03/01/2026
Happy New Year! It’s time to embrace the dark of winter, rest, recharge and let go of the year that was 2025.
In the Chinese tradition 2025 has been the year of the snake.
We have been playing with embodying the snake in our recent Yoga classes.
The snake sheds it’s skin revealing the new. Can you reflect on what skin has left you this year? Is there another skin to shed before the year of the fire horse arrives in February? Could we use the dark of the winter to heal and prepare our new skin, before we move forward?
There’s so much in our capitalist consumer culture that conditions us into a spiral of endless activity at this time of year, pulling our attention out of our sacred bodies and into unnecessary rushing around. As a result, we get sick or burnt out. We push and pressure ourselves to be better when nature is telling us to let go.
Could we remind ourselves quality rest is a practice, it’s also a way to unlearn the conditioning that keeps us tied into a system that suggests our lives only have value based on what we produce. With the practice of rest we are learning to ‘be’ not ‘do’ We are after all human beings not human doings.
I'd like to invite you to do a daily practice of Yoga Nidra. In the Mindfulness tradition it’s called a body scan. You can practice anytime of the day. Simply Lie down on your Yoga mat, get cozy under a blanket and set a timer for 10-20 minutes. Rest and invite your body to relax. Bring your attention to the sensations and feelings within your body. I hope that in practising quality rest it helps you to return to taking action with ease and joy. Let me know how it goes.
Our 2026 courses at Abhyasa are starting with
⭐ Reconnect to your True Nature Yoga Monday 5th of January and⭐ Mindful Meditation Thursday 12.30pm 8th Jan for 12 weeks I’ve ⭐Gentle Yoga at the Crescent Arts Centre begins again on Saturday 17th Jan. links in bio to book.
I’m very excited to announce our first residential retreat this May 8th to 10th 2026 at the Stunning Cabragh Lodge Co. Sligo. If you’re interested please contact me for further info.