Equanimity Yoga

Equanimity Yoga aka Jenna Richards. Mum and Yogini offering Holistic yoga classes in , and online. And yoga isn’t about touching your toes.

For relaxation, strength, flexibility and most importantly - equanimity of mind. Equanimity Yoga offers a holistic approach to Yoga inspired by my own yoga journey which saw the practice transform me and my life. I went from being a wrung-out stress-head who was constantly unwell to someone who is (mostly!) welcoming of life’s adventures and challenges in their varied and insightful forms. Persona

l experience has taught me that yoga can have untold benefits. When you practice regularly for a long time yoga can subtly bring about positive change in all areas of your life. The 'stretchy' stuff is a tiny part of what yoga is. At its core yoga is about calming the mind and allowing you to appreciate that the whole universe is intimately interconnected. My yoga journey began around 15 years ago. I began attending occasional classes and workshops, then I stepped into an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga class and I immediately knew I'd discovered the yoga that inspired and resonated with me. After a few years I attended into my first Mysore style class – and my world changed! The Mysore practice forced me to confront myself on my mat. I began unpeeling the layers of who I was, and who I thought I was, delving deeper and deeper into the spiritual and philosophical side yoga. I discovered that once you start to really study yoga the subject grows and grows. Yoga isn't something you do for an hour once a week, it is a philosophy and a lifestyle. My initial teacher training was with the Devon School of Yoga, I enrolled without any intention of teaching yoga, I just had a huge thirst for a deeper understanding of yoga in its many and varied forms. I've been teaching now for about eight years. My classes encourage strength, wellbeing, health, happiness and promote evenness, or equanimity, of mind. I teach the Ashtanga Vinyasa practice that changed my life as well as Hatha Yoga and Yoga Nidra and work with children with Autism. I have trained in Yoni Shakti (Womb Yoga) with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, in Yoga for Children with Autism with the Special Yoga Foundation and Yoga Nidra with the Total Yoga Nidra Network.

Looks what's arrived in time for Wednesday's Nidra. Starting in April every nidra session will start with the option of ...
30/03/2026

Looks what's arrived in time for Wednesday's Nidra. Starting in April every nidra session will start with the option of a relaxing herbal tea followed by Nidra, then chocolate and strawberries, then a final nidra. What's not to love!?

Come join us on the first Wednesday of every month at St Thomas Church Hall, 7pm-8.30pm.£10. All abilities welcome, no experience necessary. Message or email jenna@equanimityyoga.co.uk me to book or with any questions.

What Happens in a Equanimity Yoga Yoga Nidra class? Sometimes our biggest barrier to trying something new is the unknown...
29/03/2026

What Happens in a Equanimity Yoga Yoga Nidra class? Sometimes our biggest barrier to trying something new is the unknown, so what happens in one of my classes?

People arrive and find a spot on one of that mats that I’ve (hopefully) laid out in advance! Everyone is given a mat with a bolster, blanket, pillow and eye bag to help make their ‘Nidra nest’ as comfy as possible.

The class starts with some very gentle movement – joint rotations normally – to ease the body and relieve and aches and strains from the day. Then we lay down and do the first Yoga Nidra, usually around 15-20 minutes.

When we come back into the room we share some strawberries and chocolates and anyone who wants to can ask questions or share their experience of the first Nidra.

We end with a second Yoga Nidra usually around 20-30 minutes long before coming back and doing some reintegration, tapping all over the body to reawaken ourselves before you are on you want home hopefully feeling lighter and more relaxed.

Fancy giving it a go? My next Yoga Nidra class is on Wednesday 1st April at St Thomas Church Hall, Exeter 7pm to 8.15pm. £10. Drop me a message or email jenna@equanimityyoga.co.uk to book or just turn up, there is loads of space!

The Science of Sleep & Yoga Nidra 🔬Ever wondered why Yoga Nidra is so effective for sleep? There's some fascinating scie...
23/03/2026

The Science of Sleep & Yoga Nidra 🔬

Ever wondered why Yoga Nidra is so effective for sleep? There's some fascinating science behind it — and it goes well beyond simply relaxing.

During a Yoga Nidra session, brain activity shifts into alpha waves — the same slow, calm waves your brain produces just before you fall asleep. With regular practice, your brain becomes better at accessing this state naturally at bedtime, making it easier to drift off without the usual mental chatter.

But it goes deeper than that. Yoga Nidra has also been shown to reduce cortisol — the body's primary stress hormone — and to increase levels of dopamine in the brain. High cortisol at night is one of the most common reasons people struggle to sleep; it keeps the body in a state of alertness even when we're exhausted. By actively lowering cortisol, Yoga Nidra helps break this cycle.

Studies have also found that the practice activates the parasympathetic nervous system (our 'rest and digest' mode), reducing heart rate and blood pressure while promoting the conditions your body needs for deep, restorative sleep — including the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.

Perhaps most powerfully, Yoga Nidra can also enable you to access the theta brainwave state — a deeply receptive state usually only experienced briefly as we fall asleep. Spending time here during practice can help process stress and emotion, leaving you lighter and calmer when bedtime comes.

My next Yoga Nidra class is on Wednesday 1st April at St Thomas Church Hall, Exeter 7pm to 8.15pm. £10. Drop me a message or email jenna@equanimityyoga.co.uk to book.

21/03/2026

The light has returned
The wheel turns toward dawn

Warmth spills across the land
The earth sings again

Rise with it, wild and unafraid
Grow and meet the sun

Joyous first day of spring! 🌺

🌿 The Slow ThawSomething has been moving through us this month. Something slow, deep, and quietly transformative. As we ...
20/03/2026

🌿 The Slow Thaw

Something has been moving through us this month. Something slow, deep, and quietly transformative. As we reach the Spring Equinox, it's worth pausing to honour how much has been happening beneath the surface.

We opened the month under the Blood Worm Moon — a full moon and a total lunar eclipse. Eclipse energy cracks things open. It stands between your old story and your next chapter and asks: what are you finally ready to release?

Then came Friday the 13th — not a day of bad luck, but an ancient day of feminine power. A reminder that your intuition, your cyclical nature, your capacity for magic are not weaknesses to be managed. They are gifts to be reclaimed.

Through all of it, Mercury has been retrograde in Pisces — slowing us down, dissolving old stories, asking us not to charge forward but to go inward. To feel rather than think. To get honest about what we truly want.

This has not been an easy month to push. And that has been the point.

Because on March 20th, everything shifts at once. Mercury stations direct. The Equinox arrives. Light and dark balance — and then the light begins to win.

This is the true new year. If your January intentions quietly fell away, they didn't fail. They were waiting for the right conditions.

Those conditions are here. You have been composting. You have been thawing. You have been, without perhaps realising it, getting ready.

Now it's time to grow. 🌱✨

What seed are you planting this equinox? Drop it in the comments 👇

Today's New Moon is a powerful time for setting intentions and calling in what you want to create. But this one carries ...
18/03/2026

Today's New Moon is a powerful time for setting intentions and calling in what you want to create. But this one carries a different quality — and it's worth paying attention to.

We're in the final days of Mercury retrograde in Pisces, which means the usual 'write your goals and charge forward' energy isn't quite available to us yet. Instead, this new moon is asking for something deeper: not planning, but feeling. Not a to-do list, but a truth.

Sit quietly and ask yourself — not just what do I want, but how do I want to feel? What would I have to believe about myself to actually receive it? Be honest about the fears and limitations that have been quietly running the show. Mercury retrograde has a way of bringing those to the surface — not to discourage you, but to show you exactly what needs to shift.

The beautiful thing? The Spring Equinox arrives on March 20th — the same day Mercury stations direct. That is your green light. The moment to move. Right now you are in the sacred pause before the surge, planting seeds in the dark before the light returns to grow them.

So take a breath. Get clear on what you truly want — and equally, on who you need to become to have it. The universe is listening, and the timing is about to be perfect. 🌑✨

🌙 If you struggle to switch off at night your nervous system might need more than a dark room and a good intention. Yoga...
16/03/2026

🌙 If you struggle to switch off at night your nervous system might need more than a dark room and a good intention. Yoga Nidra is a guided practice of conscious deep rest that works directly with your body's stress response. Session by session, it helps your nervous system learn to genuinely let go — so that by the time your head hits the pillow, your body actually knows what to do. No effort, no straining, no trying to 'empty your mind'. Just guided rest that does the work for you.

I offer small, intimate Yoga Nidra classes on the first Wednesday of every month in Exeter. My next class is on Wednesday 1 April at St Thomas Church Hall, Exeter 7pm to 8.15pm. £10. Drop me a message or email jenna@equanimityyoga.co.uk to book. Quality rest is something everyone deserves. ✨

16/03/2026

🌙 If you are struggling to switch off at night? You're not alone — many of us lie awake with a busy mind, unable to find the rest our bodies are craving.

Yoga Nidra, often called 'yogic sleep', gently guides your body into a state of deep, conscious rest. As you settle into stillness, your nervous system begins to downregulate — moving from the stress response into a place of genuine calm. Over time, this teaches your body that it is safe to let go, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.

Join us for a small, nurturing Yoga Nidra class on this first Wednesday of every month and see if Yoga Nidra can help you downregulate for better sleep. My next class is on Wednesday 1 April at St Thomas Church Hall, Exeter 7pm to 8.15pm. £10. Drop me a message or email jenna@equanimityyoga.co.uk to book.

🌙 Reclaiming Friday the 13th: A Day of Divine Feminine Power 🌙Friday the 13th. A date that makes some people nervous. Bu...
13/03/2026

🌙 Reclaiming Friday the 13th: A Day of Divine Feminine Power 🌙

Friday the 13th. A date that makes some people nervous. But what if I told you this superstition was built on top of something sacred?

Friday takes its name from Freya — Norse goddess of love, wisdom, and magic. A warrior and a healer, a lover and a seer. Friday was her day. A day to honour intuition, pleasure, and the deep power of the feminine.

And the number 13? Also sacred. Thirteen moon cycles in a year made 13 the number of the feminine — of renewal, of the body's natural rhythms, of life moving in circles rather than straight lines.

The demonisation of Friday the 13th didn't happen by accident. As patriarchal structures took hold, the symbols of feminine power — the moon, the number 13, Friday itself — were quietly reframed as something to fear. The goddess was turned into a superstition.

And this particular Friday the 13th feels especially potent — we're in the middle of Mercury retrograde in Pisces, asking us to slow down, go inward, and trust our intuition. The cosmic weather is actively supporting a return to feminine wisdom right now. That feels less like coincidence and more like an invitation.

So today, reclaim it. Light a candle. Trust your instincts. Honour the cycles you live within. Friday the 13th doesn't belong to bad luck.

It belongs to you. 🌙💫

This month I am going to take a deep dive into Yoga Nidra and sleep. My yoga nidra teacher cured himself of insomnia usi...
10/03/2026

This month I am going to take a deep dive into Yoga Nidra and sleep. My yoga nidra teacher cured himself of insomnia using sleep and I've had many students feed back that following a nidra session they sleep really well. So lets think about why!

Unlike most forms of exercise or meditation, Yoga Nidra works specifically with the hypnagogic state — that dreamy threshold between waking and sleeping. By consciously entering this space in a safe and supported way, you begin to retrain your nervous system, reduce stress hormones, and prime your body for truly restorative rest.

If you're tired of lying awake, waking in the night, or dragging yourself through the day, Yoga Nidra could be the missing piece. Come and experience it for yourself in my small, welcoming group classes. My next class is on Wednesday 1 April at St Thomas Church Hall, Exeter 7pm to 8.15pm. £10. Drop me a message or email jenna@equanimityyoga.co.uk to book.

I had some lovely feedback after last week's Yoga nidra class. Yoga Nidra really can help with sleep quality and here's ...
07/03/2026

I had some lovely feedback after last week's Yoga nidra class. Yoga Nidra really can help with sleep quality and here's one possible reason why (there are others!)! Yoga Nidra works with the theta brainwave state — a deeply receptive state usually only experienced briefly as we fall asleep. Spending time here during practice can help process stress and emotion, leaving you lighter and calmer when bedtime comes.
The result? Better sleep quality, fewer night wakings, and more energy during the day. 🌙

If you struggle with sleep perhaps Yoga Nidra can help you.... My next Yoga Nidra class is on Wednesday 1 April at St Thomas Church Hall, Exeter 7pm to 8.15pm. £10. Drop me a message or email jenna@equanimityyoga.co.uk to book.

26/11/2025

Take some time out before the December madness begins and enjoy a relaxing and restorative Yoga Nidra (yoga sleep). Next Wednesday, 3rd December, 7 to 8:15pm at St Thomas Church Hall, Exeter. £10.

This is a guided relaxation class - no experience or equipment needed, suitable for all bodies. Turn up and be guided towards bliss!

If you have questions or would like to book message me or email jenna.richards@equanimityyoga.co.uk

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Hereford Road
Exeter
EX42EX

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