Yogashona

Yoga therapist & spiritual guide supporting sensitive, overwhelmed and recovering souls through gentle, nervous-system-aware practices. No fixing. No forcing.

Breath, grounding, and embodied spiritual care. Just a soft return to yourself. �500 hrs Yoga Scotland teaching diploma. (2013-2015)

�Certified vishoka meditation teacher. Himalayan Institute (2019-2020)

For more detailed info on all current class options and to book please see the website.

08/01/2026

When I talk about spirituality,
this is what I mean in practice:

Not big experiences.
Not pushing or fixing.
Not trying to become someone else.

My classes are a place to practise staying.

Staying with the breath.
Staying with sensation.
Staying with whatever is here —
pleasant, uncomfortable, or neutral.

We move with steadiness

We use props & pause when we need

We listen to the nervous system.

There’s no performance.
No pressure to keep up.
No expectation to override yourself in the name of growth.

This isn’t about doing yoga better.

It’s about learning how to be with yourself
more honestly,
more kindly,
more steadily.

If the idea of spirituality as presence resonates —
this is how we practise it together.

A gentle return.
Again and again.

🕊️🧡

07/01/2026

I’m not afraid to admit - I used to be scared of the word spirituality.

It felt vague.
Or lofty.
Mystical mumbo jumbo that I didn’t really understand.
Or like something you had to believe in, achieve, or get right.

Now, it feels much simpler.

For me, spirituality isn’t about escaping life.
It’s about meeting it — this moment, as it is.

It’s not something you’re given by a teacher or a practice.
It’s not something you earn or cultivate into existence.
It’s not something you have to believe or buy into.

It already belongs to you.

Spirituality lives underneath the noise of our thoughts
and the waves of our feelings.

Not by getting rid of them —
but by noticing that you are more than them.

Thoughts come and go.
Feelings rise and fall.

And yet… something in you remains.

Breathing.
Aware.
Here.

That quiet presence isn’t special or dramatic.
It’s very ordinary.
And very steady.

It’s what allows you to sit with discomfort
without being swallowed by it.

To feel deeply
without losing yourself.

To remember that beneath confusion, doubt, worry or fear,
you’re already connected —
to your body,
to this breath,
to life itself.

Nothing needs to be forced.
Nothing needs to be believed.

If you can pause for a moment
and feel your feet on the ground,
or your breath moving in your chest…

If your phone’s filled with photos of sunrises, scenery and super moons…

You’re already touching it.

That’s what spirituality means to me.

A gentle return.
Again and again.

🕊️🧡

nervoussystemhealing

05/01/2026

Take a breath with me here…
Gentle inhale…
Slow exhale…

For a long time, I was drawn to the quick fix.
The things that promised me fast relief.
Fast change.
Fast answers.

And now I understand why —
when something hurts, of course we want it gone.

But experience has taught me this:
what truly nourishes us rarely shouts for attention.

It’s usually quieter.
Slower.
Less impressive on the surface.

Choosing what’s sustainable
often means not doing what everyone else is doing.

Not jumping on every new trend or phase or promise.

It means turning inward — away from the external pull.

Staying close to what actually steadies your nervous system.

Then, from a place of presence, asking :

“what actually supports me?”

And being willing to choose that —

again and again —

even when it looks boring, unfashionable, or out of step.

This is how I practice discernment —
learning to feel what pulls me away from myself,
and choosing what helps me stay.

It’s not about fixing myself or optimising my life.

It’s about spiritual honesty —
noticing what is true in my body and nervous system,
and letting that guide my choices.

Clearing what pulls me into urgency, comparison, or force.

Choosing what I can return to long-term.

What I can live inside.

Not because it’s perfect.
But because it’s kind.

Presence over perfection.
Sustainability over quick fixes.

And trusting that slow, steady nourishment
always wins in the end.

This is the quality I’m bringing into my seasonal classes when we return soon — steady, nourishing, and spiritually honest.

🕊️🧡

04/01/2026

Most New Year’s resolutions begin in a place of quiet shame.
A sense that you should be better.
Fitter.
Slimmer.
Happier.
Healthier.
More productive.
More disciplined.
More…..something.

So you get busy trying.
You push.
You plan.
You start strong.
And for a little while, adrenaline and enthusiasm carry you.

But then life happens.

Your nervous system gets tired.
Your motivation dips.
Your body whispers “this is too much.”
Old, familiar patterns feel easier.
And before you know it, you find yourself right back where you started —
except now you’re carrying a little more self-blame.

What if this year didn’t have to go that way?
What if the problem was never you?
What if you’re not failing…
you’re just overwhelmed?

What if your “lack of willpower” is actually your nervous system asking for gentleness?

What if the real shift isn’t a resolution…
but a softer way of meeting yourself?

A slow, sustainable rhythm.
Rooted not in shame,
but in compassion.
Not in chasing the fantasy of a “better you,”
but in realising the truth that you were never broken in the first place.

You don’t need to reinvent yourself in January.
You don’t need intensity, punishment, or pressure.
You don’t need to pursue a version of yourself that follows the crowd & doesn’t even feel like home.

You need softness.
You need steadiness.
You need practices that honour your sensitivity, not override it.
You need a way of moving and breathing that supports you through real life —
through your waves, your seasons, your tender humanity.

You need grounding not just good intentions.
You need compassion not comparisons.
You need regulation not resolutions.

That’s why I teach the way I do.
Steady.
Grounded.
Nervous-system-safe.
Compassion-first.
Shame-free.
A whole-body exhale.

This year, instead of pushing toward a version of yourself you think you should be…
you’re allowed to come home to the version of you who’s been here all along.

If a softer, sustainable approach feels like the relief you’ve been craving…
I’d love to welcome you into this year of practice with me.

You don’t need a resolution.
You just need a gentle return to yourself.

🕊️🧡

03/01/2026

For a long time, every January, I fell into the “new year, new me” story too.

There were years of resolutions to give up drinking.
And later, as a yoga teacher, I was encouraging people to start fresh in January.

Yes — classes would always fill up.
Motivation would be high.
And then — slowly, quietly — it would all dwindle again.

What I couldn’t see then was how much that cycle was feeding the same old shame patterns.

The sense that something about us always needs fixing.
Reinventing.
Improving.

I see it differently now.

Yoga isn’t asking for a new you.
It isn’t demanding you get back on track —
and January — seasonally — isn’t a time of reinvention anyway.

January is winter.
A time for slowness.

Winter’s not asking for urgency —
it’s asking for honesty.
Listening.
Coming home.

Yoga isn’t about self-improvement.
Or keeping up with everyone else on or off the mat.

It’s about self-acceptance.
Learning to stay with yourself —
even in the quiet, tender moments.

It’s about realising that what you’re looking for
isn’t somewhere out there.

It’s already here.

Enough.
Whole.
Breathing.

This year, I’m not inviting you to become someone new.

I’m inviting you toward the true you —

the softer, steadier, more present you.

The one who doesn’t need to be reinvented.

Just remembered.

My seasonal classes will return soon — moving at the pace of winter and nervous system safety, not urgency.

I’ll share more when the time feels right.

For now, let this be enough.

🕊️🧡

31/12/2025

Around this time of year, I’m noticing how many of us find ourselves time-travelling.

Looking back and thinking, “Thank goodness that year is over.”
Or looking ahead, hoping, “Please let next year be better.”

Both make sense.

Both come from wanting some relief.

And both quietly pull us away from this moment —
here, where we are.

Peace doesn’t come from escaping the past
or perfecting the future.

It comes from being able to stay here —
breathing, sensing, present —

without needing this moment to be different.

More peace doesn’t mean a better life.

It means more presence inside the life you already have.

🕊️🧡

29/12/2025

Today I turn 50.

More than anything, I feel a quiet steadiness —
less like arriving
and more like trusting.

A deeper trust in my own rhythm.

A willingness to walk my own path — even when it doesn’t look like anyone else’s.

Trusting the pace.
Trusting the process.

This feels like the perfect time to enter the next chapter.

🕊️🧡

27/12/2025

The days after Christmas can feel strange.

Not quite festive.
Not quite normal.
No idea what day of the week it is.

And often full of quiet “shoulds”:

I should be doing something useful with this time.
I shouldn’t have eaten so much.
I shouldn’t have spent so much.
I should be getting back on track
I should be better by now.

If you notice those thoughts arising,
place a hand on your body — heart or belly —
and take a gentle breath with me.

Inhale…
Exhale…

These days aren’t asking for improvement.

They’re asking for integration.

Your nervous system is digesting.

Not just food — but experiences, emotions, endings.

Nothing needs correcting.
Nothing needs judging.

You’re allowed to rest here.
To be slow.
To be unproductive.
To let things settle.

This in-between space is part of the rhythm —
not a problem to solve.

Let this be enough for today.

🕊️🧡

24/12/2025

Christmas Eve can hold a lot.

If today feels full —
full of people, expectations, memories, or emotions —

if the feeling of “not enough” is around —

if your system feels stretched or tender,

or if you’re lost in an endless scroll…..

pause with me for a moment.

Feel your feet on the ground.
A hand on your heart or belly
Soft, full inhale
Long slow exhale
Feel your breath moving gently in and out.

Let your body know there’s nowhere else to be.

Nothing you need to fix, manage or escape

You don’t need to make this moment anything other than it is.

This breath is enough.

This moment is enough.

You are enough exactly as you are.

🕊️🧡

22/12/2025

This time of year can quietly amplify the feeling of ‘not enough’.

Not enough done.

Not enough bought.

Not enough joy, rest, time or presence.

When that voice gets louder, it’s rarely because you’re doing something wrong.

It’s a symptom of a nervous system under pressure.

Overwhelm looks for something to fix.

Softening allows enoughness to be felt.

There is nothing you need to add to this moment for it to be okay.

Enough isn’t achieved.

It’s remembered
— when we stay.

🕊️🧡

.

21/12/2025

Today is the Winter Solstice.

The longest night of the year.

The deepest pause in the cycle.

Nature isn’t asking for more right now.

It isn’t fixing, striving, or becoming.

It’s resting.

The dark is not a problem to solve —
it’s a necessary part of the rhythm.

You don’t need to turn toward the light yet.

You don’t need to be ready.

This pause is enough.

This stillness is enough.

Let yourself rest inside the dark,
trusting that the cycle knows what it’s doing.

🕊️🧡

18/12/2025

This week, we rolled up our mats for the final time together this year.

As I sit here reflecting on 2025,
I want to place a hand on my heart
and say something I don’t say nearly enough:

Thank you.

To every student who stepped onto the mat with me…

to every therapy client who trusted me with their tender inner world…

to every soul who breathed, moved, cried, softened, unravelled, rested,
or simply showed up in all their messy humanity…

You have been part of my own spiritual growth this year.

Your courage.

Your honesty.

Your sensitivity.

Your willingness to return to yourself,
even on the hard days,
has shaped me more than any teaching or textbook ever could.

I’ve grown because of you.

I’ve softened because of you.

I’ve learned to hold deeper, listen deeper,
and trust the body’s wisdom more fiercely
because of the work we’ve done together.

And from the deepest part of me:

thank you for letting me witness your becoming.

As we move into a new year,
I’m stepping into a new chapter of my work —
one rooted in gentleness, nervous-system safety,
spiritual honesty,
and the kind of soft coming home that doesn’t demand perfection
…..only presence.

There is so much goodness unfolding in 2026:
seasonal classes,
gentle journeys,
soft rituals,
a steadier way of living inside your body.

And I cannot wait to share all of it with you —
not from urgency,
but from warmth.

For now…

Breathe….

Rest….

Let the year settle behind you like snow.

And know that however you arrive in January —
tired, hopeful, messy, sensitive, overwhelmed —
you will be welcome, held, and met with presence & compassion.

Thank you for being part of my year.

Thank you for being part of my growth.

Thank you for being you.

Merry Christmas, love.
And wishing you a soft, steady, beautifully human New Year.

🕊️🧡

Address

Newton Stewart

Telephone

+447587815719

Website

http://www.yogashona.co.uk/, http://www.yogashona.heymarvelous.com/

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Our Story

I completed my 500hr teacher training diploma with Yoga Scotland between Sept 2013 and June 2015. I began teaching during my training and have been steadily adding classes to my weekly schedule since. As well as the general classes, I also offer a chair based class, a beginners class and classes for the students and staff at the Douglas Ewart High School. Everyone can do yoga and there’s something available for a range of needs and abilities. I will also do taster sessions when invited by local groups. Your yoga practice is about you and where you are right now. My teaching style reflects this as I offer variations and modifications throughout to make the postures accessible while encouraging students to practice safely and to their own level. You might just surprise yourself with what you can achieve. In each class we bring together the body, breath and mind through asana (physical postures), pranayama techniques (breathing) and guided relaxation. The general theme of the class varies each week and is presented through a range of postures in a structured and balanced format. You will leave the class feeling both relaxed and refreshed. Developing a regular yoga practice will improve your physical and mental health and wellbeing. The awareness and techniques that you learn on the mat can be taken off the mat to help you navigate the ups and downs of daily life.

Classes run on a 6 week block basis for the purposes of payment and I offer two payment options. Either pay up front for each block, or just pay as you go on the weeks you can make it. Cash or online payments are accepted. Booking is essential as class sizes are limited by the room size.