Yoga with Eden

I’m an ex-high school teacher-barista-nanny-retail worker, burger flipper who was born in Cairns, QLD and grew up mostly in Coffs. I’ve lived in a few places around the world and spent a lot of my time traveling – scraping by to get funds to see new places and meet new people. I live part-time in a house in Sawtell, where my boyfriend and I raise his little humans and a dog. The other half of the time we have our parents retreat in the worst looking house on the best street with ocean views and a cat named after a rapper (Smino) who keeps the house rat-free. We get the best of both worlds and I feel so lucky. I love sipping on coffee and tea, eating, watching Parks and Recreation, listening too and making banging playlists, swimming in the ocean and … yoga!

Yoga is great for our bodies, physically, emotionally and psychologically. Yoga brings us a bit more into the parasympathetic nervous system. Through moving, stillness, and being intentional about deepening our breath, we get to calm down. I like to think of it as a time where we get to close all the tabs in our brain for a little bit.
Yoga invites us away from our phones, our to-do lists, and the busy-ness of life and into the present moment, into our bodies. I will be honest; yoga is not always relaxing. It can be tricky, sometimes we even fall over and have to laugh it off! The relaxing part usually happens when we get up from our mat, after a nice, juicy Savasana (the end part of the practice, where you get to lay down for like 5-10 minutes and chill the ef out. It’s after the practice when we start to feel that relaxed, zen feeling! Yoga can get sweaty, and sometimes it can even be emotionally confronting. On the mat, it is often quiet, and we are alone with our breath and thoughts. In the silence and even during the balances or strong poses we get to know our minds. This can be confronting – but this is why I believe it can heal us! Yoga provides space for us to get to know, love and accept ourselves – even the parts we don’t really like.
I originally found yoga during a time of unemployment and burn out from teaching in a high school in London. Somehow, magically, I found an app that taught me basic yoga. Through this, I got to know my body as I practised daily. In getting to know my body, I got to know myself. Through this time of change, exhaustion and emptiness, yoga helped me heal, it helped me listen to myself, my intuition. It helped me find where I wanted to live, who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I found it made me feel great, but also helped (and helps) me love and accept myself. If I didn’t find yoga, I would hate to know where I would be today. I am so grateful for it, and I am passionate about bringing yoga in whatever way I can, to others.

I’ve trained as a yoga teacher in Australia, and in India, I teach hatha and ashtanga blends of yoga and yin yoga.

My studio is in an alleyway in the centre of Coffs – I have a lot of busy students who work full time and or have never been to yoga. I give my classes basic English names that describe the type of flow I’ll be teaching, to people no matter their experience of yoga to know how they might feel during/ after class and what they can expect. For example ‘Chill’, ‘Energise’ and ‘Cruisey’.
In my classes, I like to have the music loud, I like to have fun. I’m passionate about alignment and safety but I also want everyone to find their own flow, to find versions of asanas (poses) suitable for their bodies. For example, If they are tired and need to lay down, I want them to listen to that and honour that. If they want to go a bit faster in the class or hold plank longer, I like to, where possible, give people opportunities to do this, and explore the space their body has to offer that day. I want people to know that they are ok. I want every person who comes to om yeah, or engages online (through Instagram and omline classes) to feel supported and included. I want people to feel calmer and a bit more relaxed when they leave my classes. I want people to feel great- on a physical, emotional and soul level. I have a dream that some of my students will leave a class saying ‘wow, I think I know how to face that problem in my life now after that class’ or ‘thank you for teaching me about yoga – I know how to love myself despite x,y,z”… yeah, that would be a dream come true. SO, if you’re willing to join me on the mat, have a go at the little class I’ve prepared for you all!

Let’s find a comfortable seated position if you need to you can sit on your blanket or towel folded up. Bring a hand to your heart, and a hand to your belly. Close your eyes, or gaze toward the floor. Notice your breath coming and going from your body. How do you feel? You don’t have to change anything, we are simply growing in awareness of our selves.

Lovingly, feel the breath as it moves the hand on your belly, in and out, the hand on your chest, can you feel it rising and falling? Breathe like this for a few moments.

Now we will add a little mantra (a fancy way of saying words or a little chant) to our breath. On the inhale say to yourself, ‘I receive my inhale’, on your exhale say ‘I let go, my exhale’ and then ‘pause’. Your pause can be as short or as long as feels comfortable. Breathe, saying these words in your mind for a few more moments. Don’t worry if you lose your place, just start again. If you like to set a timer for 1-3 minutes (depending on how much time you have and if you’re new to yoga!).

When you feel ready to make your way over to all fours. If you need support – add a towel or blanket under your knees. In our tabletop position, hands under shoulders, knees hip-width apart, drop the belly. Bring heart, gaze and head toward the ceiling. Lift your tailbone. Take a breath in, fill up your lungs for Cow Pose. When you’re ready, exhale to bring belly to spine, round shoulders and tail bone in for cat pose. Move between these poses and let your breath be your guide. Flow like this for about 10 rounds. Notice how your body feels.

Active butterfly: Sit back onto your heels and bring your feet out in front of you. Bring the soles of the feet to touch – if you have lower back issues at the moment prop up on a blanket so your hips stay above your knees. Brings soles of the feet in towards you as close as you can, lengthen the spine. Take a breath in. Now, as you exhale, draw the navel in, keep your spine straight and hinge from the hips to fold. Take your heart and head beyond your feet. Elbows can press on knees to go further, or in towards the hips. Stay for 5 slow breaths.

Now move the soles of your feet away from you to make a diamond with the legs. In this version the spine rounds, just like in Cow Pose. The head reaches towards the feet, hands can reach out – get a little softer by turning them up into the ceiling in surrender. Stay for 1- 3 minutes.

So often we make this pose about touching our toes- it is actually more about the back muscles and hamstrings getting a stretch, so we work towards hinging from the hips! It’s not cheating to bend your knees, it’s helping your alignment. Bend your knees and lengthen your torso. Take a nice breath in, then, keeping a straight spine, fold forward to hug belly over thighs and grab onto toes or sides of feet. You might stay here. Or using every exhale, and keeping the same alignment, straighten legs till you feel like it’s a nice stretch in legs and back. This is your practice, find your fold for today. Stay for 5 breaths.

Swing your legs back underneath your, to come to a seated kneeling position. Again, we fold forward and reach arms forward. Sink your hips back towards heels (slide a pillow behind knees here for more support). Your hands can crawl forward or If you want to soften this pose, turn your hands up to the ceiling, let’s surrender, in this humble pose. Hold for 1 minute – or if you can get comfy, why not 3?!

After going inward in child’s pose, roll up your blanket or pillow and place along your spine as you lay down. You can take straight or bent legs here, even butterfly if you wish! Let the prop beneath you do the work as you open your heart, holding for 2-5 minutes. Ommm yeah! This is my fave! You can come back to your breathing mantra we did at the start. Let yourself melt over the prop.

Mindfully make your way off your prop and swing your legs up a wall, it won’t necessarily be graceful, don’t worry. No judgement here… Practising awareness; notice sensations in your body. Notice how you feel in this semi inversion, letting your feet have a break. You can stay here for 1-5 minutes. When you’re ready to come down, hug your knees into your chest and thank yourself for your practice- for getting on your mat exactly how you are today.

Remember that juicy part of the practice I told you about? Yep, it’s time for that! Lay on your back. You can prop your knees up over a prop, or even get warm with the blanket over you. You can even place an eye pillow or something over the eyes if any light is distracting. The longer you stay here, the deeper and calmer you will feel. So set that timer for 1-10 minutes. Let your body and mind receive your practice. Relax. Your body is getting heavy… into the floor… You are relaxed… When you’re ready to get back to reality, take your time, firstly move fingers and toes, slowly stretch out and draw knees in. Rock n’ roll. Then roll to one side, use your arm as a pillow for a few breaths. Guide yourself up to seated and smile!