May Blog
Anonymous
September 8, 2024
Hello Beautiful Yogis!
How are you all as we move into Summer? 💓
Welcome to our Summer newsletter, brimming with seasonal living tips and a sprinkling of ancient yogic wisdom to help keep you in balance during this beautiful season. As we transition from the warm-up act of Early Summer to the full Yang expansive energy of Summer, let’s explore how we can live in harmony with this exciting season.
Embrace the Energy of Summer
Summer (21st June - 20th August) is known in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as the season of the primary Fire element and is all about connection, joy, and compassion. This is a time to open our hearts, cultivate relationships, and let our inner light shine. The meridians associated with this season are the Heart and the Small Intestine.
Heart Meridian: Often referred to in TCM as the ‘Emperor’ of the body, the Heart is said to house our spirit or our ‘Shen’. When we are deeply connected to our spirit we feel content, able to cultivate healthy relationships and can experience deep joy. Physically the heart’s primary role is to circulate the blood and nourish the body.
Small Intestine Meridian: This digestive organ receives and absorbs all the nutrients from the food we digest, and consequently gives us the energy we need to sustain life. In TCM this organ is seen as the ‘sorter’ sorting out the pure from the impure and is in charge of good judgement and mental clarity. When we are faced with a tricky decision we are often told to ‘follow our gut’ - and this is exactly where we feel into when we do this.
Together the Heart and the Small Intestine are a very interesting pair of organs to focus our yoga practice one. The meridians for both of these organs are in the arms and we can stimulate them by using postures that open up into the shoulders, chest and arms as well as balancing postures.
Living Seasonally: Tips for Summer
Lifestyle Tips
Connect: Spend time with loved ones, engage in community activities, and practice gratitude daily.
Rise Early: Greet the sun and set a vibrant tone for your day with a brisk morning walk or a few rounds of sun salutations before brekkie.
Rest: Balance the high energy with plenty of rest and relaxation. Listen to your body’s needs.
Cultivate positive emotional states particularly before sleep. Practice meditation or mindfulness daily and try affirmation cards to help re-wire any negative or stuck thinking patterns.
Yoga Postures
Heart Openers: Camel Pose (Ustrasana), Wheel Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana), and Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana) to expand your heart space.
Poses involving the arms such as Cow Face (Gomukasana) and Eagle Arms (Garudasana) to stimulate the Pericardium and Triple Heater meridians.
Sun Salutations are wonderful at this time of year for building heat (agni) in the body and helping rid the body of toxins and impurities.
Nutrition
Cooling Foods: Cucumbers, watermelon, and leafy greens to keep your body cool and hydrated.
Favour Alkaline foods over acidic: Include broccoli, kale, kelp, parsley, spinach, asparagus and try to reduce the amount of processed food in your diet.
Hydration: Drink plenty of water and herbal teas like mint or nettle to stay refreshed. Coconut water is also a wonderful drink in summer.
Our June Highlights
Early Summer Retreat Recap
We had an incredible sold-out Early Summer Retreat last month in our usual premises of Cockenzie House! Together, we worked on heart opening practices, self compassion and balancing the organs of the season. A personal highlight was our sunset swim afterwards at the stunning Boatshore beach which is situated just metres from the venue. Truly transformative evening and I was delighted to hear such positive feedback from our participants about the ongoing benefits of their compassion practices at home.
Pregnancy and Mum & Baby Classes
Our pregnancy and Mum & Baby classes are now finished for summer and they have been such a joy. It’s been heartwarming to connect with our beautiful mums and their gorgeous babies and mums-to-be. These classes offer a nurturing space for bonding, relaxation, and gentle movement and aim to foster community from pregnancy all the way to your baby’s first year. Please email me if you’d like to be added to the waitlist for classes starting in August - places are in high demand.
Please do share with any lovely new mums or mums to be - we are always looking to grow our gorgeous motherhood community and bring joy and light to this transformative time of life.
Weekly Seasonal Yoga Classes
Our weekly seasonal yoga classes continue to be hugely popular, thanks to our wonderful community. We always have room for newcomers though, so don’t hesitate to join our waitlist for a chance to drop in last minute. Remember, Early Summer is the perfect time to expand your yoga practice and connect with others.
Upcoming Events
Our monthly mini retreat nights at Cockenzie House continue to be hugely popular and are the perfect opportunity to wind down for your weekend. Our retreats always include meditation to settle the mind, breath work to reset the nervous system and a gorgeous yoga flow practice for the season to balance our body systems. As always we finish our retreats with a luscious guided yoga nidra relaxation, to leave you gliding into your weekend.
We currently have just FOUR spaces remaining for our next retreat as some spaces will be offered up to charities free of charge. Secure your spot now and come and join our beautiful community of like minded souls. Booking link below.
Summer Retreat
Friday 28th June 7.30pm
Cockenzie House
Booking link:
https://www.momoyoga.com/wild-tide-yoga/event/d7efc5c5-463d-4954-a627-c8701200e4cb
Other News and Events
Training
My training continued in full force this month with the third module of my Advanced Yin training which saw us delving deeply into the meridians and organs of Summer and learning some beautiful Yin poses. I’m also starting the next phase of my 500 hour qualification later this summer with the course ‘Alignment, Adjustment and Inclusion’ and this will enable me to offer hands on adjustments and deepen my knowledge of postural alignment as well as evolving as a teacher to develop inclusive and welcoming spaces for all bodies. I also started my Yoga Nidra specialist training with the amazing Lucie Potter at Merchant City Yoga earlier in the month which was truly lush. Watch this space for some gorgeous Yoga Nidra and Breath workshops!
Charity Event
I was delighted to be invited by the charity ‘Carers of East Lothian’ to run a Wellbeing Day for unpaid carers at the end of this week. I’ll be collaborating with Woodlands Breathing to offer a day of Seasonal Yoga, Forest Bathing and Laughter Yoga to provide a nourishing day of respite for carers in the region.
Summer Solstice on the Beach - SOLD OUT
Thursday 20th June 7.30pm - Longniddry Bents No.1
Please get in touch to be added to the waitlist
International Day of Yoga
Saturday 22nd June - 10am - 4pm
Kelvin Hall Glasgow
I’m so honoured to have been invited as a guest teacher to deliver classes at this beautiful event. Come and join us for an entire day of yoga from some of the country’s best teachers - tickets are just £2 for unlimited access to all the wonderful classes and workshops, and kids go free!! Link to book tickets below:
Beach Yoga Classes
Weather dependant and to be confirmed
Get in touch if you’d be interested in an evening class on the beach
📚
What I’m reading…
I’m diving into "The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama, a beautiful exploration of compassion. Perfect timing as I prepare for my Philosophy of Yoga course starting in January 2025. What are you enjoying reading this month?
Thank you for being a part of our vibrant community and I look forward to meeting you at one of our events soon. Let's embrace the warmth and connection of Summer together!
With love and light,
Aimée
Wild Tide Yoga
P.S. Follow us on Instagram: wildtideyoga123 and Facebook: www.facebook.com/wildtideyoga123 for daily inspiration and updates! 🌞
Booking Link for all classes and events:
https://www.momoyoga.com/wild-tide-yoga/