Gemma Murphy Yoga
All weekly yoga classes in Rugby are now FULL. Doors will re-open for bookings end of May 2023.
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So if you’ve ever been to my yoga classes, you’ll know that we always emphasise the importance of taking care of yourself to maintain our physical, emotional and mental well-being.
Life can be fast-paced and it can be easy to overlook our needs and forget to take time for ourselves. That’s why I am excited to announce that I’m now an NYR Organic Independent Consultant!
Their natural and organic products provide the perfect solution for incorporating self-care into our daily routines.
Neal’s Yard Remedies is a well-known brand for its natural and organic products that are made from ethically sourced herbs, botanicals, and essential oils.
I find that these little blue bottles bring a touch of happiness to my daily routine. Whether it’s diffusing essential oils when I practice yoga, moisturising my hands, or indulging in self-care rituals like taking a bath or applying a face mask, Neal’s Yard Remedies make me feel like I am treating myself with love and care.
Their expert team handcrafts powerful blends of love, science, and nature to create truly potent and effective products. All of their products are made in Britain and have won numerous awards for their health and beauty products.
They prioritise ethical relationships with growers worldwide, using wild-harvested, organic, fair-trade, and sustainable production methods.
Their range of products includes skincare, health and wellness, and aromatherapy, all of which are cruelty-free and made without harmful chemicals. I know that you will just love using their products as much as I do.
I am so excited to be able to combine Neal’s Yard Remedies and yoga. Essential oils for example and a yoga practice can be woven beautifully together to create a truly immersive and nurturing experience.
I can’t wait to add these natural and organic products into my weekend workshops or include them as an upgrade to your class bookings – a lovely way to enhance your yoga journey and bring even more peace and wellbeing into your life.
Take care of your body and mind with Neal’s Yard Remedies and continue your yoga journey towards inner peace and wellbeing.
Visit the Neal’s Yard Remedies shop.
Have you ever come across the koshas? Well we’ve been exploring them in yoga in Rugby. They’re a fundamental concept in yoga philosophy that can help us deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
In a nutshell, the koshas are five layers of our being, each with its own unique qualities and characteristics. The first is the physical body, known as the annamaya kosha. It’s the part of us that we can see, touch, and feel – it’s where our muscles, bones, and organs reside.
The second kosha is the pranamaya kosha, which relates to our breath and life force. It’s the energy that animates our physical body and keeps us alive and vital.
Moving inward, we come to the manomaya kosha, the layer of the mind and emotions. This is where our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs reside, and it’s where we can start to explore our inner landscape.
The fourth kosha is the vijnanamaya kosha, which is sometimes called the “wisdom sheath.” This layer is where we can access our intuition, insight, and inner wisdom.
Finally, there’s the anandamaya kosha, the “bliss sheath.” This is the deepest layer of our being, where we can connect with our true nature and experience a sense of peace, joy, and contentment.
As a yoga teacher based in Rugby, Warwickshire, I love exploring the koshas with my students. We use various yoga practices such as asana, pranayama, and meditation to explore each layer of our being and connect with our true selves.
So how about giving it a go and see how exploring the koshas can deepen your yoga practice and your understanding of yourself?
Bramacharya is something we’ve been exploring in my yoga classes in Rugby and Houlton I wanted to share some thoughts on it in this blog post.
First things first, let’s talk about the Yoga Sutras. These ancient yogic texts were written by Patanjali way back in the 3rd or 4th century. They contain 196 short “sutras” that were passed down from generation to generation. Within the Sutras, there’s an eight-fold path called “eight limb yoga” or Astanga. Each limb offers practical guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life, free from suffering.
The first and second limbs are called the “Yamas” and “Niyamas.” These are ethical guidelines of yoga, like a moral code of conduct to guide you on your journey. There are five Yamas, which teach us what behaviour to avoid, and five Niyamas, which teach us what virtues to focus on.
One of the Yamas is Bramacharya, which means “walking in the presence of the Divine.” According to the Yoga Sutra (2.38), when we become established in the practice of Bramacharya, we gain vitality. Practically, this yogic principle means sexual celibacy and chastity. Traditionally, Bramacharya was meant to encourage those involved in the practice of yoga to conserve their sexual energy, in favour of using that energy to further progress along the Yogic path. It’s similar to modern day monks and nuns who take their vows of chastity.
But Bramacharya is about more than just sexual celibacy. It’s also about directing our energy away from external desires and towards finding peace and happiness within ourselves. We can apply this principle to many aspects of our lives, not just sexual energy.
For example, Bramacharya can be broadly defined as the management of our internal and external energy and focus. If you feel drained all the time, consider whether your daily tasks are draining you of your vitality. Maybe it’s time to cut back on some activities or find ways to recharge your energy.
Another example is speech and thought. Talking uses a lot of vital energy. Restraining ourselves from unnecessary speech, whether it’s gossip or talking out loud to ourselves, can retain much vital energy that we carelessly lose every day. Similarly, we often expend mental energy on things that don’t serve us well, like ruminating over past events or worrying about the future. Bramacharya teaches us to quiet the mind and reduce or eliminate unnecessary thought.
In essence, Bramacharya is about moderation in all things. It’s the practice of remembering that there’s more to life than immediate gratification. Too much of anything quickly turns into a lesson regrettably learned.
So, if you’re feeling depleted, take a look at your habits and see where you might be able to apply the principles of Bramacharya. Maybe you need to get more sleep, take more breaks at work, or cut back on screen time. By directing our energy towards positive actions and thoughts, we can boost our vitality and live a more purposeful life.
Self-care is essential for maintaining our physical, emotional and mental well-being. We often live busy lives and it can be easy to forget our needs.
The weekend is the perfect time to focus on ourselves and give our bodies and minds the attention they need. One way to do this is by practising yoga.
Yoga is a holistic practice that can help to relax the mind and body, increase flexibility, and improve overall well-being. The benefits of yoga are numerous, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep and boosting self-esteem. Whether you are a beginner or have been practising for a while, yoga is a great way to start your weekend on a positive note.
In addition to yoga, there are other ways to practise self care on the weekend:
Remember, self care is about taking time for yourself and doing activities that make you feel good. So, make sure to schedule some time over the weekend and try out some of these self care activities. You deserve it!
Soulful Sunday Yoga on 12th February in Houlton, near Rugby is fully booked. Join my priority mailing list to get VIP updates on special events and class news.
When it comes to yoga, many of us think of stretching and strengthening the body as the primary focus in a class. But did you know that finding balance – both physically and mentally – is just as important? And that’s exactly why I enjoy practising balancing postures!
Balancing postures, such as tree pose, eagle pose, and half moon pose, are not just challenging and fun to practice, but they offer so many benefits:
Balancing postures are an absolute must-have in your yoga practice. Not only are they challenging and fun to practice, but they offer a host of benefits that will help improve your physical and mental well-being.
So, what are you waiting for? Start incorporating balancing postures into your yoga practice today.
Join me on the yoga mat in Rugby!
We start the year with a 6-week yoga series on Aparigraha: exploring the concept of non-possessiveness and non-greed in both our physical practice and our everyday lives.
Aparigraha is one of the five yamas, or ethical guidelines, in yoga, and it encourages us to be content with what we have, and not constantly seeking more.
On the mat, we will be focusing on opening up the side body. The side body is often tight and closed off, especially in our modern lives where we spend a lot of time sitting and hunching over our computers. By opening up the side body, we can release tension and create space for a deeper breath. This will not only help to improve our physical practice, but also help us to cultivate a sense of contentment and peace.
In our everyday lives, aparigraha can be practised by being mindful of our desires and not constantly seeking more. It’s easy to get caught up in the endless cycle of wanting more, whether it be more material possessions, more success, or more happiness. But true contentment comes from being satisfied with what we already have. By practising aparigraha, we can learn to let go of our attachments and focus on what is truly important.
One way to practise aparigraha off the mat is to declutter our living spaces. We often accumulate possessions that we no longer need or use, and holding on to these things can create a sense of clutter and chaos in our lives. By letting go of these possessions, we can create more space and freedom in our lives.
Another way to practice aparigraha is to be mindful of our consumption. We live in a society that encourages us to constantly consume more, whether it be food, clothes, or entertainment. But by being mindful of what we consume and only taking what we truly need, we can reduce our impact on the environment and cultivate a sense of contentment.
In this yoga series, we will be exploring the many layers of aparigraha both on and off the mat. By opening up the side body, we can release tension and create space for a deeper breath. And by practising aparigraha in our everyday lives, we can learn to let go of our attachments and focus on what is important.
On a physical level, our yoga series in Houlton and Eastlands in Rugby is all about unlocking the side body!
There are so many benefits:
Improved posture: By stretching and strengthening the muscles that support your spine, you’ll be able to stand taller and sit more comfortably. (Fact: I grew 1.5cm thanks to yoga and better postural alignment).
Increased core strength: Many side body poses target the obliques, which are the muscles that run along the sides of the abdomen. A strong core means better balance and stability in all of your poses.
Greater flexibility: Stretching the muscles that run along the sides of the body can help you move more freely and with less pain.
Reduced stress: Many side body poses involve deep twists, which can massage the internal organs and stimulate the nervous system. This can help to calm the mind and reduce stress levels.
Prevent injury: A strong side body can help prevent injury by providing support to the spine and joints.
What’s not to love about the side body? Your body (and mind) will thank you!
In our yoga series in Rugby, we’ve been exploring embracing the root chakra to feel firmly rooted in life, into our body and the world around us!
So in ancient Indian texts, there are subtle energy channels called “nadis.” These channels spiral and rise along the spine, giving rise to chakras or vortexes.
There are numerous contrasting and sometimes conflicting views about what chakras are, how they work, and how many there are. But today, it’s commonly accepted that there are 7 primary chakras along the spine, like subtle nerve clusters from the tailbone to the crown of the head.
Each chakra corresponds to certain nerve bundles and major organs. When all 7 energy points are spinning in harmony, we feel at ease in our body, mind and heart. The root chakra or muladhara chakra in Sanskrit is located at the base of the spine and is responsible for our sense of security and stability.
The term muladhara comes from the Sanskrit mula, meaning “root,” and adhara, meaning “support” or “base.” The first chakra is associated with the earth element, linked to your ability to dig in and feel firmly rooted in your life.
When energy is flowing through the first chakra, you feel firmly grounded in yourself and the world around you. But when it’s out of alignment, you may experience pain in your intestines and lower body, increased distractibility, rushing from one task to another, feeling exhausted or lethargic, increased feelings of anxiety, stress or depression, feeling stuck, and inability to take action.
The root chakra symbol resembles a mandala lotus and consists of 4 petals, a square, a downward-facing triangle within a square, the seed mantra LAM लं symbol in the center, and the color red. The four petals of the root chakra lotus symbolize four aspects of the human mind consciousness: manas, buddhi, chitta, and ahamkara. The square represents balance, physicality, stability, and structure. The downward triangle represents the elemental symbol for earth, a reminder of the grounding energy associated with muladhara chakra root.
The main color of the root chakra is red, symbolising primal instincts of strength and vitality. The red color is powerfully linked to our physical and emotional needs of survival and self-preservation. Associated gemstones are bloodstone, onyx, garnet, and obsidian. Ways to balance this chakra off the mat include anchoring yourself in your environment, connecting with the earth by spending time outside, walking unpaved paths, planting a garden, or keeping plants inside your home. These are all ways to form a personal connection with the earth to support a balanced and healthy root chakra.
In our classes in Houlton and Eastlands, we’ve been exploring the how to take energy up from the earth to the body through the feet and with low to the ground postures. By doing this, we’re helping our students ground themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally, and feel an increased attachment to themselves and their home.
Exciting news! From January 2023, I’ll be starting my 50 hour yin training with the British Wheel of Yoga.
Following a 3 month period of workshops, coursework and a final assessment, I’ll be offering new Yin and Yinyasa Yoga in Rugby.
What is Yin Yoga?
Yin Yoga helps to reduce injury, soothes the nervous system and improves sleep. It teaches you how to be in the present moment, rather than getting caught up in the worries of the past or future.
It gently stretches and rehabilitates the connective tissues that form our joints making them stronger and more flexible.
Yin yoga is a quiet, floor-based practice. Postures are floor-based and held for 3-5 minutes or longer to stimulate the energy meridians. Muscles are relaxed to allow the focus to be on the joints, also encouraging a greater movement of energy through the tissues promoting healing.
What new classes will be available?
Yin Yoga – This yin practice is all about surrender. We surrender what we think we should be feeling in the pose. We surrender what we think the pose should look like. We surrender into our bodies, breath, and mind in the present moment.
Yinyasa – A fusion of yin long holds and vinyasa flows. This class starts with long-holding yin shapes that work deep into the fascia, then works into a more dynamic practice which targets the muscles.
Is Yin the same as Restorative Yoga?
Yin and Restorative Yoga practices both stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation. These practices help calm the mind, with your attention on the breath. Yin and Restorative Yoga are slow-paced and stress-relieving practices, they are very different.
Yin is about stretching and applying gentle stress to exercise the ligaments and to create space and strength in the joints. Restorative Yoga is all about supporting your body, allowing it to relax and heal.
Interested in getting priority yin class updates to your inbox?
Join my mailing list to be one of the first to hear about exciting class news and events. Yin and Yinyasa workshops will be available from April 2023.