Time to start (or ramp up) home yoga practice

With office parties, celebrating with friends or family, exercise is often the first thing we let slide at this time of year - yet it’s an important ‘tool’ we can use to avoid burnout once the parties are over. No one knows this more than Kat, our #BTHOUGHTFUL contributor and founder of the online yoga site Movement for Modern Life. Here she is with her take on starting - sticking to –yoga over the coming months...

Home yoga practice for the festive season

“Here in the UK, it’s getting pretty chilly, it gets dark early, and if you’re already practicing yoga, I’m sure the cold and dark is anything but a motivator to step outside and head to a class. The thing is, yoga is a brilliant way help you get through the festive season. Our livers may well have some limbering up over, our heads may just be a bit more fuzzy than usual and somehow, we may lack that extra va-va-voom needed to get out of bed and to the gym or the studio. This is certainly how I feel at this time of year, anyhow. There’s enough running around to do without having the studio as an extra on my growing ‘things to do’ list. But I know that if I lose my conscious breathing, movement and meditation practice at this time of year, my body and mind really will suffer. You’ll understand exactly what I mean if you also practice, and soon enough if you’re about to start. This is the reason why I am so very grateful to have the very best teachers on-hand – and online. I now don’t need to lose an hour getting to and from the studio. I’m eternally grateful to Mimi Kuo-Deemer for her Immune-Boosting Movement and Meditation practices (available on my site Movement for Modern Life). At this time of year, home yoga practice is perfect for centering before the madness commences. There’s something so soothing about having the very best teachers ‘in’ your own living room. When your exhausted at the end of the day, yet want to power up on energy for the next day, try some Yin or Restorative Yoga to put the world to rights to. My favourite for his mindful visualisations and relaxing classes is a teacher who one of my lovely subscribers introduced to me to: Clive Fogelman. Or, for the best Yin in the business to settle the nerves at this, or any time of year - Andrea Kwaitowski. So try this – settle in to your own home and tune into an online class. And if you use the code BTREE20 you’ll get a special 20% off your subscription. I’m also planning a special Christmas discount (exclusively for subscribers) too, so I hope you do try it. Here's to no more running around in the cold and dark! Very best wishes,   Why not give online yoga a go? It’s something I’ve been meaning to try for a while, so with the exclusive-to-Braintree offer of 20% off, now is definitely the time. Let us know how you get on if you test out the classes and discover a favourite teacher. You can find us easily on Facebook or Twitter.