Stretch Yoga Holland Park

My 8 month old has decided he wants to walk. And it’s had me thinking…

My five-year-old was watching him the other day and said, “He falls down a lot.”
“He does,” I replied. “Isn’t it funny how learning to stand looks an awful lot like falling down?”

And he does fall. Again and again and again.

Sometimes there are tears. Sometimes a bumped head and a cuddle. But before long, he’s back at it, completely undeterred, as though falling is simply part of the process. Because, for him, it is.

Somewhere along the way, many of us forget that. We become so aware of the risks, the consequences, the possibility of getting it wrong, that we stop ourselves before we’ve even begun.

But perhaps the falling-down part is not evidence that we’re failing.

Perhaps it’s exactly what standing up looks like.

Maybe growth has always been a little wobbly. Maybe courage isn’t avoiding the stumble, but trusting ourselves enough to get up again.

It’s had me pondering: where in my life have I been deterred by the wobbles? What am I currently too afraid to get back up and learn to do? Maybe without even realising it?

How about you? 🤔

🌿 Graduate Community Yoga Classes Begin This Weekend! 🌿

This weekend marks a special milestone as the first of our yoga teacher training graduates steps into the role of teacher for their very first public community class.

These complimentary classes are part of our teacher training program, giving our graduates valuable real-world teaching experience while offering our community the opportunity to enjoy a free yoga class and support them as they begin their teaching journey.

As you attend, we ask that you come with kindness and encouragement. These are their first public classes, and your support means more than you know.

🧘‍♀️ Upcoming Graduate Community Classes:

✨ Saturday 4 July – 10:00am — Mily (this weekend!)
✨ Saturday 11 July – 10:00am — Michelle
✨ Saturday 18 July – 11:00am — Jo

Whether you’re a regular student, a friend, or simply curious to experience a class, we’d love to see you there. Your presence helps our new teachers build confidence as they take their first steps into the “real world” of teaching.

Thank you for helping us nurture the next generation of yoga teachers 💛

“The best adjustment isn’t always the one you give. Sometimes it’s the one you choose not to.”

Touch can be one of the most powerful tools we have as yoga teachers. It can communicate safety.
Confidence.
Support.
Presence.
But only when it’s offered with skill, sensitivity, consent, and genuine care.

That’s why we’re so excited to welcome Nicky G back to Stretch for Held in Motion, a 10-hour Post Graduate Teacher Training exploring the art of assists and adjustments.

This isn’t simply a training about where to place your hands.

It’s about how you see.
How you observe before you act.
How you build trust before you intervene.
How you recognise when a student needs guidance, and when they simply need space.

You’ll refine your understanding of the body, develop confidence in offering hands-on assists, explore clear communication and consent, and discover that the most meaningful adjustments are often the ones that help students become more aware of themselves, rather than more dependent on their teacher.

Whether you’re newly qualified or have been teaching for years, this immersion will deepen not only your practical skills, but your presence. Because great assists aren’t about changing someone’s pose. They’re about helping someone feel more supported within it.

If you’ve trained with Nicky before, you’ll know his ability to blend technical precision with deep humanity is something quite special. If you haven’t, you’re in for a remarkable weekend of learning.

Held In Motion
Sunday 12th July

✨ This training can be taken as a standalone immersion or contribute towards your 300-hour certification pathway.

There are some trainings that teach technique.
And then there are those that quietly change the way you teach forever. This, is one of those.

✨ A reflection from our 2026 Yoga Teacher Training...

As part of completing their final practice exam, our trainees were asked to reflect on the Yamas and Niyamas, yoga’s ethical and personal observances that encourage us to live with greater awareness, compassion, and integrity.

One student’s response stopped us in our tracks.

“When we are engaged in the joy and challenge of creating ourselves, we serve the world rather than steal from it.”

What a beautiful reminder.

So often we’re encouraged to focus on what we can produce, achieve, or contribute. But yoga gently suggests that one of the greatest gifts we can offer the world is the ongoing work of knowing ourselves.

To become a little more patient.
A little more compassionate.
A little more honest.
A little more present.

This isn’t self-improvement for the sake of perfection. It’s self-study, svādhyāya, one of the Niyamas, the lifelong practice of observing ourselves with curiosity rather than judgement.

As we become more grounded in who we are, we tend to take less from those around us. We ask less for others to complete us, validate us, or carry what we’re unwilling to hold ourselves.

Instead, we begin to offer something different.
More presence.
More kindness.
More steadiness.
More capacity to listen, to care, to contribute.

Perhaps that is what yoga has been inviting us towards all along.

Not becoming someone new.
But becoming more fully ourselves.

🤍 We’d love to know, what does this quote mean to you?

What if your return to movement didn’t have to start with pushing harder? What if it began with listening?

Whether you’ve been recovering from illness, injury, burnout, pregnancy, surgery, a busy season of life, or simply time away from your practice, stepping back into movement can feel daunting.

Join Mandy for a Gentle Reintroduction to Movement
12pm, Saturday 18th July

This workshop is designed to meet you there. No pressure to keep up. No expectation to be where you once were. Just a compassionate and supportive space to reconnect with your body, rebuild confidence, and rediscover the joy of movement.

Together we’ll explore gentle mobility, mindful movement, breath awareness, and practical ways to move with greater ease and trust.

This is not about “getting back” to anything. It’s about meeting the body you have today with kindness and curiosity.

Because sometimes the bravest thing we can do is begin again. And sometimes, beginning again can feel surprisingly beautiful 🌸

It’s my birthday week.

On Tuesday, I turn 42. This week also brings Winter Solstice and International Day of Yoga, which feels fitting somehow, a week of reflection, transition, and gratitude. Another trip around the sun, another winter turning point, and another reminder that there is beauty in every season.

I’ve owned Stretch Yoga for almost four years now. In that time, life has changed in ways I never could have imagined.

I now have a five-year-old and an eight-month-old. Life is full, loud, chaotic, and bordering on ridiculous most days. There are toys under furniture, washing that never seems to end, interrupted sleep, forgotten cups of tea, and a calendar that somehow keeps filling itself.

While life feels incredibly full, but so does my heart.

I’m grateful for my family. Grateful for my health. Grateful, too, for every new wrinkle and grey hair, because they come with time spent living, learning, growing, loving, and experiencing this beautiful, messy life.

I’m also grateful for the lessons that have come with owning a small yoga studio. They haven’t all been easy. There have been challenges I never expected and growth I never knew I was capable of. I’ve had to persevere in ways that have surprised me.

I’m not perfect, and there is still so much to learn. But standing on the cusp of 42, I feel happy. Content. Bone tired, yes. But also deeply grateful and full of zest for everything I have, and whatever is yet to come.

Thank you for supporting the studio. Thank you for supporting me while I attempted some semblance of maternity leave. And thank you for helping create this beautiful community, a space where we can show up in all our glory and all our not-so-glory, and simply move, breathe, connect, and be together.

What a gift that is. ❤️