The 8th Wonder

04/11/2025

Local chair yoga, delivered by the lovely Clare O'Grady Holistics & Yoga - sharing for anyone who may need it x

It was a pleasure to teach chair yoga to the community of Gee Cross this morning. Chair yoga will be held here at Gee Cross Community Centre every Monday at 10am, followed by a warm drink and a chat. I've got fond memories of growing up in this community with my family, and I'm thrilled to give back. This session is for every body - yoga is for everyone, and I invite you to join us. Connection and movement are key to a happier, healthier life. Your first session is free, so why not give it a try?

You can book@using the link in my bio or send me a little messsge 🤍💫🫶🏻

28/10/2025

free community class offering this december ✨

join me for an embodied yin exploration • a practice of deep listening through body, breath, fascia, and subtle energy 🌀

in embodied yin we move slowly, sometimes more dynamically,
holding shapes or flowing with sensation

weaving in traditions of chinese medicine, exploring energetic channels, the five phases, and the interplay of yin and yang ✨

a somatic journey where tension is given space to soften
the nervous system is given time to restore
and space within us opens 🌬️

come as you are 🤍 return to your wholeness

**this session will be recorded for my embodied yin teacher training (specifically me teaching, not the group, so you won't be on camera don't worry 🫶🏼)

hope to see you there for an alternative friday night in 🥰

link in bio to book 🔗

15/10/2025

This is your invitation to join Clare O'Grady Holistics & Yoga and I for a late Sunday morning of Reiki, Embodied Yin/Yang flow, and Yoga Nidra ~ an immersive practice devoted to the art of letting go ✨

*Autumn Alchemy 🍂 Embodying the Wisdom of Your Metal Element* 🤍

The Metal Element in Chinese Medicine teaches us about the art of letting go 🍂 mirroring it's season of autumn, a time of natural release as the leaves fall and what is no longer needed is shed to make way for new growth 🍃 it represents clarity, refinement, and release ~ the courage to breathe in what nourishes, and exhale what no longer serves.
⚖️ When balanced, we feel organised, self-assured and open. When imbalanced, we may feel stuck in grief, control, or self-doubt.

This creative workshop is your invitation to explore ~ to breathe, move and release through ritual, Reiki, and embodied movement.

🌬 What you’ll experience

🌀 Signature Yin/Yang flow ~ a mindful, grounding sequence combining unhurried Vinyasa, Shake The Dust, and Embodied Yin™️. We’ll trace the lung and large intestine energetic channels to free stagnation and create space for new inspiration

💫 Reiki healing ~ Clare channels Reiki energy throughout the practice to clear blockages and soothe the nervous system

🌙 Yoga Nidra ~ the practice of non-doing, a guided rest to integrate and return you to your centre

We’ll close together in community, with light seasonal refreshments inspired by the Metal element, to ground and nourish us 🤍

✨ We hope you’ll leave feeling:
🤍 lighter and clearer
🤍 rooted in truth
🤍 open to inspiration
🤍 connected to your self-worth

This is for you if you’re…
🌬️ ready to release what’s weighing you down
🌬️ seeking clarity, courage and renewal
🌬️ craving calm and reconnection

🗓 Sunday 26th October | 11am - 1pm
📍 Hadfield (details on booking)
💫 £25pp | limited spaces for intentionally small group

✨ Take a breath, let go, come home to yourself 🍂
Book your spot here: https://buy.stripe.com/aFa6oG8rX6ox0dh4XdbII07

All equipment provided ~ just arrive as you are 🥰

We hope to see you there 🫶🏼

07/10/2025

hii I'm mel ❤️‍🔥

a mover, a feeler, a forever student of life and the elements

today, i choose to stand in all of me, to meet my fear with love, to turn my wounds into wisdom, to let my passion burn as bright as it was always meant to

for too long, i've softened my edges, played small to stay safe, swallowed my essence out of fear of being too much
or not enough

but i’m done dimming my light to make others comfortable, done with the people-pleasing and walking on eggshells, done apologising for my sensitivity, my strength, my fire

through my spiritual journey and practices, i’ve been shedding and remembering, again and again, returning to what’s real, raw and alive

now, i’m here to ignite something inside you ~
to spark the remembering your body has always known, to guide you back to the wild wisdom already alive within, to remind you of the power that’s always been yours

through embodiment, ritual, and elemental wisdom,
i invite you to listen deeper, to trust sensation, to explore beyond form, to meet yourself in new ways

this next chapter feels like a deep exhale 🌬️
putting down roots, gathering community,
coming home to the woman i’ve always been beneath the layers ~
the trailblazer, the initiator, the flame ❤️‍🔥

i’m here to walk beside you as i walk myself home too
to keep learning, unlearning, and softening,
to speak truth even when my voice shakes,
to lift others as i rise,
to be the fire that lights the way for us all
so together, we can remember who we’ve always been

you are the medicine
you are the rhythm
you are the art 🌀

if you’ve found your way here, there's a reason
welcome 🤗

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02/10/2025

how much emotional, mental and physical energy are you giving without replenishing it?

burnout isn’t just exhaustion, it’s a deep drain on your mental and emotional reserves that can leave you feeling detached from yourself. it’s not only for workaholics or people in high-pressure jobs ~ it can happen to anyone, anywhere, when you give more than you restore

for me, it’s crept in twice. first in mid-’22, when i stepped away from my decade-long fashion career. then again in early ’24, after chasing my dream of becoming a full-time yoga teacher. i thought reducing my week from 50 hours to 12 (public teaching hours only 😅) would fix it ~ but burnout isn’t always about the hours, it’s about alignment

honestly, i don’t half give myself a hard time. because when i stepped back, i felt like a failure. i still do sometimes

but i have to keep reminding myself that stepping back isn’t giving up ~ it’s a choice to reflect, recharge, and reconnect with my “why”

this time, recovery has meant more than just slowing down. for over a year now i’ve been following a gut health programme, and slowly, intentionally returning to the spiritual practices that keep me grounded. working on my body, mind, and spirit ~ from the inside out

burnout isn’t some badge of honour, it’s a signal that something needs to change. a reminder that your mind and body need care, not just your ambitions

in a world that tells you to do more, remember: rest is productive. recovery is a process. there is no overnight fix

✨ seek support if you need it
✨ adjust your balance
✨ address your stressors
✨ know your priorities
✨ set boundaries without guilt or explanation

i’m still learning to be patient with myself. but i know my wellbeing is my greatest asset ~ and i choose to protect it

have you felt this too?

💜

29/09/2025

metal teaches us about the art of letting go 🍂 mirroring it's season of autumn, a time of natural release as the leaves fall & what is no longer needed is shed to make way for new growth ✨

join & i for an arty•zen gathering devoted to the metal element of tradtional chinese medicine ~ lungs / large intestine, nourishment / waste elimination, grief / clarity

AUTUMN ALCHEMY 🍂 the wisdom of Metal 🤍

together, we will:
𖦹 explore meridian lines & acupressure points to support the body
𖦹 embody the wisdom of balance ~ structure, courage, self-worth
𖦹 notice imbalance ~ grief, control, criticism, difficulty releasing
𖦹 move with elements of vinyasa, shake the dust, & embodied yin
𖦹 rest & receive with the power of yoga nidra & reiki
𖦹 create an artistic ritual to express & release

your body becomes the canvas (optional ✨) ~ tracing the energetic pathways before flowing with their energy

we’ll close with light seasonal refreshments to honour the element 🤍

when metal is in balance, we feel clarity & courage, we can discern what is valuable & what can be discarded
when out of balance, we hold grief & struggle to let go, with rigid expectations & unhealthy attachments
this event is an embodied way to explore both

sunday 26th october | 11-1pm
✨ investment £25pp
📍hadfield (location provided on booking)

we'd love for you to join us for an afternoon of release & breathe into clarity 🌬✨

🎟️ LINK IN BIO to save your spot

22/09/2025

the virgo eclipse called and here I am choosing to share a little life update that i've been holding very close 🌱

this weekend i began my second degree 🤓 this time journeying into chinese medicine + acupuncture. a path that genuinely feels like fire in my heart and a deep deep remembering in my bones, and one that i didn’t think was possible for me, yet here we are!

if you’ve been to my classes and events before, you’ll know the seed was planted following my elements training in 2023 (with .yoga ) when meridians + the qualities of each element became the themes that guide our whole practice, and arty•zen was born. this next step feels like deepening that work, diving into the source 🌀

please know i’m not closing the door on yoga or movement. instead, this is me embedding chinese medicine more deeply into everything i do ✨ enhancing the rituals, the rhythms, the reclamation

whether good or bad, i am always seeking to understand 🤓 I think curiosity is both my superpower, and my kryptonite. i can’t, and won’t, just scratch the surface 😮‍💨 i want to live and breathe and become it. sometimes it leads me into the depths, sometimes it overwhelms me, but it is also MY WHY

i’ve more often than not felt like a misfit. a little (or at times a lot) misunderstood or overlooked. yet through this, i’ve learned that to 'be better', i must first keep learning and doing the explorative work. to lift others up, i must learn to lift myself. to guide authentically, i must walk the talk

it’s really the same reason i first stepped into yoga. i didn’t begin my trainings with the goal of teaching, i simply wanted to understand why the practice had touched me so profoundly. why and how it shifted my mood, my mental health, my sense of self. what began as a deep dive for me and my own healing naturally overflowed into teaching

and i believe that’s how all true guidance is born 🤍 not from regurgitation, but from lived experience. from being willing to do the work in myself first, so that what i share is real and true

so this is me, committing to what lights my heart on fire ❤️‍🔥 to new beginnings, to deeper roots, and to the medicine that’s already alive within 🌱

20/09/2025

It's finally happening 🥹❤️‍🔥
My home away from home for the next few years 😍 I can't wait to get stuck in (literally!) ✨

06/09/2025

just came across this photo of myself from about a year and a half ago
where i was initially like "wow wish i still looked like that"
slim, toned
the kind of image our culture might label as 'fit and heakthy'

but the truth is i was NOT
i was stressed, depleted, running on empty
my body might have looked the part but inside i was living in burnout
erratic, rushed eating between teaching
low energy, vitamin and mineral levels on the floor
my nervous system constantly on edge

fast forward to now, i don’t look like that photo anymore
and i caught myself criticising that
berating myself wildly
but then i remembered
i’ve been on a journey of healing from the inside out, learning to care for and repair my gut
finding balance in my mood and energy
gently nourishing a deeper connection with myself

i was diagnosed with crohn's disease in 2016 and i haven't felt this well in as long as i can remember (no thanks to big pharma)

and how f*cking incredible that this body of mine carries me through all of it, always
what an honour to grow with her
to witness her shift, adapt, recover, transform
over and over again

it’s made me realise you can’t see healthy, it’s something you feel
it’s balance and presence, and daily gratitude to these beautiful vessels we live in

my body is not an image, she is a story of survival and becoming, and i'm so grateful for her