Yoga post travel

Whether you have been on a long flight, spend alot of time in the car, or have a long commute by bus or train you’ll know that all that sitting for long periods can cause tension and tightness in the body - in particular back pain, tight hips, stiff shoulders, lack of circulation and swollen feet and legs. Ouch! There is nothing better than yoga as an antidote for too much sitting down, it can really help you stretch, unwind, rest and relax after a long or tense journey.

Here's a yoga sequence to help relieve your post travel body and mind.

Yoga sequencesSusan BradleyOctober 6, 2016yoga, travelComment

5 tips for better sleep

So many of us would like to be able to sleep better, and we often short change ourselves by not getting enough sleep. But it’s really important to put sleep at the top of your priorities. It’s just so important for a healthy and happy life, in fact science has now proved the adequate sleep is vital for many of the body and brains functions. When we don’t sleep well we reduce the body’s innate healing and restoring capabilities. Preparing the mind and body for sleep is key.

So here’s 5 top tips that I have gathered to aid your journey to the land of nod.

relaxation, breathing, sleepSusan BradleySeptember 24, 2016sleep, relaxComment

Happiness Toolkit: The Eye Pillow

Sometimes all it takes is a tiny change to boost your happiness. The simple eye pillow may be one of our most powerful healing tools, especially when it comes to a balanced nervous system. Your vagus nerve is one of twelve cranial nerves that originates in the brain, travels down the back of the neck and into the chest and heart, and then moves down into the abdomen and digestive tract.

About yoga, relaxation, savasanaSusan BradleySeptember 16, 2016yoga eye pillow, eye pillow, savasanaComment

The amazing power of breathing

Western research is now proving what yogis have known all along: Working with the breath can deliver powerful mind and body benefits. Learn how and why to take better advantage of it both in practice and in life.

Your body breathes on autopilot, so why worry about how to inhale and exhale? Well scientific research is showing that mindful breathing - paying attention to your breath and learning how to manipulate it - is one of the most effective ways to lower everyday stress levels and improve a variety of health factors ranging from mood to metabolism.

About yoga, mindfulnessSusan BradleySeptember 11, 2016breathing, techniquesComment

Yoga (should be) For All

I call my yoga classes ‘Yoga For All’, but what does this actually mean? Well primarily it’s that I want the yoga that I teach to people to be open to everyone - no matter their age, fitness level, body shape or experience of yoga. I feel that the yoga postures we do should be fitted to individuals bodies, not the other way around. We should find stability and ease in the poses, not be striving too hard or pushing ourselves to achieve some imagined version of a ‘perfect pose’. Everyone’s own version of the pose will look different, and be unique - and that’s how it should be, as we are all unique in our bodies and this changes over time, and even day to day (balance for example can vary day to day, its fluid). This uniqueness should be celebrated, in my opinion.

About yogaSusan BradleySeptember 2, 2016yoga, body image, yoga for allComment

3 Mindful Things to Do to Start Your Day

How we wake up in the morning has a fundamental impact on how the rest of the day unfolds. There are a few things we can integrate into our morning routine that can have an immediate impact in supporting us in being more mindful, self-compassionate, connected, and resilient throughout the day.

Set your judgments aside and try these out over the next week as an experiment…allow your experience to be your guide.

mindfulnessSusan BradleyAugust 22, 2016mindfulness, natureComment

Childs Pose - beauty in simplicity

This is Childs Pose. It's a beautifully simple pose, and it feels great. We often use it as a resting pose in yoga classes, but it's a great stretch for your lower back too and helps you to breathe into the back of the lungs. Also a deeply nourishing pose, it’s very calming, grounding and releasing and it helps you to bring your attention inward.

There are many different ways you can place the arms and hands, and each one uses your muscles slightly differently. Here I take you through some of the options.

Yoga posesSusan BradleyAugust 13, 2016Yoga poses, child pose, simpleComment

Getting back to slow yoga

If ever there was a time to slow down your yoga and take your speed of life down a notch or two the summer is it. With the warm weather (fingers crossed!) and long summer days, slowing down and simply drinking it all in can feel just great.

Yoga, before it was transformed in its journey to the West was a breath-centered practice for the wellbeing of the whole person. Something that would provide a vehicle for slowing down and learning to truly take care of ourselves. Something to counter the difficulties encountered in life. But yoga changed when it came to the West.

About yogaSusan BradleyAugust 5, 2016yoga, slowComment

Yoga for better sleep

So many people in the modern world suffer from insomnia or poor sleep quality. Our minds race all day long, we use screens right up until the moment we try to fall asleep…and then we can’t!

A simple yoga routine can be very effective in preparing the body for deep, restful sleep and even a short practice before bed can be really helpful. I've created a simple routine of just four postures that will help you to unplug and unwind, calming the body and the mind ready for a good nights sleep.

Yoga poses, Yoga sequencesSusan BradleyJuly 30, 2016Yoga poses, sleep, relaxComment

Why do we always do Savasana at the end of a class?

Resting in Savasana (which means Corpse Pose in Sanskrit), for five or ten minutes at the end of a yoga session works powerfully on many levels.

Yoga posesSusan BradleyJuly 22, 2016savasana, yoga, relax Comments

Just breathe

"Anyone can breathe, therefore anybody can practice yoga."

T. K. V. Desikachar

At Yoga For Modern Life I welcome everyone, whether they're just starting their yoga journey or whether they've got more experience under their belt. I believe yoga isn't all about touching your toes, fancy balances or headstands. It’s fundamentally about the breath and using it to reconnect with yourself, and to the present moment.

breathingSusan BradleyJuly 15, 2016breathing, connect, calmingComment

Twisting it out

The twisting poses we practice in yoga have a number of great benefits. Not only do they flex and tone our abdominal muscles, twists massage the abdominal organs and aid digestion. Twists also help us to focus mentally. When we are focused, we let our minds quiet and we can let stress go.

Here are are some twisting postures to try out. Let me know how you get on.

Yoga posesSusan BradleyJuly 9, 2016twist, Yoga posesComment

Friday tension release

We seem to spend most of our lives sitting at a desk, being hunched over a smart phone, driving for long periods or lugging children and heavy bags around. All of this can mean your neck and shoulders feel really tight and tense by the end of each day, and even more so by the end of the week. It’s not your fault. It’s modern life’s fault. Here are a some simple yoga poses that I often use to release the muscles in my shoulders, neck and back.

Yoga posesSusan BradleyJuly 1, 2016Yoga posesComment

blog : Yoga and me

I thought this would be a good opportunity to share with you my journey with yoga. I came to yoga in the late 1990s, to start with it was just another class offered in the gym and I used it as a counter to pounding on the treadmill. Burning the candle at both ends, with a work hard play harder philosophy to life, I kept coming back to yoga finding it a grounding practice and an antidote to the high stress I put on myself at work and the partying I enjoyed (every) weekend. I dipped in and out over the years, and it’s difficult to pin point just what I found in yoga that kept drawing me back to it, but I think it was the feeling a spaciousness it gave me – both in my body and also that little bit of headspace in my crazy busy world.

Susan BradleyJune 27, 2016Comment