Thursday evening we shared the space in John Lewis cafe with a much larger group of women who were knitting. Places for women to gather with ease is, ironically, not easy to come by. Hearing the other group occasionally in the background resonated with this month's theme: Free your Voice

For several years I've been dipping in and out of researching into what happens to women's voices as they age. I've even written about it.

This Thursday (15 February), the women's writing group will be utilising the focus from the day before and our writing theme is love.

Join us! We meet in John Lewis restaurant (2nd floor) from 19.00 to 20.30 - it is free to attend (but please purchase a drink from the cafe)

Summer is a source of richness in so many ways. We have good weather generally, though here in the UK that definitely seems to be an optional extra. There's also opportunities for many of us to unwind from our normal rhythms and try to reconnect with relaxation, which can take many forms from gardening, painting, writing or any other number of pursuits.

The return to schedules and school drop-offs and pick-ups can feel like our time away from it all was nothing but a distant memory.

I am pleased to announce that the wonderful people at YogaBliss and YogaBloke, have kindly offered my students a 10% discount* across the whole of their range.

Whether you are treating yourself to a new mat, something for your meditation practice or buying a gift, they have a terrific selection.

I often wish I could attend my own yoga classes. Why? Because my students often report that they sleep so well after attending.

Many of us have no trouble sleeping - you know, head hits the pillow and that's it until the alarm goes off the following morning.

For a few of us, sleep can become something of a nemesis. We want / need it desperately, but it escapes us like water trickling through our fingertips.

There are many reasons for sleep being something of an issue: anxiety, issues at work, new baby, illness, menopause...

To make life a little easier, I have had gift vouchers printed. So, you can now drop big hints to friends and family or vice versa, why not treat someone you know to gift of yoga or meditation?

There’s a choice of classes for everyone within the Watford area from baby and pregnancy yoga, through to women’s yoga for health and of course, meditation.

The theme of this blog was inspired by two occurrences.  The first inspiration came from a recent Well Woman Wisdom class in which yoga belts were being used as a support in Janu Sirsasana (Head to Knee posture).  The second inspiration follows up on the western / cowboy theme touched on in an earlier offering - Adventures in Borderland Anatomy (it's kinda nice when there's a sequel don't you think?)

As many of you will be aware, I read - constantly.  I'm never that far removed from anything printed and can't contemplate not having a book or my Kindle in a bag wherever I go.  Time spent sitting is time spent reading (apart from when I'm meditating that is).

A book started to appear on my Facebook timeline about a week ago and I admit that at the time, I just kept scrolling.

Then, almost like divine intervention, I decided I needed to find out more and that's when Code Red stood for more than an alert of something dangerous happening.