More info

More info about me and and how my practice keeps me going and growing can be found on Facebook. I update my blog from time to time but modern life as it is Facebook is just easier!

Here I am:
www.facebook.com/emma.tilleyyoga

New online Yoga community

Yogatrail recently launched to bring an online yoga community to the masses. Accessible and wide-ranging, it is essentially a listing site but with the addition of reviews so you can see what other peoples' experiences are of teachers, studios, retreats and yoga events. A bit like trip advisor but for yoga.

There's so much going on today in the 'yogasphere' and so much to choose from it can be quite bamboozling (I don't use that word lightly!) - so it's great to have a site out there working to bring a little clarity to the many offerings. So what are you waiting for  - go post a review now, or check out that class you meant to go to but weren't sure about.

This type of site can only work if the community gets behind it and posts their details (if you're teachers) or your reviews and recommendations. It's all free of course and hopefully it will grow and become a useful tool for us all, students and teachers together.

www.yogatrail.com/
www.yogatrail.com/about-us

Winter Weekend Yoga Retreat

A weekend of time and space dedicated to you in beautiful Hay-on-Wye. 15th - 17th November 2013.

Perhaps you want to deepen your yoga practice, or just give yourself a bit of time and space through great yoga, great company and a beautiful setting. The retreat will run from the Friday until the Sunday afternoon. During this time you will have six yoga sessions - including dynamic morning practices and more restorative, slow-flow evening sessions. Full details are included in the schedule below. There will be time to explore the area, treat yourself to a massage*, even learn how to make cheese! Or, you can simply sit back in the comfort of the Great Barn or your own room and simply, just, be...


Accommodation is spread across the Great Barn and Groom's Barn.

About the venue and local area: 
Cwmhir Court is an ancient site with Iron Age remains and surviving Medieval and Georgian structures. A fortified Cistercian monastic grange was built here in the thirteenth century and the main stone arched entrance, some of the defensive walls and listed ancient monastic buildings survive. The Great Hay Barn has stunning views across the Wye valley to the Black Mountains. To the rear the woods rise up to the Radnor Hills. The barns are poised in a beautiful spot at the valley’s edge, with the open wilds of Wales on one side and all the facilities of the pretty market town of Hay-on-Wye on the other. It is peaceful without being remote. 
Hay-on-Wye is renowned for its bookshops and the literary festival that takes place every May. If you're a literature fan then you're sure to love strolling around the picturesque town and browsing through the bookshops. The barns have been restored to a high standard by experienced craftsmen, using locally sourced stone, oak and lime mortar. The Great Hay Barn has a three storey central entertaining space (where we will practice our yoga), with stone flags, oak boarding and a large wood stove. 

Food will be a glorious vegetarian feast created by the talented Julie Howe (co-creator of Stroud's very own Cock and Bull Dining Club www.facebook.com/CockandBullDiningClub).


Getting there:

Nearest train station is Hereford.
Drive from London (3hrs 30 approx)
Drive from Stroud 1hr 50 (approx)
For those coming from similar areas I am happy to help co-ordinate car shares and this way you can save on petrol and the planet!

Pricing structure:

Twin rooms: 2 rooms in total

Double rooms: 6 rooms in total, of which 2 are ensuite
(Further accommodation in silos if we need it.)
Twin rooms: £280 per person
Double rooms (single occupancy): £345 Or £365 with ensuite
Double rooms (based on two sharing): £280 per person

Book early to avoid disappointment as numbers are limited to ensure you get lots of attention during your yoga practice:
YOGA_EMMA@BTINTERNET.COM

Schedule:
15th - 17th November 2013

FRIDAY

Arrive from 5pm

6.00pm introduction to the weekend

6.30 - 7.15pm yoga: slow flow

8.15 - 9.15pm dinner

10.00 - 10.30pm yoga nidra

SATURDAY

8.15 - 9.45am dynamic yoga

10.15am breakfast

11.00 - 2.00pm free time

2.00pm lunch

3.00 - 5.00pm free time

5.00 - 6.30pm yoga

8.30pm - dinner

SUNDAY

8.15 - 9.15am yoga

9.45am breakfast

11 - 12.30pm yoga workshop

1.00pm lunch

2.15pm a short closing practice

vacate by 3.00pm

(schedule subject to change)

Stand (on your hands) and be present

Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrkasana) has always struck fear deep into my belly. Anyone up for seeing how giving this pose a little attention during home practice might lead to interesting things?? I'll let you know how I get on - might be some funny pics to post at the very least!

Well, this morning a snatched ten minutes led to me working with handstand up the wall. Just taking that one leg away and extending it straight up to the sky made my belly spasm. 

The first time I tried it I felt sure I was going to fall, crash bang into the hard table positioned much too close by for my maverick limbs. But, hold on there one minute.... I didn't fall! 

Yes, I wobbled of course but there I was, 

with one leg extending bravely up to the sky, hands pushing firmly down, shoulders working like billy-o.

It felt good - belly spasms subsided enough for me to enjoy it and I feel ready and eager to try again tomorrow! 

I may not ever make it into handstand in the middle of the room with the grace and ease of Tara Stiles, but I'll give it my best shot and it's what I learn on the way up that's important. If I can be in the moment (with legs on the wall/one leg up etc etc) then I'm doing it. If I'm chasing the handstand and not appreciating where I am with it right now then I've lost it - my yoga has gone, fallen crash bang into the obstacle that is my ego. Ouch.

Retreat!

I'm planning on holding a retreat in November this year. I think  I've reached a point in my practice, teaching and my life where this now makes sense for me. I love the idea of holding a gathering of people who all want to be somewhere amazing, getting to know their practice better and ultimately giving themselves the time and space they might need to release tension and grow stronger. I'm currently checking out venues and doing lots of sums so when I have more details I'll post... I am very excited!

Why I practice yoga...

I'm a yoga teacher. I love yoga but I'm not religious. Neither would I put being spiritual into the top 10 things about me. I practice yoga to balance my overall state of wellbeing, to strengthen my body and my resolve, and understand my body's full capabilities and, with that, how my mind and emotional well-being are intertwined with the physical. I believe we are all divine and deserving of love and respect. We are all created from the same atoms, we all breathe the same air. Yoga helps us breathe that air a little more deeply. Yoga can help us strive to be better humans. We have one body - make the best of it, your mind has to live there!
http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/283

Baby and me

I'm going to be starting a new class in March at Stroud Yoga Space. It will be a class specifically for mums (dads welcome too) and babies. 

The 'baby and me' (often called Mummy and Me) classes are essentially yoga for you that incorporates your baby. The classes are great way to meet other mums and give you some time to focus on your body and well-being post-natally, and babies love it too!  It's generally best not to practice until at least 6 weeks after giving birth, and babies up until crawling are welcome - after this stage it can tend to get a bit hectic!

If you're interested in attending please email me as spaces are limited.

Classes will be on Thursdays 11.30 - 12.30 (time still tbc though) at Stroud Yoga Space.

Hope to see you there!