Meet Vera. She is a powerhouse of a woman; a devoted mother of two, a former senior banker turned yoga therapist, a mindfulness and meditation teacher; perinatal specialist, breastfeeding counsellor and truly passionate birth and postnatal doula. I am delighted to have her alongside me as as my teaching partner on both the Pre and [...]
Compulsive catastrophising, the act of regularly imagining the worst possible scenario as outcome, is a cognitive distortion; an unconscious and irrational process that causes great suffering. It is both symptomatic of, and leads to, anxiety, depression, ocd and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is also an implicit maternal policy. Systemic catastrophising occurs when [...]
Breathwork has exploded onto the wellbeing scene in recent years - despite being around as a practice for some time. More than an evolution of classical pranayama, it has taken on a life of its own and has evolved many branches and schools. I asked my friend and co-facilitator Giselle Monbiot to explain what breathwork entails, [...]
VBAC The Ultimate And Comprehensive Q & A By Nadia Raafat HBAC x 3 + VBAC doula With the c-section rate escalating rapidly, (approximately 1 in 3 babies are born abdominally in the UK, in some trusts it’s 1 in 2 in April 2024) more and more women find themselves facing VBAC. Whilst there is [...]
The Pelvic Floor: A Foundation for Female Health & Wellbeing If you are reading this, you are almost certainly female; ranging in age from 30-65; you may well be a mother but not necessarily, (I attract plenty of mothers mothers pre and post natal) and you will almost certainly be interested in embodied health [...]
I am so proud to have alongside me the most amazing team of inspirational pregnancy yoga specialists and birth workers and today I would like to introduce them to you. Collectively we have one century of experience teaching and supporting the pregnant community. Our common denominator is our shared passion for working in the amazing [...]
How to Become a Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Read an Expert's Guide to Choosing the Right Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Training Working with the pregnant community is a deeply rewarding job. As a yoga teacher, I have supported pregnant women for nearly two decades and I still LOVE my job. These days, I don't just teach pregnancy [...]
How to Keep Pregnant Students Safe In Your General Yoga Classes Six Recommendations for Best Practice This week I had two pregnant students in my general yoga classes; one was 26 weeks; second pregnancy, dog-tired but keen to move, stretch and release; the other was 36 weeks also second pregnancy; also tired but [...]
15 Things to Avoid In Pregnancy & Labour For a Physiological Birth ( There Are Some Surprises on Here) By Nadia Raafat If you really really want to experience a physiological birth, you are going to have to be really diligent with your consent and avoid a lot of situations that are presented as a [...]
Pratyahara during the Childbirth Process. This article was published the Brtish Wheel of Yoga Journal Spectrum (Winter, 2017) Pratyahara is the fifth of the eight limbs of yoga which together constitute the ashtanga yoga path as set out by Patanjali in the ancient Yoga Sutras. It is known as the forgotten limb. Certainly there has [...]