Yoga and the Winter Solstice.

Hi all!

I hope this blog post finds you well? Next week at Emma’s Yoga Hut is our last week of classes before Christmas. It is also the last week of classes before the Winter Solstice.

The solstice and the equinox are significant times in yoga practice, It is traditional to perform 108 sun salutations on these days to honour the sun, either to welcome the gradual return of light after the shortest day, or to thank the sun for its endeavours on the longest day, or to appreciate the symmetry and balance of the equinox where there is equal day and night. But never fear! 108 sun salutations is not what we are planning for next weeks classes. I for one am too low on energy to impose that level of intense physical activity on my desperate to hibernate personage! Though, maybe on the summer solstice I will suggest we all head to the park and sun salute early in the morning when it is light and bright and our energy is high!

Next week it is getting close to the winter solstice. The longest night, the shortest day. This time of darkness is a time for deep rest and reflection. Thing is, especially at this time of year, deep rest and reflection is very hard to find the time for. So in next weeks classes after a gentle, flowing, breath based yoga practice, we will be taking a gorgeous, long extended guided meditation; an extra indulgent relaxation in Savasana where you will be guided into calmness and stillness into a place where you can rest and be nourished. It is a place and space where you can be looked after and cared for for a while.

Prepare to be cosy! Pack furry socks! I will tuck you up in the yoga huts fluffy blankets if you feel the need for extra warmth and snugness. The quiet and still of the Winter Solstice is the perfect foil to the chaos of the run up to Christmas.

If you want more yoga in January, book yourself on to a course or workshop right here on this webpage. If you are already with me there is nothing I would love more than to see you again next term, all of you have been a very genuine pleasure to practice yoga with! If you are new to Emma's Yoga Hut then rest assured you are warmly welcomed! Places are filling up quickly already.

May your run up to Christmas and the Solstice be filled with love, contentment and joy.

With love,

Emma x

(Emma runs Emma’s Yoga Hut in Earley. A tiny garden studio for small group yoga tuition. She is a yoga student and yoga teacher and has practiced yoga for 25 years. She trained with the Traditional Yoga Association right here in Reading between 2016 and 2018 to achieve her 500 hour yoga teaching accreditation. She has additional teaching qualifications in Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra which she subsequently undertook online during the great lockdown of 2020. Emma tries her best to practice yoga every day, even when all she wants to do is sleep and eat mince pies!)