Fresh ways to spice up your yoga practice
How to embrace imperfections and enjoy the learning
Tips for building strength and awareness
Good morning and good evening,
We hope this letter finds you well, feeling happy, and healthy. We’ve been spending the last couple weeks focusing on some big projects and filming four new yoga programs which will be released in the next few months. 🚀❤️ Our son, Ailo, began walking last week so it’s been a fun experience seeing him explore the world on two feet. From an anatomical perspective, the whole process of observing him transition from rolling to crawling and now to walking has been fascinating for us. It inspires us to mimic his movements, getting on all fours and exploring different movements and being creative with our bodies, just like he does.
We are immensely grateful for the love and support you have shown us as we continue to grow our international yoga community. A warm welcome to the 250 new subscribers that joined us in the past 2 weeks! Welcome to the Breathe and Flow universe. ✨
Congratulations to our yogi friends who won $100 USD to spend in the Breathe and Flow online shop in last month’s referral giveaway. Thank you for spreading the love with others by sharing this newsletter. We hope you enjoy your new haul of goodies. We will continue to offer giveaways in most of our newsletters when you refer us to your community, so post up your referral link on IG stories, FB, blogs, twitter, threads, where ever, and perhaps you’ll be the next winner! 🎉
Reinvigorate and Deepen Your Daily Yoga Practice
This week, we challenge you to try something new. It could be a new yoga pose, class, or even experimenting with some different breathing techniques or meditation. Stepping outside of our comfort zones can make us feel uneasy sometimes, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. We encourage you to be curious and explore the possibilities; find out where your own limits are and how to grow and evolve past them. Yoga is the perfect way to experiment and learn more about yourself. So here’s some ideas for you to take it up a notch!
Embracing Curiosity in Your Yoga Journey
Embracing curiosity in your yoga journey fosters growth and development. Whether you’re a beginner yoga an experienced practitioner, it’s natural to have questions and doubts about your practice. this should be encouraged! Cultivate a sense of curiosity and openness. Ask your yoga teacher and peers questions, explore different yoga styles, try new poses and techniques. This will help you deepen your understanding of yoga and make your practice more enjoyable.
Curiosity also helps you stay present and focused in your practice. When you’re curious, you’re more likely to pay attention to your breath, alignment, and movement. This mindfulness can help you stay present and fully engage with your practice and get a lot more out of it.
Moreover, curiosity can help you develop a more positive and growth-oriented mindset. When you’re curious, you’re more likely to view challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. This mindset can help you stay motivated and inspired in your practice, even when faced with difficulties. Let’s dive into some ways you can get curious today.
The Importance of Playfulness in Yoga
Playfulness is an essential aspect of yoga that is often overlooked. As adults, we often take ourselves too seriously and forget to have fun. Yoga is a great way to reconnect with your inner child and cultivate a sense of playfulness.
Playfulness in yoga can help you approach your practice with a sense of curiosity and experimentation. When you’re playful, you’re more likely to try new poses, explore different yoga styles, and take risks. This can help you deepen your practice and discover new aspects of yourself.
Moreover, playfulness can help you stay relaxed and focused in your practice. When you’re having fun, you’re more likely to let go of tension and anxiety. This can help you stay present and fully engage with your practice.
Spice Up Your Practice: Fresh Ways to Evolve Your Yoga Journey
⏰ Time: Try doing yoga at a different time of day and see how it impacts your practice. Are you more open, steady and strong in the evening or do you crave movement and a good sweat first thing in the morning? When we roll out the mat can make a huge difference to the way we approach it. We tend to feel that practising first thing in the morning works for us but actually as long as we get to do yoga every damn day then it’s all good! Book-ending your day with complimentary yoga classes (e.g. morning vinyasa + breath work and evening yin + meditation) is also a beautiful way to frame your waking hours with nourishing movement, resilience, peace, and reflection. Yoga teaches us about the gunas, which affect all physical reality: sattvas (harmony), rajas (passion) and tamas (inaction). Time, like humans and nature (the same anyway), are under the influence of the law of the gunas and hence the suggestion for spiritual practice are during the sattvic time. The gunas divide the day as follows: 4am to 8am are sāttvic (best for spiritual practice), 8am to 4pm are rājasic (best for work and duties), 4pm to 8pm are again sāttvic (best for spiritual practice), 8pm and 4am are tāmasic (best for rest)
🤸 Variety: Variety keeps things fresh! If you always do vinyasa, try some yin or restorative. If you only ever choose strong vinyasa flows, why not add in some yin and restorative sessions too? (honestly - you will thank yourself for this later!) Experiment with different breathwork techniques here. Our youtube channel has over 500 FREE videos with movement, breathwork, and meditation classes as well as our lifestyle videos which introduce you to other elements of yoga beyond the asana to enrich your practice.
🪷 Learn and grow: We love to share tutorials for specific yoga poses because getting the fundamentals right will benefit you in every aspect of your journey. We totally get it - attempting new arm balances or funky transitions in a class can sometimes bring apprehension about not getting it 'right.' Part of our ten alignment principles is ‘it depends’ (on your body and situation) how you feel safe, stable and comfortable. You can see that this leaves a lot of room for individualization, which is how your practice should be - individualized for you. However, a lot of these principles manifest themselves as the same for most bodies and in our tutorials we share exactly that, that which works for most bodies. Using your body in new ways can boost your confidence and enable you to try more challenging poses which push your limits. After all, the body responds best to a wide variety of inputs. Exploring new territory also brings you back into the present moment and adds immense joy to your practice! Have a go at this flying splits tutorial or check out our handstand tips to spice up your practice this week 🔥
🎧 Live Classes & Home Practice: Mix it up by joining live classes for more interaction or enjoy a solo practice at home. the energy you feel adn create in a shared class is very different from you flowing on your own and both are valuable for your journey and evolution.
🎵 Music or Silence? Experiment with music or chanting, or try silent practice to notice the changes to energy and focus. Changing up your soundtrack or going without can help you tune into your body’s rhythm, your breath and create a more intentional flow.
📚 Build on your anatomy knowledge: If you need more support with increasing your flexibility and strength in order to unlock more poses in your practice and feel better in your body, check out our online sessions to increase mobility like this Hip Extension Mobility Training. We are both certified in Functional Range Conditioning* and Flo recently became certified in Structural Integration so we are both passionate about sharing this knowledge through our classes to further mitigate risk of injury and help you move confidently and build more resilience through life.
Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.
Let Go of Perfection: Why Yoga Is About Feeling, Not Comparing
Remember, if you wobble when you try a new balance, then it’s showing how hard your body is working - awesome! If your mind wanders all over the place while you are trying out a meditation - yay! You are aware of it and this is an important step in the process of building strength, focus, awareness, and self-love. Don’t worry about how a pose looks, focus instead on tuning into the sensations you are experiencing and how your body feels, rather than how it compares to the teacher or other students you are following.
Celebrate the journey and the way your body and mind feel when you give them time and space to grow and learn, rather than being frustrated about the things you haven’t mastered yet. Also be aware that just because you are able to get into a pose comfortably one day, it doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be able to do it every day. There are days when five chaturanga push ups are just not gonna happen and other days when twenty is not enough! (Cue Flo saying “and hold here in chaturanga for just ten more breaths…”)
Our bodies are different each time we step onto the mat so doing what is right for that day/class/pose/breath is key. Whatever element you decide to give some more love and attention to, trust the process. After all, the beauty of yoga lies in the journey of self-discovery.
Don’t forget you can join in the conversation on the Breathe and Flow Discord Channel, where you can chat with yogis from around the globe about anything and everything related to yoga.
Wishing you wobbles of joy and new yogic adventures!
Love,
*Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) is a system of training and assessment that focuses on improving joint mobility, body control, and overall movement capacity. It’s based on scientific principles and utilizes specific exercises and techniques to increase joint range of motion, enhance tissue health, and develop body awareness and control.
1. The The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle delves into the importance of living in the present moment and freeing ourselves from distractions. It’s perfect for deepening your practice.
The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar This book delves into yoga philosophy and teaches you how to tailor your practice to your personal needs, offering insight into how your individual rhythms can impact your practice.
Other cool stuff we use, buy and recommend can all be found here in the Breathe and Flow Kit here! From books and to business tools, to travel items and yoga props - we’ve got you covered!
If you need a little green lift today then cast your eyes over these good news snippets!
Renewable energy will become the world’s top source of electricity by 2025
Australia blocks new coal mine 10km from Great Barrier Reef
Beavers are returning to London, and they might protect a local train station from flooding (yes, really!)
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon is down compared to last year
Read the rest here!
What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to try in your practice but haven’t yet? What’s holding you back from stepping into that challenge today?
We are with you every step of the way and learning alongside you. See you on the mat. 😉
Share this newsletter with your community using your unique referral link below and you’ll be in the drawing to win two candles and two stickers from the Breathe and Flow online shop. To qualify for the drawing, at least two people must subscribe with your link! We will draw the TWO lucky winners on July 31st. Good luck yogis! 🎯❤️
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