Healthy Lifestyle Blog

Inform us a bit about your background and your yoga journey…

Born and raised on the sandy shores of the East Coast of South Africa, I danced via childhood barefoot, with the earth beneath my ft as my fixed companion.

In these early years, I discovered solace and readability in nature, feeling an innate sense of grounding that eluded definition. But, because the years unfolded, the cacophony of the world grew louder, and I momentarily overlooked the trail that when felt so clear.

It was in the course of the crossroads of late teenagers and early maturity that destiny led me to the edge of a humble yoga studio. In that serendipitous second, I launched into a journey that will without end alter the course of my life.

Although I can’t keep in mind the precise poses we practiced, I vividly recall the sense of peace and connection I felt afterwards. It was like coming dwelling to myself after years of feeling adrift.

Impressed by this newfound readability, I made a decision to dive deeper into yoga. I traveled to Costa Rica for a 200-hour instructor coaching, initially with no intention of educating. Nonetheless, in the course of the coaching, I found a deep want to share the magic of yoga with others.  

I went on to show yoga on the superyachts that I labored on on the time all, the whereas plotting my subsequent instructor coaching. I used to be hooked and determined to absorb & be taught as a lot as I may about yoga so I might be a greater, extra inclusive instructor. 

This led me to a number of extra trainings in Greece and India and I nonetheless have the bug! I believe that’s the great thing about yoga and what retains you humble – there’s all the time new issues to be taught: from our lecturers, our college students, from life – we’re without end a pupil of yoga. 

What impressed you to open Sol Search and when did you open the studio?

I vividly keep in mind calling my finest good friend who was on the opposite facet of the world, whereas I sat within the Costa Rican jungle, throughout my instructor coaching, and I advised her of this imaginative and prescient I’d had – of the 2 of us creating this therapeutic area for others. I may so clearly image this imaginative and prescient in my thoughts’s eye that I even drew the ground plans for it! Although we didn’t know the place or when it could occur, the dream was born. As I traveled the globe in my twenties, the dream of making a sanctuary for yoga, mindfulness and wellness remained fixed, a beacon guiding me via ever-changing horizons.

In 2021, destiny intervened as my path crossed with that of my fiancé, and we discovered ourselves settling within the idyllic village of Mylor, simply exterior Falmouth, Cornwall. Right here, amidst Cornwall’s coastlines and rolling hills, we laid the groundwork for what would turn out to be our shared imaginative and prescient.

As the celebrities aligned and divine timing took maintain, the items of the puzzle started to fall into place. In late 2023, the universe conspired in our favor – a dreamy studio area grew to become out there, assets aligned, and the arrival of my finest good friend, a fellow yoga instructor and wellness fanatic, supplied the ultimate flourish to assist us carry Sol Search to life!

On March 1st, 2024, Sol Search Yoga & Wellness Studio opened its doorways to the neighborhood, a testomony to the ability of perseverance, collaboration, chasing your desires and trusting in divine timing. 

What’s your mission with Sol Search?

At Sol Search, our ardour lies in making a sanctuary the place neighborhood is on the coronary heart of all the pieces we do. Our dream is to domesticate an area of tranquility and connection amidst the hustle and bustle of on a regular basis life.

We imagine that yoga is for each BODY, no matter age, means, or background. That’s why we attempt to supply a various vary of courses, from light chair yoga for these with restricted mobility to invigorating vinyasa flows, guaranteeing that everybody in our neighborhood has a spot to belong and thrive.

Our mission is straightforward: to empower people to maneuver, to breathe, and to attach. We imagine that via the follow of yoga, we will stroll away feeling happier, lighter, and extra related to ourselves and to one another.

How is your studio totally different from different studios?

We perceive that yoga is a deeply private journey, and what resonates with one particular person could not essentially resonate with one other. That’s why we’re devoted to providing a various vary of yoga types, from the grounding stillness of Yin to the dynamic stream of Vinyasa, and all the pieces in between.

However greater than only a schedule of courses, Sol Search is a neighborhood constructed on connection and collaboration. We prioritize staying receptive and open to suggestions, guaranteeing that our studio is a mirrored image of what our college students need and want. Our imaginative and prescient could information us, however we perceive that true service means being versatile and attentive to the ever-changing wants of our neighborhood.

Our foremost precedence is not only educating yoga, however connecting – connecting with our college students, connecting with our neighborhood, and fostering an surroundings of acceptance, assist, and progress.

What recommendation would you give to somebody who’s considering of opening their very own studio?

If you’re contemplating opening a yoga studio, it’s important to get clear in your imaginative and prescient. What’s it that you just hope to create? What values and rules will information your studio’s ethos? Take the time to articulate your ‘why’ – the driving power behind your determination to embark on this path. Your ‘why’ won’t solely present strong foundations in your studio and model, however it can additionally function your guiding mild in the course of the inevitable challenges that lie forward.

And let’s be actual – there shall be challenges. As you step into the function of CEO, bookkeeper, social media guru, and a lot extra, there shall be days when it feels such as you’re juggling one million totally different duties, questioning why on earth you determined to do that. In these moments, come again to your ‘why’. Let it heart you, floor you, and remind you of the influence you’re striving to make on the earth. Your imaginative and prescient, your why, your ethos – these are what actually matter.

It’s additionally vital to keep in mind that you don’t should be essentially the most superior yoga practitioner to open a studio. Certain, it’s nice when you can flip your self right into a pretzel, however what actually issues is your ardour for sharing the transformative energy of yoga with others. Your authenticity, your dedication, and your willingness to carry area in your college students – these are the qualities that can make your studio thrive.

Whereas social media might be responsible of portraying very aesthetic variations of yoga, the reality is, yoga is messy. It’s difficult. It’s stunning. It’s gentle. It meets you on the depth of your soul, and generally, it does all of these items without delay. As you invite actual, dwelling people into your studio, into your courses, keep in mind that your most vital job is to carry area for them – for his or her feelings, their struggles, their triumphs. Making a secure, nurturing surroundings the place folks really feel seen and supported is what actually units a studio aside.

So, to all the longer term yoga studio house owners on the market, I applaud your braveness, your ardour, and your dedication to creating a distinction on the earth. Embrace the journey forward with open hearts and open minds, understanding that you’ve the ability to create one thing actually extraordinary.

Do you’ve a quote or mantra that you just reside by?

“You can not uncover new oceans until you’ve the braveness to lose sight of the shore” – Andre Gide. There’s a lot magic that lies on the opposite facet of our consolation zones, if we now have the bravery to step out into the unknown.

Discover out extra about Sol Search Studio and their schedule:

Instagram: @sol.search.yoga

Web site: https://www.solseek.co.uk/

Inform us a bit about your background and your meditation  journey.

I am half Japanese and Sri Lankan, having lived in Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kenya and the UK all through my life.  I used to be introduced up in an in depth knit household that upheld Buddhist philosophies and Japanese traditions and values. From a younger age, I used to be drawn to such philosophies and knowledge as a lifestyle and mindfulness and meditation have been invaluable practices in my journey. I studied Economics on the LSE inside which I used to be notably within the teachings of Psychology and a Masters diploma from SOAS. Following my profession within the United Nations in Japan, I pursued my skilled coaching in mindfulness, meditation and motion practices. I’m a certified Daoist Circulate instructor from Triyoga, a mindfulness and meditation instructor with a specific curiosity in Mindfulness Primarily based Stress Discount (MBSR), a certified holistic therapist, Ayurvedic therapist and mentor.

What impressed you to open 7Breaths and when did you open the studio?

I opened the studio on the finish of Might 2023, lower than a 12 months in the past. We’re nonetheless within the early phases of our journey as a studio however I’ve had the privilege to fulfill so many great folks together with our extremely skilled academics and studio assistants, our wonderful neighborhood, collaborators and organisations.

For so long as I can bear in mind, opening 7Breaths has been a private lifelong challenge borne out of the concept to create a one in every of a sort, contemplative sanctuary within the coronary heart of London for busy Londoners. Having had private experiences of various levels of hysteria, my honest hope is to assist others by making a protected area the place collectively we be taught to decelerate, de-stress and deepen our understanding of ourselves and of others.

What’s your mission with 7Breaths?

Our mission is to simplify meditative practises and supply evidence-based accessible instruments and strategies in mindfulness, meditation and motion practices that will help you breathe nicely, handle stress and calm your thoughts and physique. This stems from our unwavering conviction that there’s energy in respiratory and shifting collectively in a bunch and as a neighborhood. Most significantly, our purpose is to indicate you that meditative practises may be joyful and are for everybody.

How is your studio completely different to different studios?

I imagine that our studio is a novel mix of a conventional yoga studio and a meditation centre. We’ve got deliberately created a peaceful sanctuary nestled in a quiet, hidden oasis in central London. We provide 30 and 45 minute evidence-based meditative and movement-based teachings geared toward slowing down and cultivating current second consciousness. We deal with strategies to breathe nicely by way of guided meditations within the type of our signature class, mindfulness meditation, sound meditation, mantra meditation, yogic breathwork, yoga nidra, and meditative motion practices together with qigong, restorative yoga, yin yoga, hatha yoga and sluggish somatic yoga.

We targeted on making a serene area utilizing pure supplies together with paper lanterns, linen, tiles, wooden, stone and muted colors in collaboration with Elizabeth Keenan Studio who labored meticulously to convey our imaginative and prescient to life to exacting requirements. Moreover, we champion feminine based companies and have collaborated collectively to curate a line of restricted version wellbeing merchandise together with soothing natural Korean teas, incense holders, flower bowls and tea cups, soy aromatherapy candles, and handmade crystal bracelets. We additionally provide instructional workshops and concentrate on immersive candlelit and scent stuffed experiences for 1-1, non-public group periods and company wellbeing and staff constructing occasions.

What recommendation would you give to somebody who’s considering of opening their very own studio?

My major recommendation to those that aspire to open their very own studio is to recollect to maintain issues easy.  Typically, we could overthink and over plan which may result in over complicating the method. Begin even in case you really feel you aren’t prepared as a result of it’s within the determining that issues. Have a transparent thought and a strong finance construction and in my expertise, having a mentor is an absolute should!

Do you’ve got a quote or mantra that you just stay by?

My most favorite quote of all time is by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist monk, peace activist, instructor and prolific author and calligrapher.

“To be stunning means to be your self. You don’t must be accepted by others. You have to settle for your self.’

Discover out extra about 7 Breaths and their schedule:

Instagram: @7breathsmeditation

Web site: https://www.7breathsmeditation.com/

We’re large followers of permitting house for our college students to seek out rhythm and ease of their apply. We would take into consideration rhythm as our personal particular person tempo or tone in any given second – are you feeling drained, sluggish, speedy, wriggly, or another method? Discovering our personal rhythm permits us a way of company and empowerment inside our apply. Ease is the pure counterpart to rhythm. The place can we enable extra consolation, extra relaxation, more room into our apply? Typically we want a little bit of rhythm to assist us discover ease.

As you progress by means of the urged postures under, we’d encourage you to take a number of moments to wriggle and transfer in any method that feels good for you, earlier than coming to a couple moments of stillness and relaxation within the posture. Take as a lot time as feels good earlier than transferring on.

Sitting to Discover Rhythm

In a snug seated place, we will discover rhythm and ease by gently exploring our centre. Take a number of rocks side-to-side, then front-to-back, discovering the place you’re feeling centred in the midst of your seat. You may even take a number of circles, sways, or another actions that really feel good for you. If it feels comfy, you may carry your consideration to your breath for a number of moments.

Urged alignment: 

• Shoulders stacked over hips
• Elbows softly fall beneath shoulders
• Legs might be crossed at shins or ankles
• Encourage shoulders to calm down down and away from ears.
• Tuck chin barely to elongate again of the neck
• Arms can discover any comfy place

Improve: Elevate the peak of your hips by sitting on a block, blanket or cushion. This can assist your knees fall away and relieve rigidity in your decrease again, making it simpler to take care of a straight backbone. Sitting towards a wall will help relieve rigidity & pressure within the again while getting used to sitting cross-legged.

Mermaid Pose

This can be a  private favourite of each Theo and Harriet. We love this pose for all the rocking, swaying and choices for intuitive motion it provides.

Urged Alignment: 

• Sole of entrance foot rests into thigh of again leg
• Again leg has foot drawn in the direction of thigh in “mermaid” or “deer” place
• Pelvis is probably not completely degree on the mat – assist with a folded blanket or cushion

Swing one leg out to the facet and again, tucking the foot as near that hip as is comfy. Bend the entrance leg and produce the only real of the foot in the direction of the highest of the again thigh. From this place, you may take facet bends, twists, rocking actions, or carry one hand behind you, lifting the upper hip much more and reaching up and arching again right into a “child wild factor” place. 

Improve: It’s extremely probably that the sitting bones is not going to be degree on the mat on this place – sitting on a small cushion or folded blanket will help them really feel extra even and grounded if that’s comforting. 

Huge-Legged Seated Place

You is perhaps noticing a theme right here – we love a posture from which you’ll be able to discover all kinds of actions. In a wide-legged place you may make small or large circles, twist, facet bend or fold ahead. You may take a number of breaths in every place, or wriggle and transfer constantly from one model to a different.

Urged alignment:

• Elevate seat by sitting on skinny block or blanket
• Take legs aside simply so far as feels comfy, actively flexing ft
• Lengthen by means of backbone, lifting coronary heart ahead

Improve: Use palms on ground or blocks/bolster to assist and floor from the torso. Sit on a bolster or as many blankets as you want.

Camel Pose

This isn’t essentially a pose we affiliate with rhythm & ease, however Camel might be an effective way to softly carry some power and focus to your apply. Quite than staying static within the pose, you may strive transferring out and in of the again bend a number of occasions, lifting and decreasing the hips from kneeling. You may even incorporate lifting/decreasing the arms. 

Urged alignment: 

• Hips over knees, thighs urgent ahead
• Lifting by means of pubic bone
• Chest lifting to sky

Come to a kneeling place, starting together with your toes tucked whether it is comfy for you. Stack your hips over your knees, and produce your palms into your decrease again, or carry your palms to satisfy at your coronary heart.  Squeeze your elbows and shoulders collectively and down. 

As you inhale, start to press your hips ahead, curling the highest of your backbone again. Take into consideration lifting from the highest of your chest amd keep away from hyper-extending into your decrease again. On an inhalation, stack your shoulders again over your hips, then launch again to a kneeling place. 

Improve: In case your knees are tender, pad them with a blanket or by rolling up a little bit of your mat.

Baddha Konasana / Butterfly Pose

One other nice pose for rocking, rolling and wriggling. If you wish to go for a extra restorative choice, take your ft additional away and a bolster beneath your knees for a supported ahead fold.

Urged Alignment: 

• Soles of ft collectively, heels as near groin as is comfy
• Knees crumble comfy
• Arms round outdoors edges of ft/resting on shins or ankles
• Lengthening by means of backbone
• Shoulders draw again and down
• Slight anterior pelvic tilt

Convey the soles of your ft collectively, shuffling your backside as near your ft as is comfy. Actively press your knees down in the direction of the ground utilizing your thigh muscle mass. As you inhale, lengthen your backbone and increase by means of your collarbones. As you exhale, hinge ahead out of your hips, desirous about taking your chest ahead, however preserving your backbone straight. 

Improve: Sitting on a block can drastically improve the house accessible by means of the hips, while additionally defending the decrease again. You may also prefer to take assist beneath the knees if there’s any discomfort within the entrance of the pelvis.

Inform us a bit about your self… 

Harriet: I’m a yoga trainer, yoga educator and author based mostly in Oxford, UK. I’ve been practising yoga for round 20 years and educating for 10 years this 12 months! I run Nourish Yoga Coaching, an internet coaching and CPD college which focuses on delivering inclusive, joyful and person-centred programs. I presently educate a 300 hour program, Being pregnant & Postnatal Yoga trainer coaching, plus varied CPDs and workshops. My educating emphasises empowering college students to embrace and nourish their our bodies and minds, with a concentrate on embodied motion, cultivating instinct and enjoyable. I relish the chance to make apply matter in on a regular basis life by way of social justice & making yoga accessible and inclusive.

Theo: Theo Wildcroft, PhD a trainer, author and scholar working for a extra sustainable relationship between our many selves, the communities that maintain us, and the world that nourishes us. Her analysis considers the democratization of yoga post-lineage, and meaning-making in grassroots communities of apply. She’s a lover of susceptible individuals, of untamed issues and wild locations, and of the straightforward miracle of life itself. Numerous individuals have downloaded her yoga nidras, that are profound however light, take you on sudden journeys, and are all the time spontaneously created. Drop in and pay attention for actual. 

What does a typical day seem like for you? 

Harriet: With my accomplice I’ve a 3 12 months previous border collie known as Loki, so my days are often bookended by an extended stroll to offer him train and luxuriate in some recent air. Except for my standing appointments with Loki, daily appears to be like a little bit bit completely different – I often discover a while for studying, varied bits of admin or course preparation/writing, or supporting college students. I attempt to join with colleagues and associates within the business wherever I can, even when it’s only a 5 minute chat or an extended espresso (Theo and I are in contact most days!). I often apply or educate in the direction of the late afternoon/night, even when that apply is only a 5 minute pause, or rolling round on my ground. I’m anticipating my first child in June 2024, so my days are about to look very completely different certainly!!

Theo: My days are additionally bookended by walks with our rescue greyhound, Storm. He’s a sociable boy, so how lengthy we stroll for is dependent upon what number of associates he bumps into. Then largely he, my accomplice and I all work at home, so it’s again to my desk for writing, planning, admin and educating, largely for the Open College. Most of my yoga-related occasions and tutorials are within the evenings or weekends, so a few occasions a month you’ll additionally discover me dropping in on-line or in particular person for coaching programs of some sort. Like Harriet, I even have a number of conferences, conversations and catch ups, though as I additionally strive solely to work with individuals I like, that’s nowhere close to as boring as it’d sound! After so a few years of feeling like I needed to stick with a proper, common self-discipline, I’m much more relaxed about when and the way I apply nowadays. However most days contain some type of self-care and play, whether or not that’s a swim, quarter-hour of pranayama or standing on one leg whereas brushing my tooth. I’m working with probably the most superb Ayurvedic physician in the intervening time, and there’s all the time one thing new she needs me to strive. 

How did your yoga journey start and what impressed you to develop into a yoga trainer? 

Harriet: I first discovered yoga as a 13 12 months previous, drawn to the type of the postures and the way all of them got here collectively. I practiced on-and-off all through highschool, earlier than cementing my apply at college. I distinctly keep in mind once I determined to embark on my yoga trainer coaching. It was midway by way of the primary 12 months of my Masters dissertation, and from the surface, I may have simply been burdened as much as my eyeballs balancing all of the coursework, analysis, writing and educating to which I used to be dedicated. As an alternative, I keep in mind a sense of serenity, capability and calm. I felt completely competent and in a position to juggle the assorted workloads and deadlines that had been set. I simply wasn’t burdened. Positive there was rather a lot happening (that was apparent to anybody) however I used to be current, in management and in a position to deal with it. There was (and nonetheless is) little doubt in my thoughts that this was due to my yoga apply. That was my second of readability. After I realised that the private apply I had cultivated all through the years was one thing I wished to share with different individuals. As a result of that feeling I had — of calm, centred, self-assurance — that feeling was value sharing. 

Theo: Yoga was simply the factor I stored coming again to, all through my twenties. For a very long time it was simply considered one of a variety of practices I used to be exploring, from dream work to martial arts to bounce. Then I dropped into an area Anusara Yoga class and I knew inside a month that firstly, this was probably the most enjoyable I had ever had on a mat and secondly, I wished to share it with others. The love affair with Anusara was short-lived, however that led me to increasingly questions not nearly what it means to maneuver, breathe and sit properly, but in addition how innate these capacities are, how we are able to finest domesticate these qualities in others, and the way a lot our wellbeing is a results of luck, good genes, self-discipline or perspective. Today I’m fairly positive that luck, genetic heritage and privilege largely dictate how far we’re in a position to thrive, however these issues are largely out of our management, and our dedication to yoga – if we outline yoga as dwelling consciously and with self-reflection – can nonetheless make a number of distinction. I feel because of this individuals from marginalised teams have discovered their method to what are historically elite practices just about endlessly.

What impressed you to concentrate on your apply?

Harriet: While I’ve cherished guiding over 200 academics by way of their 200 hour yoga trainer coaching over time, my area of interest is basically in supporting academics who’re already certified to develop, redefine and reframe their educating and private apply of yoga. As I’m identified to say, educating yoga is a extraordinary career, with many potential pitfalls but in addition some actual alternatives for development, satisfaction and pleasure. I get most excited by serving to academics take into account methods to supply yoga which can be inclusive, grounded in neighborhood and really empowering. 

Theo: I feel it’s important to educate what you understand, and what makes the distinction for you and for the individuals you take care of. Many people, after we try this, discover that there are explicit communities we need to work with, and particular choices we need to make for them. These are the niches wherein we shine, and really feel most rewarded. Goodness is aware of, the work may be isolating and exhausting at occasions, so to essentially do it long run, it must be sustainable and make an actual distinction. For a very long time, my important area of interest was educating yoga to disabled college students, however I started to understand how very important the abilities I had have been to a a lot wider inhabitants of yoga academics, which is a method I began to get entangled in trainer coaching. Then I wished to inform the tales of the yoga academics I knew, and thru a sophisticated sequence of occasions, that led to a PhD challenge. After I lifted my head on the finish of that, it turned out that I knew numerous issues that it was helpful for yoga academics to listen to, but in addition I knew a number of different individuals I wished to introduce them to. This e book is the following stage in that journey.

How have you ever seen yoga profit your college students?

Harriet: The suggestions and tales that persistently deliver me probably the most pleasure is when my college students inform me they’ve felt in a position to say no, felt in a position to adapt or modify, or choose out of a apply completely due to one thing we’ve talked about. For me there actually aren’t many practices that basically allow that journey of self-knowledge or have the potential to advertise company fairly like yoga. 

Theo: Like Harriet, it’s all the time the tales the place college students are studying company that basically stand out. I had a non-verbal pupil at some point lean forwards, kiss me on the cheek and stroll out. To be truthful he was filled with a chilly and he was clearly saying ‘I really like doing yoga with you, however not at this time please’. The opposite story that fills me with delight is a pal who was at one other trainer’s class, and that trainer didn’t actually approve of utilizing props, and instructed he do the pose ‘correctly’. So my pal went and bought extra props. I wish to ask trainees: ‘When was the final time you walked out of a yoga class?’ We have to get so a lot better at politely strolling away when a apply isn’t serving us.

What’s your favourite quote or life motto?

Theo: You’ll be able to’t ask a author that! Okay at this time it could be ‘Fais que ta langue te reste etrangere’, from Helene Cixous, the French thinker. I’ll let Harriet translate that one!

Harriet: Ha! Effectively, Theo’s favorite quote is actually translated as “Let your tongue be overseas to you” but it surely’s about your native language all the time being one thing you method with a way of curiosity and discernment, which I really like. I’m equally having a tough time with this one! However maybe I can share a snippet of considered one of moments in poetry, by the Scottish poet Robin Robertson (from The Lengthy Take):

The place has kindness gone,

and tenderness

and delicate arms

inside this hearth,

amongst these many blades?

A reminder that even when it appears like we’re surrounded by the flames and blades of the world, there’s nonetheless all the time area for kindness, tenderness, gentleness – nonetheless part of ourselves calling out for softness.

What’s developing for you in 2024?

Harriet: Except for the e book popping out, I’m additionally getting married and having a child this 12 months! So there’s heaps to be enthusiastic about and concentrate on. I’m hoping to return to educating in late 2024, and co-teaching a number of on-line programs with Theo will truly be my first foray again into educating postpartum! In the event you’d like to remain within the loop you’ll be able to verify again in with my web site/instagram. 

Theo: There’s some good huge issues this 12 months: there’s this e book popping out, after which making ready to launch the following one, which Barbora Sojkova and I simply submitted. I’ll be at a number of good occasions this 12 months, together with the following YDYS convention in Hamburg and the Brighton Yoga competition. I’ve bought a few small analysis initiatives brewing. I’m giving a lecture for the BWY in March, and operating a few programs on yoga nidra for Yoga Studying and on neurodiversity for Barefoot Physique. Then it’s again with Harriet within the Autumn for some extra programs for Nourish. There’s nonetheless area within the diary although!

Discover out extra about Harriet and Theo:

Instagram:

Harriet – @harrietmcatee

Theo – @theodorawildcroft