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 …

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 …

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 …

Does yin yoga help with flexibility?

You may have heard that yin yoga helps us to become more flexible but is that really the case?

Self care for therapists

How to look after yourself as a therapist or applied psychologist. I responded to a query from a fellow therapist on Facebook yesterday. Not someone I know but someone who sounded like they were experiencing burnout, was taking some time off, planned to focus on self-care and was interested in what other therapists in the …