All of Yoga

The Yoga Solution

Yoga is so much more than the physical practice. This podcast explores all of yoga; what meditation is and the benefits, the roots, history and philosophy of yoga, how simple concepts can help us live a more peaceful life, and how to approach the physical aspect of yoga in a safe and beneficial way. If you’re brand new to yoga and wondering what it’s all about, or you’re an experienced yogi looking to learn more about all of yoga - this podcast is for you.

  1. 3d ago

    70. Floating back to work - The WHY behind the lunchtime yoga reset

    My love of yoga began at lunchtime. After a few mishaps at the gym - and then a lunchtime Pilates class coming to an end - I gave yoga a try (after some persuasion!). I expected awkward hand-holding and sitting in a circle; instead, I loved it and floated back to work. That feeling stayed with me, and now I’d love to invite you to have that feeling, from my online Lunchtime Yoga Reset, every Friday. In this episode, I share how lunchtime classes changed my working day, why I created this new class, and how I make yoga welcoming for beginners and experienced students alike. The Lunchtime Yoga Reset Every Friday, 12:15 - 1:00, £7.50 per class, or five classes for £25 (but no need to book five consecutive weeks). Book your space here You’ll need: a yoga mat or non-slip floor, comfortable clothes, and a device to join the online class. No fancy leggings or previous yoga experience required. Pinky promise. I can’t wait to practise with you! --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

  2. Oct 25

    69. How yoga improves interoception

    Come explore how yoga improves interoception - your nervous system’s ability to sense, interpret and respond to signals from inside your body - and how this awareness could help you build more helpful habits, plus: How yoga gives us opportunities to practise notice, interpret, respondWhat research on mindfulness and body awareness could tell us about interoceptionWhy noticing a sensation without jumping into judging it can - in time- potentially lead to a different response or outcomeHow ahimsa, the yogic principle of non-harm, can inform the way we respond to discomfort other than defaulting to coping mechanisms (i see you doom scrolling, online shopping, and more 👀) Useful links:  🎧 Understanding interoception and yoga — our introductory episode exploring what interoception is and why it matters, listen here 💛 Get practising - body scan for noticing sensation, get yours here ✏️ Journal prompts for building interoception - Distraction (including doom-scrolling!), can sometimes offer short-term relief, and there’s no need to judge yourself for doing it. But when it takes you away from what matters to you, noticing earlier, might just open up another choice. That’s the invitation in these gorgeous journal prompts - to notice, pause, respond… Grab yours here --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

  3. Oct 18

    68. When trying to relax is stressful

    You've finally finished everything you needed to do. You've got some time to yourself. You've decided: right, now I'm going to relax. Except... you're not relaxing, your mind is getting busier, you're becoming increasingly aware of how not relaxed you are, and now you're stressed about the fact that you can't seem to switch off. In this episode of All of Yoga, we're exploring why trying to relax can sometimes become stressful in itself - and what you can do instead of sitting there  trying to think your way to feeling calmer. We'll explore what happens when relaxation is another task to complete, why thoughts that have been pushed into the background during a busy day become so LOUD when we stop, and the difference between distracting ourselves from those thoughts and actually giving them somewhere to go. And, most importantly, I'll give you two really solid plans for when you have time to relax, but you're spiralling: 1. Free writing Grab some paper and write whatever is going through your mind. No grammar, no spelling, no making it sound sensible. Just giving those thoughts somewhere to land. 2. Get into your body Rather than trying to solve a busy mind with even more thinking, move your attention towards physical sensation. The accompanying body scan for this episode will help you practise noticing what's happening in your body without needing to judge it, change it or create a story around it. 🎧 Practise with me I've created a Body Scan for Noticing Sensation to accompany this episode. You can practise sitting, standing or lying down — when you wake up, when you finish work, when you need a break, or during one of those “I am supposed to be relaxing WHY AM I NOT RELAXED?” moments. Practice the Body Scan for Noticing Sensation here Because there really is no need to lie there trying to think your way to relaxation. Happy practising, yogi. --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

  4. Oct 11

    67. Wired but tired - why Yoga Nidra is such a powerful practice for deep rest

    You’re exhausted. Your body desperately wants to rest. But somehow, your mind is still going round and round and round. If you know that wired but tired feeling, Yoga Nidra might be a super duper practice for you. Yoga Nidra has wildly increased in popularity over the last few years, with claims that it can replace hours of sleep, “reset” your nervous system, lower cortisol or activate your vagus nerve. But what does the research actually tell us? In this episode, we explore what Yoga Nidra is, what researchers are actually studying, and what the latest evidence tells us about its potential effects on stress, anxiety, mood and sleep. We’ll explore: - what Yoga Nidra is - why falling asleep during Yoga Nidra isn't something you're doing “wrong” - findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis examining Yoga Nidra for stress, anxiety and depression - what another  systematic review tells us about Yoga Nidra for poor sleep and insomnia - research into physiological measures including blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability - the important limitations within the current Yoga Nidra evidence base - why Yoga Nidra might be particularly useful when you're physically exhausted but your mind won't settle --- 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra 💤 I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days.  Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.  You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.  --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

  5. Oct 4

    66. Understanding interoception and yoga

    Interoception is a term that came up in last week's episode about understanding what slow breathing actually does to brain and body. Interoception is your nervous system sensing, interpreting, and responding to signals coming from inside your body.  For example, this can be as simple as knowing that you're hungry, that that sensation in your tummy is your digestive system communicating that it's time for some more food.  So why is this a thing? Why is it relevant?  Well, if you have the ability, the available time, and the mental bandwidth to pay attention to these signals and to understand what they mean, then you can do something about them.  Maybe you notice, hmm, my shoulders are tense and tight. Hmm. This might then lead you to realise you've actually been pretty tense about this impending deadline, and so then you can take action. Maybe you go for a calming walk or even just do some mindful shoulder rolls at your desk.  Ultimately it allows you to do something about improving the situation 💛 --- 🫶 Your free resources ✏️ Journal prompts for building interoception Distraction (including doom-scrolling!), can sometimes offer short-term relief, and there’s no need to judge yourself for doing it. But when it takes you away from what matters to you, noticing earlier, might just open up another choice.  That’s the invitation in these gorgeous journal prompts - to notice, pause, respond… Grab yours here 🎧Nervous System Regulation: A Practice of Listening If you’d like to practise rather than just learn about interoception, this free guided practice on Insight Timer invites you to notice signals of activation and settling without trying to force yourself into a particular state. Listen free on Insight Timer here --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

  6. Sep 27

    65. What slow breathing actually does to your brain and body

    "Take a deep breath." It's one of the most common pieces of advice we're given when we're stressed. And  so, intuitively,  we know that changing the way we breathe can change the way we feel. But why does slowing your breathing actually calm you down? Breathing is unusual because most of the time your nervous system takes care of it without any conscious effort from you. But unlike many other automatic processes in the body, you can also deliberately change it - which gives us an interesting way of influencing some of the physiological processes associated with stress and regulation. In this episode, we'll explore: why breathing is both automatic and under voluntary controlwhat happens to your heart rate as you breathe in and outrespiratory sinus arrhythmia and why your heart doesn't beat at one perfectly steady ratewhat the baroreflex has to do with breathing and blood pressurewhy "a long exhale activates the vagus nerve" doesn't tell the whole storywhy slower breathing isn't always betterwhat to do if breathwork makes you feel anxious or uncomfortableinteroception, your ability to sense what's happening inside your bodywhy practising with your breath when you're already relatively calm can help you develop a skill to draw upon when you're stressedMost importantly, this isn't an invitation to breathe as slowly as you possibly can. Your breathing rate *should* change. You *need* to breathe faster when your metabolic demands increase, such as during exercise. And different breathing practices will suit different people at different times. Ok, so why can slow breathing feel calming? When you deliberately slow your breathing, you're affecting much more than the movement of air into and out of your lungs - breathing interacts with your heart rate, blood-pressure and the flow of information between your brain and body. And when you consciously pay attention to your breath, you're also practising interoception: noticing and interpreting signals coming from inside your body. Over time, that may help you become better at noticing how you're actually doing before you reach the point where your head feels ready to explode. Try it yourself... If you'd like to practise listening to your body rather than immediately trying to change it, try my free Nervous System Regulation: A Practice of Listening meditation on Insight Timer - a short practice designed to help you check in with what's happening internally and begin developing that ability to listen. Try it here As always, happy practising. --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

  7. Sep 20

    64. Why can't I switch off?

    Ok, so this is where we are. You've spent all day thinking, "Well, I can't wait to get home. I can't wait to sit down. I can't wait until everyone just stops needing things from me." And then finally, nobody needs anything from you. You sit down, you choose something to watch (or to read or to listen to), but then two seconds later, you're up and doing a task, or you've got hold of your phone and you're scrolling, or you're tapping your foot, and you just cannot seem to switch off. This podcast episode explores why it’s so hard to switch off, and what we can do to make it (much) easier.  We cover: Why stopping what you’re doing doesn’t automatically switch off the stress responseWhat might be happening when you feel "wired but tired"Why scrolling, watching TV or replaying your day might not give your brain the cues you hoped they wouldWhy lying down and trying to relax can sometimes leave you feeling even more restlessHow movement after a stressful day may help you transition out of a period of activationWhy your yoga practice doesn’t always need to start with being stillA simple question to ask yourself when you notice you can’t switch off: do I need to move first?I’ve recorded a short practice specifically for *that* moment when the doing is finished, but your brain and body haven’t got the flipping message, called Switching Off - Your Transition Into Rest, on Insight Timer, listen here It combines movement, breath and mindfulness to help you make the transition from doing to switching off. Use it after work, before bed, after a night shift, or anytime you’ve stopped doing all the doing, but you still feel switched on. Try the practice here 🥳 Enjoy! --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

  8. Sep 13

    63. Should you lower your cortisol before bed?

    😴 I love Yoga Nidra! Join my free 7-day Yoga Nidra challenge, starting 19 October. A different guided practice each day, in your own time. Save your spot here  --- Cortisol is a baddy of the wellness world. "Lower your cortisol… Balance your cortisol… Avoid foods that spike your cortisol." But cortisol isn't simply a "stress hormone" that we need to get rid of. It's an essential hormone involved in energy availability, metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, and it follows its own daily circadian rhythm. So what should cortisol be doing at bedtime? And if you're lying awake at 1am with a racing mind, does that mean your cortisol is 'too high'? In this episode, we'll explore: what cortisol actually is and what the HPA axis has to do with itwhy high cortisol isn't automatically a sign that something is wrongthe natural daily rhythm of cortisolfascinating newer research suggesting that the morning rise in cortisol begins before we wake upwhy cortisol would normally be lower towards bedtimewhat disrupted cortisol rhythms may have to do with sleepwhy trying to "control your cortisol" can be an unhelpful way to approach sleephow yoga can help create a deliberate transition from doing to resting Rather than being a health metric measure (or worry about), I want to take some of the pressure off - if better sleep is the goal, you don't need to lie in bed wondering whether you've successfully lowered your cortisol. Instead, you can work with your brain and body to tell them: The day is over. I don't need to keep doing. It's time to rest. 💤 💤💤  If you'd like some help doing exactly that, try Sleep Deeply Tonight: A Bedtime Nervous System Reset. It's a long sleep practice designed to be played when you're already tucked up in bed. I'll guide you through breathing, body awareness and nervous system relaxation, and there's absolutely no need to stay awake until the end. Listen here. Simply get snuggled up, press play and let me do the rest. --- 👋 work with me ☀️ lunchtime yoga reset  Slide away from your desk and release tension, stretch out and find a little calm for the afternoon ahead. Beginners so welcome. Save your spot here 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Starts mon 19 October, online & self-paced, save your spot here 💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🦋 200 hour yoga teacher training A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

About

Yoga is so much more than the physical practice. This podcast explores all of yoga; what meditation is and the benefits, the roots, history and philosophy of yoga, how simple concepts can help us live a more peaceful life, and how to approach the physical aspect of yoga in a safe and beneficial way. If you’re brand new to yoga and wondering what it’s all about, or you’re an experienced yogi looking to learn more about all of yoga - this podcast is for you.

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