Yoga Classes › "breath"

Adam Hocke

This yoga class is perfect for when we feel anxious, stressed, overwhelmed or just have a busy mind. It is a gentle class for anytime; when you just feel that you need to be kind to yourself, when you are anxious and wired, or when you don't like what you're reading in the news. Come back to the reality of your body and breath with this flow practice. In this sequence we go through familiar and calming patterns of movement and spend time enjoying the internal life of postures through strengthening techniques that bring us more deeply into our bodies and the reality of the present moment. As we start feeling a bit better, we round it off with some self-massage and a powerful compassion meditation.

Read more

Naomi Absalom

This is a popular devotional song known as a bhajan, and is called Shri Krishna Govinda Hare Murare, Hey Nath Narayana Vasudevaa. This particular bhajan has a pacifying and soulful quality to it - it is a lovely route directly into the heart of yoga. Singing and drumming can help us release some of the charge of our nervous system. Focus on the vibration of sound, the slowness of your breath, the weaving of the melody.

Read more

Lisa Sanfilippo

A simple breath focused meditation class to help digest the day’s thoughts, feelings and impressions to banish the bedtime thought-parade that can prevent you from sleeping. Lisa gives you tips on mental-digestion during the day to prevent and recover from night-time sleeplessness.

Read more

Lisa Sanfilippo

A tutorial of breath work practices which are gentle, adaptable and easy to remember when you want to repair your ability to rest throughout the day. Use them to drift off to sleep at night, or if you wake in the middle of the night. The first breath practice is a simple Ujjayii breath with a lengthened exhale to increase a sense of calm, then three part breathing. These techniques are perfect to practice before bed or anytime you need to relax.

Read more

Lisa Sanfilippo

Keep it simple with a set of simple exercises which can be done anywhere! This can be done in the office, kitchen or wherever you don't have space to lay out a yoga mat, and wake up happier and more focussed. Also great as a pick-me-up when you're at work, these poses and this breath focus will help you wake up easily, and can be done almost anywhere. You’ll clear your head, get your circulation going and feel more alert. Use this any time of day as a pick-me up.

Read more

Lisa Sanfilippo

This sleep yoga class ritual is perfect for evening time to slow you down to get ready for bed, or remedy for middle-of-the-night wakeups. This class is for those who like some deeper yoga poses, and have more mobility. Featuring deeper hip, thigh, hamstring, and twisting poses, as well as seated forward bends. Breath using ‘the drop’ which lowers physical tension, decreases your heart rate, and dissipates the stress hormones in your body, to prepare you for deep rest. Also good for those who want to prepare for a restorative practice at any time of day. You will need a cushion, pillow or yoga brick.

Read more

Lisa Sanfilippo

A gentle, simple soothing bedtime ritual yoga class. With a simple set of yoga poses which flow from one to the next, prepare for sleep or get back to bed if you wake in the middle of the night. Suitable for all levels, you can do it in your bedroom with minimal space - even in your bed! This sequence reduces physical tension, lowers your heart rate, and decreases the stress hormones in your body to prepare you for deep rest. This yoga class ocuses on all of the major tension hotspots in your body: chest, neck, shoulders, lower back, hips, thighs, hamstrings: pulling the tension out to prepare you for deeper, more restful sleep. Do this class own or finish with a pre-sleep three part breath class or marma point class. Also an excellent prelude to restorative poses for those who find it hard to settle into restoratives right away.

Read more

Lisa Sanfilippo

Do you struggle to fall asleep, have disturbed nights, or wake up feeling less than refreshed? You’re not alone. Poor sleep and lack of it can have a huge impact on our health, so, we have created a Sleep Recovery course to help make your pillow time as restful, relaxing and restorative as possible. Lisa Sanfilippo, a senior yoga teacher who specialises in sleep recovery and yoga therapy for insomnia, has carefully curated a selection of classes, from simple, relaxing sequences, to meditations and breath work, designed to help you get the most out of your bed time.

Read more

Nikita Akilapa

Adopting an attitude of gratitude is a game-changer for journeying into joy. Gratitude for your breath and your body; gratitude for your relationships and experiences; gratitude for who you are and what you bring to the world; gratitude for the opportunity to see yourself clearly and non judgementally. This beautifully paced and sequenced vinyasa flow yoga class has shoulder and upper back opening focus, great to release tight shoulders and stiffness in the upper back and perfect to open the heart to gratitude. This class is about shifting from our habitual responses. You will need two bricks.

Read more

Nikita Akilapa

This is the first class in Nikita's Yoga for Happiness Series. This is a nourishing and supportive, mindfully paced vinyasa flow yoga class. A perfect to start your day with mindfulness, openness and honesty. With slowness to the flow comes depth of feeling and depth of breath. This class isn't complicated, but it does require that you come to the mat being honest with yourself, your needs or your limits; the boundaries being set by the body. Enjoy a simple, well rounded flow class where you'll find you're able to build self-kindness and self-confidence through an honest acceptance of your body in the here and now. The Yoga For Happiness Series is designed to help us move towards self-acceptance - meeting ourselves where we are, as we are, without judgement. This set of nourishing and supportive classes will invite you to really see yourself, both on and off the mat.

Read more

Nikita Akilapa

In the final part in our Introduction to Meditation Series, we start to watch the top and the bottom of our breath. You'll notice that there are round edges to the inhale and exhale, where each breath gently reaches a peak and then gives rise to the next. Either simply watch these spaces between breaths or gently hold for a moment at the top of each inhale, and pause for a moment at the bottom of the exhale.

Read more

Nikita Akilapa

In the fourth part in our Introduction to Meditation Series with Nikita, we learn how to explore breath patterns as a means to change the way we feel. Allow the exhale to be twice as long as the inhale to give the body a chance of releasing all the old, to make space for the fresh new oxygenated air to flow in fully. Start at an equal breath (e.g. inhale for six seconds and exhale for six seconds) then increase gradually to a ratio of 1:1.5 (e.g. inhaling for six seconds and exhaling for nine seconds). Eventually, breathing to a ratio of 1:2 (e.g. inhaling for six and exhaling for 12 seconds). Maintain for up to about 20 breaths and then return to normal breath. If you are asthmatic, you may find that it's tricky to get to the full 1:2 ratio at first, in which case stay at 1:1.5. This is another great technique you might want to use as a tool to anchor an anxious mind any time you feel overwhelmed.

Read more