How are you on Christmas? Love it? Hate it? Neutral? Me, I mainly LOVE Christmas. I love the lights, I love the sparkles, I love the excitement. I love the excuse to drink mulled wine and eat mince pies with impunity! Love it! Having said that, I usually reach Christmas itself exhausted, frazzled and overwrought with the pressure of making Christmas perfect whilst juggling work, family and social commitments that appear to double in size (at least!) in the festive period. Plus, the pressure to have a picture postcard Christmas can be pretty overwhelming at times, even if you know it is just nonsense!
Christmas for a lot of us means we speed up, rather than slow down, largely because we have so many external demands placed upon us. So we keep on going at full tilt even though, if you look around us, the animals and plants in nature have slowed right down….The trees aren’t growing, the flowers aren’t blooming, most of the birds and animals have retreated into their cosy homes or have taken themselves off for some summer sun. Nature slows down, and the short dimly lit days are there to encourage us to do the same. Yet, at the same time that we are being encouraged to not just keep going, but to speed up. Go shopping, see friends, decorate the house, wrap presents, keep going at work, stay for drinks after work, bake Christmas food, and if you have school age kids there is something else that is happening every second day that they need a hat for, a jumper for, a gift for…the list goes on! This is the time of year when we are often the most tired, and run down, and prone to illness, it’s not just the cold weather and darkness that leaves us feeling like this, it’s that we are designed to slow down just like the rest of nature. Nothing can bloom all year, winter is natures time to rest, and as much as we have shielded ourselves from it with artificial heat and light in our homes and workplaces, we too are part of nature.
So, Emma’s Yoga Hut is offering an alternative Christmas night out. Not one with late night shopping in crowded shiny shops. Not one with party frocks and cocktails. But a Friday night which is a time to drop into the rest that nature is so wisely taking, a Friday night to nourish your body mind and soul.
An evening of candlelit yoga in Emma's Yoga Hut. An evening of restorative self care. 90 minutes just for you to do something to look after yourself.
Come into the comfort of the beautifully warm, candlelit yoga hut and we will start with some gentle asana to loosen the stress out of your body, beautiful care filled movement to release tension and nurture the body. We will then be moving on to a restorative yoga class, which is a treat for a tired and frazzled body and mind. Restorative yoga focusses on long holds of yoga poses, we will use props to help us get into comfortable poses, and then hold them for up to 5 minutes. During a pose I wont just leave you there in silence wondering what is going on or how long you are going to be there, I will gently help keep your mind present with gentle guidance, simple breathing exercises or poems or quotes that give you something to think about and hopefully to inspire you too.
After your gentle restorative yoga practice we will make ourselves cosy with the Yoga Huts soft pink blankets (freshly laundered before class) and have an extended guided meditation called a Yoga Nidra.
After all that you should be physically super relaxed and mentally calm, hopefully a good nights sleep awaits you to ensure that you are all ready to make the most of your weekend!
I would love to see you there for a nourishing evening of self care. Investment: £15 (the same as a couple of glasses of wine on a Christmas night out!)
I am a fully qualified specialist Yoga Nidra instructor.
With Festive Love,
Emma xx
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