Phase two of the successful Pain Management course  started this week. We have 2 spaces left, so if you want to join us on week 2 , this Thursday 5th April 4pm- 5.30pm please contact
Simon Marlow at the NHS
07545 562528

It has been a most satisfying journey teaching the pilot group Pain Management. We reached the end of our 5 week course last week, and not only did we go on a deep dive, into physical and emotional blocks, but we bonded and made new friends over a cuppa at the end of each session. We will be signing up again soon for the next block after Easter. I shall update this blog when the dates/times/places are released which will be within the next week hopefully. In the meantime here are a few testimonials. 

​Thank you for what you are doing to help people in pain. I was told by a leading pain management consultant once that unless you are dealing with someone that is qualified to deal with chronic pain then there was no point discussing your condition or situation with them as they would never understand it. I have spent so many years dealing with a most demoralising approach through so many medical appointments.
Thank you for doing what you do & just the understanding you give to those suffering from chronic pain is priceless.
Alison.


Thank you again for my 4 weeks of pain management. It has woken up things I had put to sleep unsorted and undervalued and I am excited by this and grateful. Returning to the mindful aspect of  "Letting be" has helped me so much to think more happily about my family relationships. This brings me some comfort. 
Margaret.

Each week at the New Apton Day Centre I am running a Pain Management 5 week course. 

Working with Somatic movement, meditation and MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) the class is designed to help people suffering from pain, learn self management skills to help them find a place of ease.

​We are nearing the end of the first course and already we are receiving great feedback from the attendees. The second phase will begin after Easter, if you are interested in joining us on the next phase of Pain Management, please get in contact with:

Simon Marlow at the NHS
07545 562528

Location: New Apton Day Centre, Apton Road, Bishop's Stortford, Herts

Day: Thursday 3.30pm - 4.30pm

Wishing you all a peaceful 2022. Here are my new term class details. There is no problem if you sign up late to any of my yoga terms, we can work out a discounted rate. Just contact me on 07907 841999 or email karmaspaceyoga@gmail.com

Monday - 6.45pm - 8pm - All levels
Studio class
Emmaus Centre
£55 for 5 week block
£13 drop in  
Dates: 7, 14, 21, 28 Jan 7 Feb

Monday 8.05pm - 9.05pm - Foundation Yoga course
Studio class 
Emmaus Centre
£65
Dates: 7, 14, 21, 28 Jan 7 Feb

Tuesday - 6.45am - 7.45am -  All levels
Studio class
Nuffield Health
Free for members

Tuesday - 9.30am - 10.45am-  All levels
Studio class
The Secret Space (Hertford)
to sign up visit www.secretspace.org 
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Wednesday - 7.45am - 8.45am - All levels
Livestream Zoom 
£10 drop in (pay via Bacs as listed below)

Thursday - 6.30pm - Restorative Yoga starts 20/1
Livestream Zoom 
£10 drop in (pay via Bacs as listed below)
​

Come and learn with the principles of a Yoga practice which is based in a wisdom Yoga tradition. In this course we shall cover the different families of poses and understand how these poses and teachings help us to arrive into our bodies, connect to our life force and calm our nervous system and our minds. 

This course is good for 

• Beginners 
• Trainee yoga teachers who wish to understand the foundational teachings of asana, the use of yoga props and understand Restorative yoga which has its origins in the therapeutic tradition of Iyengar Yoga.
• Established yoga students who would like to revisit the foundations of a yoga practice and its guiding principles. 

Location:
Emmaus Centre (behind the Barnabus Centre) at St James Church, Church Lane, Bishop's Stortford, Herts, CM23 4BE
free car park directly outside.

Dates:
Monday evenings 8pm - 9.15pm 
1, 8, 14, 22 November, 6 December (NB is no class on 29th November)

Cost 
£60 
contact me for bank details
Yoga props are provided.

Course details 

Week 1: Standing poses
This Foundational grounding sequence covering the classic standing poses. These poses help us to connect with in our inherent mental and physical strength as we build endurance and ground with Muladhara chakra. Within this class we begin the approach to inversions.

Week 2: Forward bends
Learning to fold the body into a place of surrender. Forward bends are introverted and are calming to the nervous system as they quieten the adrenal glands and are good for headaches, tiredness, and heat. 
 
Week 3: Backbends
Backbends are uplifting, help anxiety and depression. They can help the closed chest syndrome of the western world, connect us with our heart chakra and help us access deeper, fuller breath.

Week 4: Restorative and Pranayama
This sequence will bring deep rest into the body and mind. It requires no energy, and helps to bring us to a relaxed state mentally and physically. We shall look at the basics of controlled breath with beginner's Pranayama. 

Week 5: Miscellaneous poses with a focus on the lower back
We shall focus on twists and forward bends to release the back. Poses that bring you towards the spine are emotionally settling and grounding. 

I look forward to sharing these wonderful life enhancing wisdom teachings.

Yoga has been around for the past 5,000 a years and the effects of yoga as a path and a system can be far reaching. The yoga sages established certain principles that hold the potential for enormous transformation of our mind and body which can fill our lives with peace and joy.
Yoga develops the body in a balanced way and it not only works on the muscles, but it also works on all systems of the body: digestive, respiratory, circulatory, immune, hormone secretion, and more.
Our health depends on the proper and balanced functioning of the internal organs and the efficiency of our waste system’s transportation and disposal. Yoga, by the actions of stretching, squeezing, extension, reaches all the internal organs and rejuvenates them. It maintains the flexibility of arteries and thus balances blood pressure, it expands the lungs and helps supply fresh oxygen to all parts of the body especially the head and brain – in inversions. 

Yoga does wonder for reducing stress and creating mental peace enhancing the action of the parasympathetic nervous system. Many studies have found links between stress and diseases therefore creating harmony and peace of mind also helps in maintaining health.

Yoga is not just exercise
But Yoga is not just an exercise method, yoga develops one holistically, operating on different dimensions of ourselves: physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, moral and spiritual.
​
Yoga on a physical level
Yoga helps to develop strength and flexibility maintaining the integrity of our internal systems and therefore our health, over the years. It helps us to develop mentally, yoga promotes features like persistence, patience, power – desire, joy, and peace;

Yoga on a mental level
On a mental level Yoga helps achieve emotional stability and balance, and satisfaction. It helps mental concentration, improves memory, focus and clarity of thought, balanced perspective of reality, and good judgment;

Yoga on a moral level
On a moral level Yoga opens our hearts to love people and therefore makes us better people, more sensitive to our environment, more considerate, and willing to contribute to our environment; 

Yoga on a spiritual level
On a spiritual level, Yoga tells us the truth about our existence in this universe. The effects of yoga in our lives can be thoroughly transformational!
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September is here and so is Karmaspace Yoga's new schedule which launches on Monday 6th September. This term we are offering options of online and live studio teaching.

​Hopefully there is a little bit of something for everyone including a new Beginner's Yoga course which starts on Monday 20th September. Registration is open which discount prices offered to those booking for the half term course. To see the timetable and find details on how to book your space click here.

Resting, delicious uttanasana really is a calming as it looks, and this week it has been a pose that helps to pacify the intensity of my migraine. I've always been a headache/migraine person and this is one of the poses in my toolkit that I pull out to help me. The trick with this pose is to find a height to rest your head whilst maintaining the straight legs - the bottom photo is the more moderate version, which works for back problems and also the head support is the perfect version for those who suffer from headaches. Be mindful to draw the forehead skin down from the hairline as this helps the frontal lobes of the brain to relax.

The folded chair version sits into the top thigh crease, and helps to lift the hips and elongate the abdomen - it is a firm favourite with my students. If you catch the sweet spot in this pose you will find the quietness. The props help you to stay longer and reap the benefit of the inversion which is quietness, stillness, introspection, and a change in perspective, and maybe even a release from a headache. 

A beautiful staple "go to" pose.

I love Iyengar yoga is because of its deep anatomical and therapeutic understandings and approaches.

This is a wonderful short sequence for releasing pain or tension in the neck. Most of the poses look to open the dorsal spine towards the chest which has a profound effect for the neck. The chair backbend may be advanced for some so omit if necessary and just backbend off the edge of your bed or sofa. 😊