How to stop overthinking, according to yoga⁠.

There's a REALLY important concept to explain here, to show you how much emphasis yoga places on the activity of the mind, and that is that the Sanskrit word for thought is vritti, which also translates as - and this is really important - vortex, or whirlpool!⁠

So now that there's some acknowledgement, about how powerful thoughts can be. : let's look at what yoga says about overthinking.⁠⁠

Firstly yoga asks us to be present. When you're thinking about your breath right now, it diverts your attention away from overthinking.⁠

Secondly, physical yoga, is effectively a moving meditation and meditation is an incredibly powerful tool in being able to discern between helpful thoughts, like planning your day and hindering thoughts, like "I'm not good enough for this"⁠.⁠

Remember - learning to meditate is a skill just like learning to cook or to play the piano - it takes time. 

Be patient with yourself!⁠

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

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---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

You have a finite amount of time, mental bandwidth and energy -and being mindful of where you spend these valuable resources is incredibly important. 

Put simply if you're trying to control things that are outside of your control, you're spending your valuable resources in a way that won't give you any benefit at all.  

There are just three things that you can control, which are your thoughts, your spoken words, and your physical deeds, your actions. 

If a large portion of your valuable resources is being spent on uncontrollables, that's going to be a big time suck, a big energy suck, a big mental bandwidth suck, or maybe all three!

So: how do you control the controllables? 

Let's start here. 

When you find yourself worrying about something, just pause and take a deep breath and ask yourself; what about the situation that you're worried about is within your control?  If you have an interview next week, and you really worried about how it'll go - that IS within your control - you can plan, you can prepare, you can practice. But if you're worried about what the weather's going to be like next month, that's NOT within your control.

Good luck yogi, you've got this! 🙌

--

See the shownotes here 🌟 

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

😴 I love Yoga Nidra! Join my free 7-day Yoga Nidra challenge, starting 19 October. A different guided practice each day, in your own time. Save your spot here 

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Savasana - Corpse pose - is the rest and relaxation at the end of a yoga class. Although it is practiced in most of our yoga classes... sometimes you feel like you could just do with a bit longer there!

Well.... this podcast episode is for you!

This is 15 minutes of beautiful guided Savasana to round off your practice, help you feel rested and refreshed and balance energy levels. Grab any props you need, and enjoy!

"Holly truly has a gift when it comes to a guided Savasana. She weaves imagery and wisdom into an exquisite tapestry that envelopes you like a warm, comforting duvet. And the way she holds the space allows you to feel safe and supported. I did not want it to end! But when it did, I felt calm, relaxed, and renergized."

Jenny

Savasana with Holly was different to anything I have experienced before, and I can't actually stop thinking about how good it was! She gave us all the time we needed to get ourselves settled and prompted us to readjust if we could make ourselves even just that little bit more comfy. Her voice is so soothing, everything she said had purpose , I could really put my trust in her to guide me on a restful journey.

Hannah P

“I was lucky enough to do one of Holly’s Savasana’s in our pregnancy yoga teacher training. It was up there with one of the best savasanas I have ever done and you can tell that Holly is super passionate about teaching it! I felt so relaxed afterwards and especially loved the part about re-birth and death. Highly recommend! Thank you.”
Freya 

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

Navigating your way through the different styles of yoga can be a bit of a minefield, so, in this episode we break down what Restorative yoga is, the many benefits of Restorative yoga and some bits and bobs to bear in mind when you're practicing, and then we'll let you know how you can learn more about Restorative yoga with us at Yoga Hero if you'd like to. 

Restorative yoga is, in essence, any yoga that is restful, nourishing, very calming for the nervous system and healing. Because of that; Restorative yoga is floor based, meaning little or no weight bearing, using props to support the bones - which the muscles detect, and so they start to relax, and they send messages of relaxation in to all the systems of the body - which is the key and the beauty of restorative yoga. 

Restorative yoga is a counter-balance to modern day life. Many of us are very on-the-go, trying to fit more and more in to our days, trying to to work harder, to achieve more. There's nothing wrong with ambition and drive, but being all-go with no rest is unsustainable, and unfortunately we're seeing increasing levels of burn out, fatigue and dis-regulated nervous systems as a result. 

In this podcast episode, we'll look at how to practice restorative yoga, what the benefits are, and lastly, how you can learn more about restorative yoga with Yoga Hero.

See the show notes

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Two day Restorative Yoga immersion: Take a look

Five day Restorative Yoga immersion, with mindfulness and Yoga Nidra: Take a look

----------

Practice online with us, for just £9.99 per month: Take a look

Follow Yoga Hero on Instagram @beayogahero

Learn with Yoga Hero yogahero.mykajabi.com

Take a screenshot when you listen and tag us, we'll likely repost you (and we'd be very grateful too!) @beayogahero

And finally; practice with us, in our beautiful studio in Leeds, or online: yogahero.co.uk

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

September has that back-to-school, new-term, lovely-fresh start feeling about it. And because of that, it's often a time where people start a gym membership or a new routine, or maybe  start to think about their roles and values and intentions in life. Obviously, we at Yoga Hero think yoga is one of THE best things that you can do for your mind, body and soul. And so, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to start a yoga practice in September, if that's what you'd like to do. 

We'll take a minute to look at the benefits of a yoga practice... there really are so, so many that this could be a whole episode in and of itself really! Then, we'll recap on how to find the right class for you - this is something we've talked about on the podcast before. Then we'll have a look at what yoga really is... because starting yoga again might go beyond the physical practice for you. 

And lastly, we'll look at some of the most common reservations, and how to jump over these hurdles - remember - a yoga practice can improve your life in many ways, so it's worth taking a little time to determine, what's holding you back and how you can stop it from holding you back!

See the show notes here 

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Ways to start yoga - today!

-> Treat yourself to a Yoga Hero class pass
Use discount code SEPTEMBERHERO for 10% off our five and ten class passes
Treat yourself!

-> Join our All of Yoga online membership
Use discount code SEPTEMBERHERO for 10% off your first month
10% off All of Yoga membership (remember, there's no minimum term, and no cancellation fees!)

-> Join our Learn to Meditate course
Online and on-demand
Just £7!
Learn to Meditate Course

-> Join our Introduction to Yoga course at Yoga Hero
Starting Monday 5th September
Take a look

-----

Practice online with us, for just £9.99 per month: Take a look

Follow Yoga Hero on Instagram @beayogahero

Learn with Yoga Hero yogahero.mykajabi.com

Take a screenshot when you listen and tag us, we'll likely repost you (and we'd be very grateful too!) @beayogahero

And finally; practice with us, in our beautiful studio in Leeds, or online: yogahero.co.uk

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

In our most recent episode - episode 14 - we covered how to prepare for your first yoga class. Well, once you've done your first class, it's a lot easier to do your second, then your third and so on... So a sensible next step is looking to develop a regular, consistent and beneficial yoga practice.

If you're looking to bring more yoga in to your life, to practice with more consistency or regularity and you'd like some motivation or guidance, this episode is for you; whether you've done 1 yoga class or 100! 

Here's a sneak peek at our top tips to develop a regular, beneficial yoga practice: 

1. Know why you're practicing yoga
2. Be open to trying different styles of yoga, and with different teachers
3. Listen to your body
4. Create the environment 
5. Get the equipment 
6. Get a membership
7. Start by moving your spine

See the show notes here

Check out our All of Yoga online yoga membership, just £9.99 per month, no minimum contract: All of Yoga membership

Get your copy of Atomic Habits by James Clear, from Bookshop.org which has a very important mission - to support local book shops. In the interests of full disclouse Yoga Hero may receive a small payout when you use these links, which serves to support our little studio too. But please do, of course, shop around if you wish.

Get your copy

-----

Practice online with us, for just £9.99 per month: Take a look

Follow Yoga Hero on Instagram @beayogahero

Learn with Yoga Hero yogahero.mykajabi.com

Take a screenshot when you listen and tag us, we'll likely repost you (and we'd be very grateful too!) @beayogahero

And finally; practice with us, in our beautiful studio in Leeds, or online: yogahero.co.uk

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

It's no secret that we at Yoga Hero are passionate about the power of yoga. And that it's more than just the physical practice. However, most of us really need the physical practice and that will be where the bulk of our yoga practice goes. If you happen to stumble across yoga in a yoga magazine or on instagram or tiktok, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's just for skinny, very flexible people who can tie themselves up in knots and walk on their hands. But the truth is, yoga is for everyone. Not every style is for everyone. Not every teacher is for everyone. But, yoga, by its very nature of what it truly is, is for everyone. 

With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to put together some tips for how to prepare for your first yoga class, to try to take some of the unknowns and anxiety out of attending a class, so that you can just crack on with setting up a yoga practice that suits you, and that's beneficial to you.

See the show notes here 

--

Useful Resources: 

Episode 1 - Yoga nidra for deep sleep Listen here 

Episode 9 - Styles of yoga - Ashtanga yoga Listen here

Episode 11 - Styles of yoga - Yin yoga Listen here

Open weekend at Yoga Hero Take a look here 

All of Yoga membership Take a look here

-----

Practice online with us, for just £9.99 per month: Take a look

Follow Yoga Hero on Instagram @beayogahero

Learn with Yoga Hero yogahero.mykajabi.com

Take a screenshot when you listen and tag us, we'll likely repost you (and we'd be very grateful too!) @beayogahero

And finally; practice with us, in our beautiful studio in Leeds, or online: yogahero.co.uk

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

This episode is a guided meditation, to help you align your intentions and actions.

See the show notes here 

Aligning your intentions and actions...

It sounds so simple doesn't it; that when the things that you spend your time, your mental bandwidth and your energy doing, are different to the things that you enjoy, to the things that light you up, this difference becomes  problematic. 

However, when the things that you spend your valuable resources doing align with the characteristics, skills and values that you want to cultivate, something incredible special happens. 

Have you ever thought 'I'd absolutely love to meditate more, but I really don't have the time...' but then you find yourself scrolling social media after dinner?! Hey there's nooooo judgement here, not one bit. This is all about being aware; being aware of how you spend your time, energy and mental bandwidth and how that contributes back to your life. (And this DOES NOT mean packing more in to your already busy life!)

This meditation is inspired by one of the Yamas, from the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Yamas are 'ethical guidelines' - ways that you live that affect yourselves and others. We have a brilliant masterclass 'What is Yoga' which explains the eight limbs of yoga, and how we can bring them in to our lives in a non-stressful but incredible beneficial way - take a look here. 

There's no previous experience needed for this masterclass, and it really shows the depth of All of Yoga!

-----

Practice online with us, for just £9.99 per month: Take a look

Follow Yoga Hero on Instagram @beayogahero

Learn with Yoga Hero yogahero.mykajabi.com

Take a screenshot when you listen and tag us, we'll likely repost you (and we'd be very grateful too!) @beayogahero

And finally; practice with us, in our beautiful studio in Leeds, or online: yogahero.co.uk

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

This episode is the four types of people, and the four ways to treat them. Otherwise known as the four locks and the four keys. Otherwise known as sutra 1:33!

Sutra 1:33 is: 

'By cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous and disregard toward the wicked, the mind retains its undisturbed calmness.' 

This is such an important and incredibly useful sutra. If someone tells us they got a promotion or they've met someone they're really excited about, our first thought is to compare that to our own life 'I haven't had a promotion in years' or 'things are a bit stale in my relationship at the moment'. If someone tell us that they're struggling, things at home are just too tough or work is way too much of a challenge, we compare that to our own lives. When someone mentions they've volunteered for a charity or run 10k for the first time or they're learning a new language, we immediately start to think of our own achievements, and if there's wicked, non-virtuous actions, we condemn them and think how we'd never, ever do something like that. 

As you may, or may not know, yoga is the state of a peaceful mind - AND it's the practice of working towards that state of a peaceful mind too. 

In this episode, we break down how the four locks, and the four keys help us cultivate, and retain, a peaceful mind. 

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...

Navigating your way through the different styles of yoga can be a bit of a minefield, so, in this episode we break down what Yin yoga is, the benefits of Yin yoga and some bits and bobs to bear in mind when you're practising.

Yin yoga is, in essence, a slow, passive style of yoga, that's all about letting go. 

In yin yoga, the postures are held for minutes, rather than breaths, which means that the body weight and gravity work together to release holding patterns, tension and stress. This style of practicing isn't necessarily 'easy', although yin yoga is great for beginners to yoga as there's plenty of time for you to get in to the pose. 

Because of the nature of holding the poses for longer, the poses are usually seated or lying down, so you won't find yourself in a plank or a challenging standing pose for a couple of minutes. (phew!) This is because, rather than targeting the muscles, like a Flow or Ashtanga class does, Yin yoga targets the connective tissues. 

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See the shownotes here

Get your free yin yoga class here 

---

💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra

I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions.

You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you.

🗓️ starts mon 19 October 

💻 online & self-paced

😴 save your spot here

---

👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...