I am sure I am not the only one thinking of the ‘may you live in interesting times’ curse mentioned in Terry Pratchett’s book (and apparently wrongly believed to be a Chinese curse).

It certainly is a strange, worrying and scary time for us all at the moment, isn’t it?

I have been watching the rising stress levels around the world with worry. Stress is completely understandable, but is not a good state of mind for us to be existing in right now. Stress lowers the immune system, interrupts sleep, stops us relaxing, and leads to fear based behaviour, none of which are good for us as individuals or as a collective. Stress puts us in a very self centred space, and right now we really need to be viewing this from a place of compassion and togetherness.

I did a very spontaneous livestream in my Facebook group a couple of evenings ago, sharing some of my thoughts about stress and our individual and collective wellbeing, and some breathing practices that you can use to help you release the fear and stress you might be feeling right now. Practised regularly, they will also help keep you in a calmer state of mind generally,

You can view this livestream here

Release and Relax with gentle Hatha Yoga online

On Friday 13th March, I made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel my local yoga class, and take my classes online. This is due to the sudden realisation that, as an asthmatic, I am more vulnerable to this virus than I had previously considered. I have made arrangements to work from home in my job, and to do all I can to ensure that I am reducing my risk of either catching or transmitting this virus.

This has allowed me to open my classes up to other dates and to a wider audience, so it might mean that you are able to attend a class with me that you hadn’t previously been able to.

The classes are running on Mondays and Thursdays, from 7-8.30pm GMT, and on Friday mornings from 6-7am GMT. In the classes you will learn to breathe, to stretch, to release tension in your body and to let go of stress in your mind.

The classes will be delivered via Zoom and you can find out more and book your slot here

Please, stay calm, follow the basic hygiene advice we are given, take care of those you love and in your local community, and look after yourself.

This will pass. It may change things in our world somewhat. It is going to be hard to live through. But please try to stay calm, and remember, you are in control of your emotions, you have the power to calm and soothe yourself when the stress levels threaten to overwhelm you

Sending love to you all

Esther