What can you expect from one of our private Yoga Sessions?

If you tighten up your hand into a fist and tense up, you are seeing a very good example of how a lot of people in the 21st century are living and feeling; taut, tired and sometimes at breaking point. A yoga session aims to relax and release tension from the body and mind.

Each 40-minute session will include physical postures to strengthen and improve the flexibility of the body. Students will learn different breathing exercises, firstly to revitalise the body (putting oxygen into the body is like putting petrol into a car - most people are only using about 10% of their lung capacity) and secondly a breathing exercise to calm and balance the mind. Relaxation techniques are also introduced.

Waiting to relax at the weekends or during your annual holiday isn't enough. It is important to value and strengthen our health everyday by taking time to relax. Learning to concentrate on your breath helps to clear the mind of clutter. Yoga helps us to rediscover our mental and creative strengths.

Yoga is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind and spirit. Yoga is not a religion but a system to restore and deepen each person?s innate physical, mental and spiritual strength. Exercise, breathing, a healthy diet, relaxation and positive thinking are vital for a healthy body and healthy mind. Today many artists, sports and business people alike are using the tools of yoga to improve their performance. The benefits are threefold:

• The physical benefits; creates a toned, flexible and strong body; promotes cardio and circulatory health; helps you to look and feel younger than your age.

• The mental benefits; helps you to relax and handle stressful situations more easily; teaches you to quieten the mind so you can focus your energy where you want it to go.

• The spiritual benefits; allows you some time and space to be ?other? than a commodity in the work place, remembering again what it really means to be a human being.

Yoga and Performance.

"I have found that the practice of yoga has released the tension in my upper body which has caused me to experience stress head aches. I find that I now understand and use the body's natural relaxation system. I have incorporated the philosophy of yoga into my working practice, working with focused periods of concentration and then taking time to relax and empty my mind of distracting and unprofitable thoughts. I find I also sleep much better after my yoga practice. Isobel's understanding of applying yoga to the real world has been a great investment of my time." Concha Salvador - Pharmacist

A Golfer's View of Yoga

"I had been reading a sports psychologists article called 'The Super 7 Necessities for Great Golf,' (stamina, stability, strength, suppleness, spirit, sequence and skill) and I realised I was probably doing my best golf practice on the yoga mat. Great golfers talk about total, positive concentration - finding a winning state of mind. Isobel's passion for yoga and her own experience of performance at the highest level (singing at the Royal Opera House) has been an inspiration for me to begin my yoga practice. Exercise, Breathing, Relaxation, Healthy eating and Positive Thinking and Meditation. My golf has improved and so has my health and attitude."

John Richardson - Golfer