Saturday the 17th of September
LuLuLemon, Edinburgh

14.00-17.00

In the last couple of months I have begun to re-establish a regular asana practice after more than a year away from my mat.  A challenging pregnancy living with the constant vomiting and nausea of Hyperemesis Gravidarum alongside pelvic girdle pain meant for the whole of the pre-natal period I was barely out of my bed never mind able to manage the challenge of yoga poses.

Of course we all know that yoga isn’t just about the physical practice so being too ill to move much didn’t worry me at first, I was confident I could rely on the more gentle practices yoga offers.  In fact very often I couldn’t manage pranayama, meditation or yoga nidra either and I quickly realized I was going to have to surrender to the whatever the pregnancy brought me and not fight the process. So I did what I could, when I could, as best I could. I stayed in the moment and I comforted myself with the knowledge that this too would change, and in doing so I kept my yoga practice alive.

After Gracie was born I was swept up in a wonderful whirlwind that left me very little energy to roll out my mat. I was juggling working, studying, moving house and learning to be a mum and somehow six months had flown by before I finally found the time and the energy to begin to re-build my home practice. I was nervous to find out just where my body was (or wasn’t) at and of course had a nagging guilt around the fact that I hadn’t practiced for so long.  I needn’t had worried, eventually my body began to crave the flow I had always loved and I knew I was ready to return. I started slowly to begin with, just going over the basics.  I’d lost nearly all of my strength and flexibility and was forced to go right back to the beginning in many ways, but it’s been a wonderful lesson in non-judging and self acceptance and I’ve found a new passion for finding the simplicity and clarity of movement you can get in working slowly. Many a time I’ll practice just a few sun salutations before enjoying a lovely long savasana. Slow and deliberate, my lack of power is forcing me to come back to the essence of what asana is for me, teaching me to really tune into my movement and I’m loving every minute of it! To be reminded of the joy of something that has been dear to me for so long is such a pleasure and I’m so grateful to be able to enjoy my body in that way again.

And so onto the next challenge, going back to teaching. To celebrate my return to the joyful world of asana I’m organizing a fundraiser for our not for profit social enterprise Edinburgh Community Yoga Outreach and I would love you to join me. The theme of course, is acceptance. We’ll enjoy some stillness, some breath, vinyasa flow and will finish with some lovely yoga nidra before sharing tea and a catch up.

I hope to see you there – whatever state your practice is in, everyone is welcome. Laura x