How can I stop feeling guilty when doing something for myself?

Having to deal with guilt can be a major barrier to trying or continuing with many self care practices. So how can we make it go away? I'm going to be honest with you, the guilt isn't going to disappear by me telling you that you shouldn't feel guilty or that you deserve to look …

Yin yoga can teach us to say no

Whilst you might think of yin yoga as something to help you relax or get a good stretch, in the stillness, when we are faced with our bodies' limitations and the opportunity to work with these limitations, we come to deeper understandings of our personal experiences in other areas of our lives. If you are …

Can you do too much yin yoga?

Many of us need to slow down and find a better balance between yin and yang but is there such a thing as doing too much yin yoga? There's an easy to that one: yes! We can do too much of pretty much anything that is recommended to us as good or healthy. And sometimes, …

Is yin yoga relaxing?

Like meditation, yin yoga tends to be viewed as something that is supposed to help us relax. But is that what always happens when we practise? And if not, does that mean we are doing something wrong? I'm going to explain why yin yoga can be both a form of relaxation as well as anything …

What does it mean to be good at yoga?

Despite what you see on social media and the cover of magazines, being "good" at yoga has nothing to do with whether you can do a handstand or make any other specific shapes with your body. So if that's not what it's all about, what is it? I'm going to outline just a handful of …

Does yin yoga count as exercise?

I'm not the biggest fan of the word exercise. As a child and teenager, I was really unfit and often in the "special" group for physical education. It also took me a long time to start exercising more for the health and wellbeing benefits rather than as something that was supposed to help me lose …

Yin yoga as a mindful movement practice

Later this year, I will have reached 10 years since I attended a mindfulness course, which was the beginning of my meditation practice. I consider myself to be an experienced meditator who is able to sit to notice whatever may be arising. But the interesting thing is I sometimes find myself avoiding the sitting even …

How to sequence a yin yoga practice

Many yang yoga physical practices emphasise a particular sequence or order of poses. So it makes sense that we would expect the same from yin yoga but I'm going to let you in on a secret: there is no special required sequencing order in yin yoga. If you have been to a yoga class at …

Can yin yoga help with migraine?

My first migraine episode in many months was a helpful reminder of why I came to this practice in the first place. The "attack" phase of migraine is horrible but it's the "hangover" postdromal part that is often overlooked. Each time my episodes start, I know that is me done for around a week. Done …

Hidden causes of muscle tension

Are you constantly tense but unsure why? There are many reasons unrelated to strenuous physical activity that can create tension in the body. But we don't necessarily notice the tension on its own; we usually notice some of the consequences of prolonged tension depending on what each of our bodies tends to be susceptible to, …