asked about this because one of my friend’s already works in this capacity, is a death doula, albeit not in name. She has been gifted with an ability to help others pass peacefully. There are increasing numbers of courses available for people to train to be a death doula, to bring more light to dying and release some of the fear. if you are interested then read this link.

Which brings me to death itself. One of my friends sent me this link to an article about two people who died and came back to life again. The message is quite clear - Are you doing something that matters with your life?'

Are you doing something that matters with your life?

If not, why not?

What gets in your way? What are your obstacles?

More often than not we are up against our own mind and its limitations. We don’t feel we have the strength to make changes. We struggle to take responsibility. We worry too much about the notion of failing. We let imposter syndrome take over. Our ego can be ever so debilitating if we let it. Sometimes we have to feel our fear and do it anyway. We have to keep walking our path despite that little voice telling us we are not good enough.

At some point we have to elevate the perspective. To step away from our small self and realise more of the greater Self, that voice that knows that all is OK, that we each have gifts to bring forth into this world, to help and make a difference, to do something with our lives that truly matters, beyond our need for external validation. At some point we have to turn inwards.

Which brings me back to don Juan and his teachings:

“I left don Juan’s house more confused than ever. There was a voice inside me that virtually demanded that I end all endeavours with Professor Lorca. I understood how right don Juan was when he said to me once that the practicalities that scientists were interested in were conducive to building more and more complex machines. They were not the practicalities that changed an individual’s life course from within. They were not geared to reaching the vastness of the universe as a personal, experiential affair. The stupendous machines in existence, or those in the making, were cultural affairs, the attainment of which had to be enjoyed vicariously, even by the creators of those machines themselves. The only reared for them was monetary”.

This to me is a fabulous reminder of the way in which science and technology is merely a distraction from us going deeper inside ourselves and recognising our impermanence and living therefore with greater meaning in our everyday existence - being grateful for each day and the life that it gifts us.

We are impermanent.

Our greatest gift to ourself is to truly realise this.

Love Emma x

Tell me about yoga

What is yoga?

At its roots, yoga is a spiritual practice, which helps  to stabilise and contain the mind so that we may realise more of our true self, the eternal self which never changes, which is called purusha. This is not our true potential in so much as our job title or salary, but in terms of our deeper sense of self – our connection to soul essentially. Thus yoga is a discipline, which helps to link us to various parts of ourselves, whether that be our body, our breath, our mind or something higher, in which we may have faith.

 It is worth noting that yoga postures (asana) are only one of various practices available to us which help us establish a state of yoga. Other practices may include breathing exercises (pranayama), the use of sound (mantra), the use of visualisations (yantra), meditation, and actually anything that takes us in the direction of a state of yoga, which essentially means being fully conscious, and can therefore also include activities such as gardening with awareness, walking mindfully, enjoying a sunset etc.

But what about yoga postures – how can they benefit us?

The most obvious place to begin yoga is with the body, because it is something tangible, which we can see and compare between yesterday and today, so we can notice how it is changing. This means practising asana, which are body positions that we might not ordinarily use in our daily life. As we begin to relate to our body through these postures, we might become more interested in our breathing and how this affects how we feel. Over time we might start to notice our mind and how it is becoming more focused and contained, and as a result we might begin to experience less mental suffering and greater freedom on all levels of being.

Furthermore, practising yoga postures helps us to heal our relationship  with out body, and provides many benefits to our overall health and wellbeing, from lowering blood pressure, to calming the mind, to easing anxiety, to healing depression, to strengthening our bones, to helping our grounding, to increasing our overall stamina, to encouraging greater focus and ultimately to  freeing the spine and indeed the mind, which leads to greater freedom.

For me this is the joy of yoga. With consistent and regular practice, we are offered freedom. You simply cannot put a price on this. The best thing too, is that it’s free, at least if you manage to establish a daily home practice.

How do I establish a home practice?

Personally, I found this easy simply because I appreciated very quickly the benefits of a daily practice, and in part because I was competitive back then and wanted to improve quickly! I bought myself a yoga book called Yoga in Practice by Katy Appleton and I basically taught myself from this, while also going along to regular classes. After a year, I threw myself into yoga and travelled on and off for a good few years, spending lengthy periods of time in Australia and Nepal as well as in India and Canada, immersing myself in yoga.

Nowadays you don’t need to travel to access a variety of different yogic teachings as You Tube is awash with free yoga content. There are a number of free videos available through our You Tube channel too, which you can access from this website, and while they no longer reflect my current style of teaching, I know that they have been very helpful to my students in establishing a regular practice at home.

Ideally though, yoga should be practiced with a teacher who understands your needs and can help you to establish a practice that benefits rather than hinders or keeps reinforcing old habits and unhelpful ways of being. 

It wasn’t until I met my teacher, Louise, in 2019 that things really changed for me.  Until that time I had moved from one teacher to the next, depending on my location, and while this was helpful in so much as I explored a myriad of yoga styles, spending much of my time practising and indeed then teaching vinyasa or dynamic yoga, it wasn’t helping me to go deeper and shift some of my core Samskaras (habits, patterns) which were unhelpful ways of being, not only in my body and my mind but also in my daily life – as Henry Ford said ”If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.

How soon will things change for me?

We have to remember that it takes time. Yoga is not a quick fix approach. We have to move away from the allopathic mindset that says we can take a tablet to heal ourselves. This is often only superficial, merely treating the symptoms without getting to the root cause. Like Ayurveda and Reiki, yoga tries to take us to the root, to free us from whatever it is that is causing our loss of wellness or anxiety or depression, or knee issue etc.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is the first ancient text solely about yoga, tells us that to overcome obstacles in our life, we should choose one practice to focus upon, which should be a steady and balanced practice (an equal amount of both) practised with a certain amount of effort. Furthermore, the practice should be for the long term (again, no quick fix approach), without interruption, with a positive attitude, with enthusiasm and thoroughly.  

Do I have to commit to yoga

If you wish to experience the many benefits of yoga, then yes, there must be a certain discipline and therefore commitment.

I work best with those who are willing, committed and ready to take responsibility for themselves and their practice. Many people tell me they practice yoga, but when prompted it turns out their yoga mat has spent the last six months in the boot of their car. There has to be clear intent and the discipline to get on your mat and to class regularly.

 An open mind and heart works best, from me too. When it comes down to it, I truly want the best outcome for you and your life and love to share yoga for this very reason, because it absolutely positively changes things.

What style of yoga do you teach

For me, yoga is about freedom and this is what I hope to share in my teachings. I have been inspired in recent years by the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli as imparted to me by my teacher, Louise Simmons. The emphasis is on freeing the spine and therefore freeing stuck energy and ultimately freeing the mind. In this way we can link with a deeper aspect of self, and our lives begin to change in ways we can never have previously  imagined as we begin to realise more of our potential – essentially we come to know ourselves much better, which improves all our relationships including our relationship with ourselves. Ultimately this is a Tantric approach to practice, free of dogma and limitation.

And what about breathing and meditation

In theory, the yoga postures allow us to establish sufficient stability and ease in our body to enable us to sit, without discomfort and distraction, so that we may focus on our breathing, which may ultimately lead to a state of meditation. The breath is probably one of the most useful tools we have at our disposal, and it is always there and always free! The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali references the breath a number of times, especially lengthening into the exhalation, as a quick way to stabilise and calm the mind.

In my humble opinion, it is absolutely pointless attempting to meditate unless you have managed to create a certain focus and centredness to the mind. If your mind is all over the place, it is likely to get worse when you try to sit still and observe it. My suggestion is to do something grounding first, such as preparing food consciously with love, or getting your hands in the earth gardening, or going for a swim, or a long walk, anything which helps you to feel more grounded and centred before you begin meditating.

How do I deepen my yoga practice and increasingly move towards a state of yoga – freedom?

Through regular and committed practice with a teacher who can guide you and ensure that you are not bypassing or creating more of the same through the reinforcement of existing and unhelpful movement patterns  - and let us not forget that movement patterns in the body also contain a thought and emotion, so once we change the pattern, we free ourselves on all levels of being. Furthermore, a practice aimed at you personally can help you to overcome the various obstacles and afflictions in your life.

What’s the difference between a general class and an intimate class

While I do my best to attend to each student’s needs, this is perhaps more challenging in a general class environment as students present with such different bodies and there is only one of me! In an intimate group there are less students (usually about five), so I am able to get my hands on each student, making the experience more personal.  

Furthermore, while my general classes are friendly and interactive to an extent, in an intimate group we can be more interactive, so that we might observe other students practising a posture so we can see how their body moves, which helps us to understand more of the movement and potential of the body and embody this ourselves.

Also, while the general classes follow a familiar structure – dropping into the body, breath awareness, postures, relaxation – the intimate classes do not follow any set structure, and will generally focus on only a few core postures, so that you can take this learning with you and start to integrate into your regular yoga practice. The smaller group and the nature of the hands on experience may encourage a greater therapeutic benefit.

An intimate class costs £28 per student and lasts 90 minutes. There are usually only 5 students in each session. A general class costs £60 for 5 tokens payable in advance, or £13 drop in.

How about a private session

Private sessions are of course much more intimate and tailored to your body and your needs.  The sessions are hands on, I give Reiki where I can too. There is no set structure and we will generally only focus on a couple of postures. Thus it is a not a class where you might establish a set routine to copy at home, it is more so a therapeutic approach to practice, where we can seek to establish new movement patterns which you can start to integrate into your yoga practice and in daily life. Please bring a notebook if you wish to record what we are practising ad I do not provide notes following the class.

Private sessions can be taken for 30 minutes (£40), 45 minutes (£60) or an hour (£80). Please email me to book in at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk

I have never practised yoga previously

No problem. No one is excluded from yoga, everyone can gain something from yoga, regardless of age, physical ability or illness.

What happens if I have injuries or patterns of unwellness

With injuries or loss of physical wellness, yoga offers an opportunity to help you get to the root cause and will offer the opportunity for healing and understanding yourself on a deeper level. We have various tools available to us and a myriad of postures, to make the practice accessible. You will feel undoubtably better from practising yoga, and whatever your problem is, it will not overtake you; yoga will help you to take care of your body, your mind and your breath and you will likely have more energy.

What do I need to bring with me?

From a hygienic perspective you might like to use your own mat, but I do have spare mats which you can use if needed.

Do you offer other classes beyond yoga asana?

Yes, I offer Vedic chanting, pranayama & meditation and the study of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This is offered in small groups of 5 or privately. The website contains more information, please email to book at emma@beinspiredby.co.uk.

Anything else ?

If something has gotten your attention and you are feeling drawn then honour that inner nudge. I remember what it was like to attend my first yoga class and if it hadn’t have been for my brother attending the class with me then I doubt I would have entered through the door! We all have to start somewhere and let’s not forget that yoga is non-competitive and I encourage you to close your eyes as much as you can so you can begin to internalise the practice, which is essentially what yoga is all about – going inwards. 

Love Emma x

Thank you from my heart to yours!

For a while now I have been keen to expand my yoga offerings but as with everything in life there is a timing. I have had the amazing opportunity of studying directly with my asana teacher, Louise Simmons, in Findhorn twice already this year, with a further trip booked for September and this has made a huge difference to my practice and indeed my healing and confidence.

During the pandemic I took it very personally that people stopped practising yoga. It didn’t help that it coincided with my style of teaching changing to the softer, more introspective and somatic approach, namely Scaravelli inspired yoga, which has for me been absolutely life changing. Until that point of being re-directed I was always drawn to the more active and indeed masculine approaches of vinyasa and dynamic yoga, which sadly fed my pitta and masculine tendencies towards achievement and striving, which ultimately kept me trapped in this rather hardened pattern within my body and therefore in my mind.

In short, I was merely feeding my existing imbalances and so Louise entering my life was not only synchronistic but a true gift and the universe once again bringing me what I needed. I did fight it initially though. The Scaravelli approach is challenging for someone like me who has always lived life rather quickly. This approach slows me down and brings me deeper into my feminine energy.

Life has changed enormously since I began practising this way, helped by my meanderings into Tantra through Shakti Tantra, albeit the Scaravelli inspired approach is Tantric by its very nature, and the embodiment of some of these teachings, which also connected me to my feminine energy and helped me heal some core woundings around my sexuality from previous trauma.

The Scaravelli approach is extremely intimate and is magic in many respects - being completely honest and personal here - but shared because its might help some of you - for many years, because of trauma I was unable to feel pleasure in my body, and the Scaravelli yoga has gifted me this pleasure again, helped by all the other work I do to heal - it really positively changes things on all levels of being.

However, like I was saying, it did take a good while to get to a point where I was comfortable with the Scaravelli approach. When I first started practising with Louise, I fairly much continued with my old ways, to the extent that even after an online session with her, I would then feel to do my more demanding and aggressive practice because I didn’t feel I had practised yoga unless I had pushed myself into tension - ironically - in my quest to release tension. Now I realise that all I was doing was creating more tension in the body and indeed mind and while I did become more flexible over time, I was essentially training my body to be a certain way, which wasn’t allowing any body it’s own intelligence and kept my mind stuck in unhelpful behaviours and ways of being.

I now realise that the body is incredibly intelligent, we just have to get the mind out of the way. This is the reason that the Scaravelli approach is not systemised and even calling it Scarevlli inspired is a difficulty in itself, because as soon as we try to define or describe something, or make it a certain way, then we limit it, which does against the very grain of yoga in its quest to take us towards freedom. It is probably this which has taken me a good while to get my head around, because I have been very mind based in my need to understand everything, I can blame our education system perhaps and our societal need - especially from a scientific perspective - to break everything down into parts, it creates a certain mind set and way of relating, which is actually unhelpful in terms of our spiritual development and leaning increasingly into freedom.

But as I said, everything has a timing. We cannot leap from one way of being to another and the more we open to freedom and become more intimate in our body and understand more of the workings of our mind, the more were feel we are unable to live as we did previously, which usually means we increasingly move away from the mainstream, which is not without its challenges, as people are triggered by this, especially those closest to us, and wonder if we are losing our mind, and in many respects we are, slowly, at least the controlling ego-driven part of our mind. It doesn’t give up without a fight though and I am sure some of you have experienced a healing crisis when it fights back, fearing annihilation, but essentially that is what has to happen if we have any hope of living more in touch with our soul and that eternal part therefore that never changes - not the false self, but the true Self, purusha then.

Thus it did take quite a few years to let go of the vinyasa approach as this was such an ingrained habit to feel that unless I was pushing the body and ‘exercising’ then I was not practising yoga. Now I realise that the opposite is true, that yoga is not about pushing or exercising, but about containing the mind and being super kind. This too - as always -is a work in progress.

Anyway, I lost a lot of my confidence because of the manner in which people turned away from yoga post-pandemic and suddenly my once busy classes were now strangely quiet. It didn’t help that my finance job had also dropped away and while this was my choice, sadly the nature of my mindset at that time was to feel that this was because I wasn’t good enough. This was a very old pattern of mine, and was triggered again. What’s even more sad in many respects is that it took me an awfully long time to realise that this way of personalising everything was an unhelpful pattern in itself and that actually people moving away from yoga was nothing to do with me, that life had changed for so many, that the yoga boom had essentially ended and what an honour it was to have been teaching during that time.

What I also hadn’t appreciated was that my loss of confidence in teaching yoga also caused a loss of passion for yoga and it took me a good while to realise this too. I kept practising of course, I have always been very disciplined about that, getting on my mat every single day for almost 21 years now, bar the day after my boys were each born, but even then I took my yoga mat into hospital and post C-section found myself lying on my mat in Loveridge ward (maternity) breathing, at least I could do that, and very gentle (mad when I think back!) movements!

Since the pandemic I have continued studying online with Louise, as well as with my Vedic chant and philosophy teacher, Helen Macpherson, who is based in Sussex. Studying Vedic chanting has helped me enormously in finding my voice and I am sure this contributed to me finally writing some books, a dream I held since age 10. However, studying the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with both Helen and her partner, Andy, has been hugely helpful. Even though this text is 5,000 years old it is still relevant now and actually much needed now. It is a guide for living life and I take much comfort in it and enjoy reading it over and over again.

However, it wasn’t until i visited my teacher, Louise, in January that I regained my confidence and - more importantly - my passion for yoga and felt that maybe I should be sharing these practises with others, so that they could also benefit.

At that same time, I re-connected with my pranayama teacher, Emil Wendel, through his partner, Anouk. I met Emil in Byron Bay many years ago now and travelled to study with him in India and Bali as well as meeting him on trips to Nepal, this all pre-children. Being honest again, one of the greatest challenges for me in having children has not only been the demands of motherhood and my ability to parent, but has been coming to terms with the perceived loss of freedom and ability to travel to study with my teachers directly. I also very much miss Nepal as I used to spend months at a time living out there and immersing myself in yoga and all things spiritual. But alas, this is how life is and I am of course eternally grateful for being gifted such beautiful boys with such wonderful souls.

Emil and Anouk stepped away from the yoga scene during the pandemic because of the manner in which yoga has become industrialised and in many respects sold out on itself - it has certainly become something it is not, in so much as an exercise regime rather than a spiritual practice. But at the beginning of this year Anouk felt to start offering their teachings again and I joined her online pranayama and meditation sessions along with a group of dedicated practitioners from around the world and this re-inspired my love of these practices to the extent that I felt confident in sharing these with others too.

So all of this - thank you universe - has helped me to re-discover my passion and love of yoga, and with that my confidence, and I am keen to share what I can with you so that you may all benefit and hopefully experience greater love , intimacy and freedom in your own lives too - peace and stability as well.

Yoga and Reiki truly saved my life. I arrived at them when I didn’t really know that I wanted to be alive, my inner light was very dim, and they brought me back into my body, back to my heart and gave me the strength and courage to make changes in my life so that I could live more authentically and with much greater connection to my heart and soul. It has not always been an easy journey, but at least I feel alive and increasingly connected to my heart and soul and aware that this is a wonderful world filled with magic, if only we allow it.

As I navigate the demands of motherhood with two neurodiverse children who choose to be home schooled, co-habiting and co-parenting with their lovely dad, who is one of my best friends, but no longer (as you many of you already know) my romantic partner, I am given much strength from these various practices. Life is not easy. I too am sensitive and yoga and Reiki make us increasingly sensitive so my way of living is often different to the norm, not for the sake of it, but because there is no other way for me to exist on this planet, but to live increasingly quietly, gently and indeed lightly, retreating when I can.

My work is my passion and I love nothing more than the intimate group sessions I have been running more recently in the beautiful conservatory at the healing space, studying the Sutras, Vedic chanting and pranayama and meditation with some of you really lovely people. I am grateful for the peace this gifts, not least the environment, but the practices and of course your wonderful energy, especially when we come together like this.

I love my Monday evening and Friday morning classes too. The Friday morning ladies (and sometimes Andy!) have been committed for a good while now - you are all amazing human beings, thank you for sharing your Friday mornings with me, I always look forward to seeing you - and I have so loved witnessing the changes in their bodies as I share my practise with them, increasingly freeing the spine and indeed the mind in the process. We have a good laugh together sometimes too, I love that humanness in our interaction and the groaning that sometimes fills the room! The Monday evening class is also finding it’s way into it’s own thing, and we are beginning to have more interaction and community feel - thank you to those of you who stuck with me after Jo left, I really admire your courage too.

I have also thoroughly enjoyed helping some of you find your way with the spiritual life coaching and of course my other passion is Reiki and I am always so honoured when people choose to become attuned with me or come to me for treatments, again in the lovely healing space which fairly much heals you without me actually having to do anything! Ayurveda I love too of course, because it has helped me in infinite ways and I am always keen to share this with others, while appreciating it does take a certain level of consciousness to be open to this ancient approach to diet and lifestyle and the use of medicinal herbs which is very different to our western mindset around nutrition and healing and the quick fix approach.

My intention has always been to share these passions with others so that we can all positively benefit, not only for our own sake, but for the sake of the wider community and indeed the planet. The more we can positively shift our vibration, then much like the butterfly effect, the more we positively affect all those around us and the world at large. We need to be the change we wish to see in the world. We also have to remember that if we keep doing what we have always done then we will always get what we always got…

So thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting Beinspired, for helping me to establish a Beinspired community where we can be ourselves without judgement, another one of my intentions when I established Beinspired back in 2006, and for having the courage to open your mind and heart and explore new ways of being, both in your body and mind and in your life generally. If it wasn’t for each of you I wouldn’t be able to share my passions and my life would not be quiet so joyful and I would not feel quite so free. So thank you, truly.

I will be sharing in my next blog more information on yoga and my latest offerings. Do get in touch if you are keen to explore these offerings and I will add you to my list.

With love and gratitude

Emma