Feeling happy lays the groundwork for long term well-being.

I wish you all a Very Happy and Healthy New Year 2010

I began this year with a lesson that will help you find happiness and achieve good health.

It’s a good idea to spend some time to connect with your inner joy. If you practice yoga then you can use your time on your mat. If you don’t do yoga then you just need to take a little time off, just a few minutes to sit, breathe and connect with yourself.

This is based on the start of our lesson. Anyone can try this. Sit comfortably either on the edge of a chair, feet firmly planted hip width apart and knees directly above your ankles Or sit on a block with your legs crossed. Let your spine lengthen up, relaxing your shoulders away from your ears. Rest your hands in your lap. Breathe slowly in and out through your nose. Let your chin drop. Unclench your teeth and let your face muscles soften. At any time close your eyes or let your gaze become unfocused. Think of something that will make you smile. Breathe slowly, focusing on your exhalation. As you do this let all your muscles relax. Spend a few minutes connecting with your inner joy. Hopefully you will find this blissful. Don’t worry if your mind is still busy. When you practice this seated mediation it will become easier over time.

For my non yogi friends, finish this quiet time with a deep breath, a stretch and a yawn.

In the class we did some warm ups including a slow version of the Three Way Stretch (watch the video on a past blog).

My favourite pose to illustrate finding bliss is the Cobra – Bhujangasana. Whatever level you are at you can reap the benefits. Working the pelvic tilt, making the legs strong and keeping the front of the feet down can really allow one to feel how, when the lower half is grounded, the upper body can lift and and the heart centre can open, drawing up the chest and breathing deeply in and out.
(See Blog Feb '09 demonstrating the Cobra for beginners)

When life throws obstacles our way and we don’t feel happy we can connect to the happiness that is within us all. Find it to put a smile on your face and help you cope with life’s challenges.

‘When we smile we bring happiness into the world.’

This lesson was inspired by December’s Yoga Journal.

Stimulate Your Immune System

After John had his cold I thought how could I prevent myself and my students from catching the bug. I decided to focus the lesson on poses that help stimulate the immune system. Back bends are heart opening and invigorating and as you breathe deeply in the poses you can almost feel your body becoming stronger. The three poses we are focusing on are Bhujangasana – the cobra, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana – the bridge, and Matsyasana – the fish.

We warmed up with stretches, neck warm ups and standing poses Trikonasana and the dancing Warrior I (see Jan blog). These heart openers stimulate blood flow and the immune system and therefore practicing these three poses once a day can help prevent colds and flu.

If you are a beginner each of these poses can be lightened. After preparing for the cobra by lifting, lengthening and releasing each leg 3 times, place finger-tips in line with the eyes rather than level with the shoulders. This gives a more gradual curve in the spine. Always remember your pelvic tilt and take long breaths in the pose.










Take nice long breaths visualise the energy travelling from your feet, up along your legs and up through your spine to your heart centre.

Draw back into Virasana Forward Stretch or child pose to release tension in your lower back.

The bridge can be lightened by lifting the hips to create a line from the shoulders, hips and to the knees. Start with the back of your neck long and feet close to your hips. Work your gentle pelvic tilt as you keep the hips lifted so keeping tension out of your lower back. As we’ve been thinking about protecting knees work to keep the knees facing up and not falling in to each other or out.

Take nice long breaths visualise the energy travelling over the front of your body all the way to your knees and down to your feet.





After releasing from the bridge bring your knees to your chest and hug them to you.

In the fish pose the chest lifts and there is no tension in the back of the neck.

Bend your knees, place your hands palms down under your buttocks, elbows tucked in. Don’t think about this next movement too much. Think light thoughts and lift your chest, arching the upper back and rest on your forearms.
Then energize your heart centre with nice long breaths.

Afterwards bring your knees to your chest or the Garland adaptation we did in class to lengthen the spine.

Enjoy!