Author: ayeyoga

coming out of Lockdown

Today as the Sun shines and the birds sing there is a feeling of Spring. And most of us will breathe a sigh of relief at the thought of the freedom that is (hopefully) just around the corner.

One of my Teachers ( at the OCHS) and friend, Daniel Simpson, has written a wonderful book called The Truth of Yoga, I can highly recommend it.  When we can open up the Shala to more folk Daniel plans to come and talk to us about his book, have a Q&A and a book signing which will be great. We hope you will join us.

Bhagavad-Gitā 6.5

One should uplift the Soul by means of the Soul,One should not let the Soul become disheartened,For the Soul, alone, is the friend of the Soul,And the Soul, alone, can be the enemy of the Soul.

Translation by Zoë Slatoff

I have been busy starting a new Podcast with a good friend, Louise. It is called Womenkind Collective and is a light hearted weekly podcast about all things women (although you don’t have to be a women to enjoy it).

We would like to make sure that the every life of a women is given a voice, from periods, pregnancy and menopause to health, food, friendship and relationships.

We would love you to join us in the Collective you can listen here or our first episode below. If you enjoy it, it would really help us if you subscribe, follow, and leave a review on your favourite podcast platform (its on most).

Autism in Women & Girls – WomenKind Collective

You’ll need a whole flask of tea for this weeks podcast as well as tissues, so settle in for a slightly longer episode with some beautiful stories from some amazing women. It’s autism awareness month and we have 2 very special guests mother and daughter, Lyn and Libby Curtis. Lou gets to the bottom of one of the collectives pube loss and chin hair gain. It’s the last 6 chapters of Caitlin Moran’s More Than A Woman and we discuss how truthful the book is for every woman including those of us at a certain age not packing the suspenders for a sexy weekend away but packing the M & S menopause pants! For our foodie collective Jinty talks probiotics and why we need them for good gut health and how to get probiotics into your body. During our interview with Lyn and Libby we learn that only 1:3 girls are diagnosed to boys, and diagnosis for girls can take much, much longer. Lyn was diagnosed when she was 40 years old and 3 of Lyn’s 5 children have autism, Libby is her youngest daughter and was diagnosed at 6 years old, but this was off the back of her brothers diagnosis. Lyn talks openly and honestly about parenting her children with autism, the struggles and reality, as well as trying to regulate her own symptoms, this fiercely loving family is full of love but can be perceived as cold by those who do not understand the gifts they have. There was a huge difference between her daughter and her son’s diagnosis – the internalization of Libby’s emotions and how it can manifest in girls as self-harm and eating disorders in an obsessive way. Lyn is also suffering from long COVID and she discusses how this as well as the menopause has massively impacted on her life. This episode is an emotional rollercoaster finishing with a beautiful letter from Jinty’s daughter who is waiting for a formal autism assessment. With much love and gratitude to the women of this week’s podcast for opening their hearts to us. We make this podcast ourselves so please share, subscribe, follow and review, it means a lot to us. Leave us a message or email us, we would love to hear your stories, suggestions and thoughts womenkindcollective@gmail.com. Disclaimer- These are stories told by real women with autism but everyone is different and there are many different traits or gifts in the spectrum. For advice on Autism https://www.autism.org.uk/. Books – More than a Woman by Caitlin Moran. Untamed by Glennon Doyle.

1. Autism in Women & Girls 01:21:45
2. Pregnancy and Birth during Lockdown & other Stories 01:04:30
3. Hormones & Hair loss. 01:04:58
4. Hormonal Headaches & Migraines 54:54
5. Friendship 32:38

The first day of the Meteorological Spring has already begun on 1st March but the Astrological Spring begins this Saturday, 20th March, the Spring Equinox, marking the return of a warmer climate, longer days and most importantly for all of us in the UK, change.

I think this is change that we are all ready for. With more than 24 million people in the UK vaccinated (first dose) so far, we hope to feel safer as we gingerly sneak out of Lockdown.

We hope that you are all okay and that lockdown has not been too difficult or painful for you. Both Neil and I have been using this time for Svadyāya – self study and learning. 

For me, in between my other jobs as family PA, cook, cleaner, mentor, teacher, dog walker and general dogs body- Ha  
As well as learning through Asana, my physical practice, I am currently exploring Ethics and sustainability in the Yoga world plus delving deeper into Yoga Anatomy and Philosophy.

Both Neil and I hope to bring new classes and workshops to AYE so that when we open we can give our students the opportunity to explore these subjects for themselves. There will definitely be some Spring Changes to our class schedule and also to the classes themselves.

It is so wonderful to see so many of you very week on screen, making space in your home and in your lives, it really does make my day. But don’t worry if you’ve not found the time, every day is a new day and our practice is there to give us joy, not to be another burden. If you’d like to start at home again and need some motivation please message

Our rough plan right now is this

March 29th – No change

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April 12th – The Shala will open for private classes, family or social bubbles and 1-2-1’s

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May 17th – Open the Shala for classes (we are not sure if we will be limited to the rule of 6 yet)

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June 21st – Open the Shala Fully

And we cant wait! We are so looking forward to seeing everyone in real life. We may have all changed a little bit inside, but change helps us grow and when we bring this growth to Yoga we might wake up to the perfection that is already in all of us, ending our misunderstanding that we ever needed fixing. The pure knowledge that we are enough just as we are.

Look forward seeing you all soon,

With Love and Kindness,

Jinty and Neil

Dear friends, yogi’s, and yoga family,

How are you doing? I write to you at the beginning of the UK’s third lockdown during the Covid-19 outbreak. Did you think we would still be doing this back in March? Gosh I certainly didn’t, yet here we are.

A question I have been asking myself lately is how can it feel like so much has happened when nothing at all has happened. We can’t travel (much, Neil is in Madeira though) and our social lives are non existent yet we have all been on quite a, dare I say it, “journey”.
I hope that your path has not been too difficult and we can, at last, see the light at the end of a very long tunnel.

We obviously have had to close the Shala again but I wanted to let you know of our online classes. You can now sign up to a Wednesday 7pm led Primary class or a Sunday morning 7.30am led Primary Class. Book via our Classes page on our website or go straight to bookinghawk.com. As time goes on I may add a pop up Mysore or workshop to give you motivated if needs be so if you have any requests please email me.

Sending you much gratitude and kindness,

Jinty

Last week ITV West Country news showed a report on Long Covid, you may have seen it? If you did you will have seen Lyn, one of Ashtanga Yoga Exmouth’s wonderful most dedicated students who also assists us (pre Corona Virus) in our classes.

Lyn has practised Ashtanga Yoga with us for many years whilst also competing in Ironman & running events, more recently playing a huge part in the Park run every Saturday morning along Exmouth Beach. For as long as we have known Lyn her diet and lifestyle have been a priority, staying well so that she may be there for her family, enjoy her running and her Yoga practice.

For all of us life changed in March with the first UK lockdown, life as we knew it just stopped. But for Lyn and many like her the change was more dramatic. Unknowingly Lyn had contracted the Corona Virus and is still now, in November, suffering with what is now widely known as Long Covid.

“I kept pushing through, not resting when I was first ill. This was very damaging but I didn’t know that.” Lyn told me

“I needed to listen to what my body was saying, NOT, what I thought it needed”

I think we all do this don’t we? We begin to feel very slightly better so we think we need to be ‘doing’ something, we very much underestimate the power of rest. But if we don’t rest up properly our bodies may give us no choice.
In an article in the Guardian on 3rd November Amelia Horgan wrote

“When people ask me about long Covid, all I want to talk about is rest. We don’t yet know everything about this disease, but if it’s symptoms overlap with post-viral illnesses and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME), which they appear to, we can assume that rest will play a significant role in its treatment”

Unfortunately not all of us will be able to access rest and recuperation, taking time off for some folks is not an option, as Amelia Horgan says ‘it depends on your safety net, your employer, people who can care for you or savings to tide you over’

Lyn is fortunate in this sense as she was able to take a break from her full time studies at Exeter University and has wonderful children and family who are supporting each other but not everyone will have this.
There are so many unknowns with this virus, we do not yet know how to prevent Long Covid once you contract Corona Virus but all the evidence suggests that allowing yourself to rest as long as you can, even when you start to feel better, resisting the temptation to get straight back to work, fitness or housework, if this is possible for you, otherwise your body may just give you no choice as it has done with most Long Covid sufferers.
There are many symptoms with Long Covid, including neurological, respiratory and gut problems but everyone seems to suffer with the same extreme fatigue.

Lyn is 51 and according to a study led by Dr Claire Steve’s and Prof Tim Spector this is the age group, Women 50-60, which has the greatest risk of developing Long Covid. In her article Linda Geddes writes

“Women aged 50-60 are at greatest risk of developing “long Covid”, analysis suggests. Older age and experiencing five or more symptoms within the first week of illness were also associated with a heightened risk of lasting health problems.”

The study, led by Dr Claire Steves and Prof Tim Spector at King’s College London, analysed data from 4,182 COVID Symptom Study app users who had been consistently logging their health and had tested positive for the virus. In general, women were twice as likely to suffer from Covid symptoms that lasted longer than a month, compared with men – but only until around the age of 60, when their risk level became more similar.”

Prof Tim Spector has also teamed up with the Menopause specialist Dr Louise Newson looking at Oestrogen and researching if it plays a part in the contracting and recovering from this virus.
Women in peri menopause can sometimes develop an intolerance to Histamine and some research is also going on here too.
Dr Peers of the Menopauseconsultancy.co.uk is helping conduct work into potential links with menopause, long Covid, Histamine intolerance and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)

Dr Peers talks to BBC news about this subject here

Women are also less likely to take rest as the majority of childcare and housework, still falls to them. According to the analysis conducted by University College London (UCL) and published in the journal Work, Employment and Society, “gender norms remain strong” when it comes to household chores. Women are still doing the majority of housework and childcare when living with a male partner, this study found.

Whilst discussing bias another study by – Laura Jones, Research Associate, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London revealed

“Men’s voices dominate in almost every category of media coverage related to the coronavirus crisis and every topic analysed in this study, with the exception of what are often seen as ‘women’s issues’, such as childcare. The imbalance is worse when it comes to those who are cited in the press as authorities on the pandemic ­­– the more expert and well-known the voices become, the further women’s share in them decreases. While the pandemic continues to have gendered impacts, it is clear that female voices in the public debate are a minority”

Lyn and I are adding our female voices to raise awareness of Long Covid and particularly the risk for women, moreover Menopausal Women. Please don’t brush it off thinking that a healthy lifestyle and diet will give you immunity. If you do get Covid, yes if you have no underlying illness you should recover well but don’t rush back, rest, rest and even more rest.
Lyn remembers,

“I tried to get fit again, very bad idea. I utterly misunderstood the concept of convalescence. The things I instinctively think will help me don’t, this makes it very hard”

Not all of us will get Corona Virus but for those that do (to date) 1 in 20 will have Long Covid (Symptoms 8 or more weeks).

Awareness is key in prevention as is lifestyle and diet but should you contract the virus resting for as long and as much as you can seems to be the simple (but not always easy) thing to do.

Lyn has her meditation practice and is experimenting with breathing practices, she can walk around the house but has to use a wheelchair on the days that she can go outside. Her Asana practice will come back but this is only one part of practicing Yoga, her awareness and presence is her Yoga practice for now and that is a good teacher for us all.

She remains very positive and has this advice;

“ If anyone catches Covid, symptoms or not, immediately go into a convalescent mind set. Don’t do any rigorous exercise for at least 12 weeks as it can affect the heart and the heart needs to recover. Just treat the body like a precious gift and listen too it”

Stay safe and Stay well,

Jinty Sheerin. AYE

Remember remember the 5th of November……. but for a different reason in 2020.
Today England goes in to its second Lockdown, albeit not as strict as the first one but difficult for some all the same.

All our classes have been suspended and our Shala closed until Wednesday 2nd December, classes are available to book from this date up until Christmas. If you book and lockdown is prolonged you will receive a full refund or class credits back.

Neil just about got out of the country yesterday and is spending a few months in Madeira, he hopes to Zoom in to some classes when we open again.

Please prioritise some Yoga Space for yourself at home, it doesn’t need to be a long practice. Some Sun Salutations with the last three finishing postures is a perfect 10 minute practice for every day (6 days a week). Enough to help you focus, feel better, breathe better and Calm our busy monkey minds. Click Here for our video of this practice. You will not regret it. I will be posting a AYE Yoga challenge on our Social media platforms soon so look out for those if you need some motivation.

We would like to thank you all for your support over this year, we are here to support you too, either on social media, via email or messages, all our YouTube videos are free to use (subscribe and you won’t miss any, it’s free), share them with folk you know that might find it helpful. I hope to add some more over this month.

Like me, you may not want to think about it yet but Christmas will be here soon! At the end of this week I will have a small amount of Yoga stock for sale, including some great new Eco Friendly, Vegan suede microfibre Yoga Mats and Locally made (Dorset) Lavender filled Eye pillows and some AYE apparel.
If you have ordered an AYE Calender they have arrived and I will message you, if you have not I have just a couple to spare. Also available to order are Giclee limited prints of my Yoga Asana drawings (one is pictured below). You can message me for details, or look on our Social media pages. It will be like a click and collect, (more like a, message me, pay via bacs and collect, but you get the gist).

We have a wonderful Yoga community here at AYE so please reach out if you are struggling, we will do our best to keep you motivated. Have you joined our private AYE Virtual Yoga group yet? Find it via our FB page.

Stay safe folks,

Love and Kindness,

Jinty

Last weeks full moon.

Heading in to Autumn like ‘what the heck happened to Spring and Summer?’
How are things with you?

Autumn is a time of change and as the children go back to school and University they will notice this change more than In previous years. And so will we as we start to get back into clubs, groups or work that were once our familiar routine. We may be nervous, we might be full of enthusiasm or we may have decided to make significant changes to our old routines. All of those choices are okay. I think it is important to follow what you are comfortable with (as long as it does not effect negatively those around you) without judgment of others that you may feel are either too lapse or too careful.

This is why we are taking our classes from month to month, adding and taking away where there is demand.
For now we have dropped the Friday morning Zoom class and added a Wednesday Evening Guided Primary in the Shala.
We have also added a Saturday 4 week course, Ashtanga In-Depth which is now full (waiting list available) and a Menopause Yoga Workshop /Retreat which is also full.

We are also adding 4 Mysore classes every Thursday From 1st October, 7pm.
This will be available to book soon and we would prefer folk to book all four classes for consistency but understand this may be difficult for some of you so they are all available to book separately.

We also hope to add a ‘Not Ashtanga’ class soon.
This class will give you a chance to unwind and soften your practice (if you already have more of a yang type practice like Ashtanga).
Suitable for beginners to Yoga and Pregnant women too.

Present timetable;

Monday’s 7pm Guided Primary

Wednesday’s 7pm Guided Primary

Sunday’s 7am Mysore

From 19th September Ashtanga In-depth course (4 Saturday mornings)

Sunday 27th September MY workshop 1-4,30pm

From 1st October Thursday 7pm Mysore (4 classes)

starting soon – Not Ashtanga class

Thank you for your continued support whether via the Shala classes or videos, we hope to see you all soon.

Jinty and Neil

🦦Join us for a course of four workshops where we will be taking a closer look at the Ashtanga Yoga system, and how a regular practice can support you.🦥

🔥We will practice and discuss Tristana, Ujjayi Breath, Dristi and Bandh’s, the foundation of Ashtanga Yoga, a tool to help nurture presence of mind, focus, flexibility and stability.🦩

🐌This will be a comprehensive guide to the inner (and outer) workings of this practice.🦚

🦉You will learn;

1) The fundamentals of Sun Salutations, standing, seated and supine postures.

2) How to move from a huffing, puffing work-out to a refined, rhythmic flow.

3) Specific activities to help connect with your Bandha’s and build more stability.

4) Options and modifications of postures to allow for tighter joints, muscles or injury.

5) How you can cultivate a 6 day week practice with ease (no matter how busy you are!)

6) More about yourself.

🐒Who is this course for?

🌺Anyone that already practices Ashtanga Yoga that is genuine in their wish to learn more, whether you’ve been practicing for 8 weeks or 8 years.

✌️Someone that is prepared to do 15 minutes Homework at least 3 times a week during the course.

🙏To reap the benefits of Yoga we have to practice it, talking/reading about it or wearing all the ‘right’ gear (and no idea) is not Yoga.

😊With the current COVID guidelines this is a great opportunity, we can only have a small group of up to 6 people.

👊🏻Between us we have 25 years experience in Ashtanga Yoga to share with you.
🦁We will support you and encourage you, all we ask is that you commit to turning up and doing the work……… You won’t regret it

WARNING……..THIS COURSE MAY CHANGE YOUR LIFE ❤️

Starts
Saturday 19th September – 10th October
Time – 10am-12
Price – £80

Are you ready to dip your toes in to a face to face Class in our Shala?

We are planning our first classes back after Lockdown;

Sunday 2nd August – 7am – Mysore

Monday 3rd August – 7pm – Guided Full or Half Primary

This is new for us all so can we work together?🙏

We will have 6 students and 1 teacher so you will feel safe and get plenty of space and attention (that’s a good thing🤪)

If the spaces get filled quickly we will put on more classes, if they are not full they will not take place.
Sorry but this the only way we can offer classes presently (without a massive price rise). It is so difficult.

Please only book via email ayexmouth@gmail.com or the booking button on our Facebook page.
Pre paid or class passes to confirm booking.

Our Classes on Zoom will remain going for now too.

Love and gratitude for your support near and far,

Jinty and Neil 🤗

How are you?

We hope that you are doing well. Today is the 4th of July, the day that we are able to get our hair cut, have a meal out or go to the Pub! But we still cant practice together in the same space.

Neil and I will only open for classes when we know that we can keep it safe for everyone and that time is not now.  To keep a social distance in our Shala would mean classes of 4 or 5, added to this the fact that in Ashtanga we sweat (a lot), jump around a bit (not always keeping to our mats) and Breathe.

We can offer private classes in the Shala for those in a social bubble together, and we continue our Zoom online, live weekly classes. Plus you can find free classes with us on our YouTube Channel. You can also connect with the AYE community through our Facebook page, groups and Instagram.

The online classes and social media connection has been wonderful for Neil and I and, I believe, for most of you that have tried it.  Some of you have said that they have kept you going throughout lockdown. And they have inspired you to begin that home practice that has eluded you for years!  Yay! No, it is not quite the same but it does have many benefits. We were been able to do the classes for free to begin with as we both felt we did not want to profit from an already difficult situation for most folks.  As time has gone on you asked if you could pay and this has been very much appreciated. This also feels as it should be for now as time is moving on and folk are more aware of their financial circumstances, but we continue to keep the cost as low as we can and offer our classes completely free if you have been, or still are financially affected by the crisis.

We are also adding Pop up Classes such as Sunday 5th July, a Mysore Class from afar! Still time to register. Jinty is doing Menopause Yoga Workshops and Classes too, these may be face to face earlier than we can teach Ashtanga as we have smaller groups and we don’t move around as much. We are still optimistic that the Menopause Yoga retreat day will happen this year.

For both of us personally our Yoga and Meditation has been key to getting through this period. Like you, we have faced difficulties, situations that have tested us to the max, this is when our Yoga is needed most.

For now, our weekly classes remain the same but may change if you require them to. So please keep communicating with us. If you come to a morning class that is going to be impossible for you to get to soon, because of work or school, then please let us know, if enough folk ask we can run an evening class on zoom.

We are very grateful for your support and friendship,

sending you Loving Kindness,

Jinty and Neil

Some Tips if you need some motivation.