Spring is a time for seeding change, so there is still time to set your goals. In fact, it’s better to set your goals now, just as our ancestors did.

If you made resolutions or intentions for change in January that haven’t quite got off the ground yet, I hope you’re not being too hard on yourself … because there’s still plenty of time.

Actually now, when the Earth is starting to spring back to life, is the perfect time for you to bounce back into action too. Now is the time for you to make good the promises you made to yourself and go after what you truly desire in your life.

Good things come to those who wait and small steps often lead to longer term sustained change. Sometimes if we rush in too soon when we are not quite ready we will tire more quickly and lose momentum. In fact, the latest statistics show that it takes an average of 60 days to change a habit.

But I want to be clear here, and this is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. When I think about how yoga is portrayed on Instagram with images of fancy poses, big smiles and lean bodies in twisted pretzel poses and one hand handstands, I wonder what the message is?

It feels to me that the message is that yoga is about self-improvement and that in doing yoga, you’ll become a better person, you’ll feel better … While all these things are often true, they actually come about through the practice of self-enquiry and a deeper level of self-awareness.

Yoga, in the way it was taught to me and the way I like to practice and teach it, from a viewpoint of inviting deeper self-enquiry can lead us to a greater level of self-acceptance and understanding of all aspects of ourselves.

It is within this container of self-enquiry, acceptance, love and understanding that real changes often take place. They happen naturally; they ripple out from your practice, not through force; they arise through your own self-enquiry and deeper understanding.

It is from that sustained enquiry and deeper understanding that we often end up making changes in our lives, not through force or pushing, but through a change that happens deep within us that means we perhaps make different choices or change how we treat ourselves. However, the ultimate goal is really increased self-awareness and understanding so we can deepen our connection to ourselves, to really know all aspects of ourselves, light and dark, and love and care for them all.

“The practice of yoga in not just physical exercise or controlled breathing. It is a technique to reconnect us to our source of life so we can sustain our vitality and serenity and build on our potential for joyful living. Yoga is for us a set of powerful tools and techniques to support self care, nurture, exploration and delight. The practice of yoga supports our wellbeing, boosts vitality, strengthens our immune system, helps us sleep, digest, and think more effectively; and empowers us to relate with compassion and kindness to each other.”

Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, The Celtic school of Yoga

The intention of the practices I teach is to reconnect and empower you to trust your innate feminine power and body wisdom, so you can become your own inner teacher and discover how it might feel for you to be truly nourished by a yoga practice that is appropriate to your own needs, place, environment and time in your life.

I support, nurture and empower women to create their own new and transformative radical self-love story with themselves. I do this one-to-one and in classes where it’s all about finding movement that feels good for you and your body. It’s intuitive and fluid, moving with the breath as our focus, it is an invitation to move inside and explore the feeling tone of the body, finding space, freedom and calm within movement or stillness. It’s about nourishment and self-nurture, not force or just the physical poses or perfection. It’s an invitation to give thanks to the body for the job it does, to play and find joy in movement and self-connection.

Contact me if you’d like to find out more.