Mourne Yoga

I'M A LITTLE ANNOYED.

Not properly annoyed. Nobody needs to check in on me.

But I have a bit of a problem with the tendency to stick the word Yoga onto something because someone's included some Yoga-shaped stretches in a class.

Goat Yoga. Yoga + HIIT. Yoga + wine. Yep, even Yogalates gets me. Call me a pedant.

I just don't think adding a Downward Dog necessarily makes something Yoga.

Goat Yoga is the one I get asked about A LOT, presumably because I teach Yoga and have five of the beasts wandering around outside.

Here’s the thing though. I love goats. I love Yoga. But I really don't like them together.

We have a hard enough time cultivating and maintaining awareness when there are minimal distractions, never mind having a load of goats clambering around at the same time.

If you want to cultivate awareness, come to a Yoga class. If you want to pet a goat, come and visit us.

I feel much the same about Yoga and wine (but bring a bottle).

So here’s the thing – and call me old fashioned if you like – Yoga is not just a collection of physical poses. It IS a practice, BUT Yoga is also a state of being. And through this practice we may experience the a state.

And so the intention behind a practice matters. If the intention is to have a good stretch, that's great. But doing that stretch in Downward Dog doesn't necessarily make it Yoga. If we're using the physical practice as a way of working with awareness, attention and that noisy, disruptive mind, then we're getting somewhere closer.

Because it's not the shapes that make Yoga, Yoga.

TURNS OUT, I COULD BE SELLING YOU MORE STUFF... I get A LOT of emails from people trying to sell me stuff, improve my SEO (which I could probably do with), partner with me etc. I tend to ignore 99.89% of them.

Over the course of a couple of weeks in August, however, I got a number of emails from someone who was very keen to design content for me to put on the screen in my waiting area. Apparently, “it upsells more than people expect... if it's kept current”.

After her unsolicited emails went unanswered, Angela* wondered if there was a better person at Mourne Yoga she should be reaching out to.

I took a Ha-breath and replied:

"Hi Helen*

Thanks for your emails. I run the studio here.

The thing about yoga is that it's a practice of reducing external distraction and stimulus that agitates our already very distracted minds. As such, we don't have screens here advertising more stuff for people to consume. We offer a quiet space in which people can tune into themselves and find a little peace.

You'd be very welcome to come along and try a class if you're in the area.

With warm wishes
Lorna"

So why am I sharing this with you?

Because when people wonder what to expect when they come here to practise Yoga, Pilates or Strength work, it's not just about the movement and physicality.

You're welcomed into a space where there is little distraction. Little fuss. Warm people. Space to chat. Space to be quiet. And a space where we're not constantly trying to sell you something else.

No branded tote bags. I stopped selling mats a couple of years ago because we have them here and you can borrow one. When I have extra homegrown veg, I share it out.

I'm not interested in creating more things for you to consume just because I have your attention.

You don't need Yoga socks. You don't need LuLu leggings. You definitely don't need Mourne Yoga lip balm.

All you really need to do for yourselves is turn up.

*Names have been changed for anonymity

If you knew that you would live to your late eightes and beyond, but you'd be stuck on a desert island in the years beforehand, what 5 Yoga poses would you take with you? 🏝️

A brilliant teacher asked us this question in Paris over the weekend under the broader theme of 'what's enough'.

Initially I thought about the fun ones. Perhaps the ones that would sound a little impressive.

Crow. Headstand. Plough.

Then I stopped and thought about my 85 year old mum who had a stroke recently.

When I went to see her just after it happened, she couldn't even roll over in bed. She couldn't stand herself up. She couldn't walk without help.

Two months on and she's climbing stairs on her own.

And none of that recovery came from mastering complicated movements.

It came from practising the essentials.

Rolling. Sitting. Standing. Walking.

The things we tend to take for granted until we can't.

So I thought about what I'd actually need by the time I arrived in my late 80s and needless to say, I'd be better off balancing on my feet rather than my hands! So my desert-island poses changed.

🌿 Side-Rolling Apanasana (Knees to Chest Pose) — so I can roll over in bed.

🪑 Utkatasana (Chair Pose) — so I have the strength to get myself up from a chair / the side of the bed / the loo.

⛰️ Tadasana (Mountain Pose) — a well-aligned standing position initiates easeful bipedal movement.

🌳 Vrksasana (Tree Pose) — because being able to balance gives you a lot more confidence on your feet.

🌱 Malasana (Garland Pose) — so I can squat down to tend my garden and get back up again without wrecking my knees.

A less mature version of me would have chosen the poses that looked the most impressive.

Today, I'd choose the ones that will allow me to move with ease through life.

And maybe that's what enough looks like. ❤️

People in the studio have been adding their own thoughts on our board. 

What would your five be?

EVER NOTICED how hard it is to just go and “sit quietly” when you’re a bit wound up from the day’s… stuff? 🤯

We tell ourselves we’ll take a few minutes. Sit still. Maybe meditate. And somehow land back in a calm, regulated place.

And yet… it’s rarely that simple.

Something’s annoyed us and we can’t quite let it go.
Adrenaline is already coursing through the system ⚡
Our mind is on a loop — replaying, reworking, imagining how things could have gone differently.

So when we try and jump straight into sitting still and “calming down”, we’re working against all of that.

And the more we try… the more frustrating it can feel.

When the nervous system is already wired, it’s very hard to just plop ourselves down and expect stillness. There are a few steps that need to come first, ways of preparing the body so the mind has somewhere to land.

From a Yoga perspective…

🧘‍♀️ Asana (the physical postures) helps to release some of that pent-up energy (a bit like encouraging kids to go and run around outside when they’re worked up) 🌬️ and creates a little more space in the body so we’re better able to breathe

💨 Pranayama (breathwork) really starts to make inroads towards greater regulation, helping us create the conditions for a quieter mind

From here, finding a little more stillness for greater clarity of thought is a little more doable!

So over the next few weeks, we’ll be honing in on breathwork in our Yoga class. Because it’s the breath —and its relationship with the body and movement - that makes it the practice we know as Yoga 💛

RELENTLESS, ISN'T IT? There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that comes not from doing too much…but from thinking too much.

The running commentary.
The analysing.
The second-guessing.

The interpretive mind that’s constantly trying to identify, categorise and make sense of everything — often by weaving its own stories around what’s happening, what it means, how we measure up.

Most of the time, we don’t even realise it’s happening. It just becomes the background noise we live inside.

And occasionally — in a moment of absorption, in a Yoga practice that really lands — there’s a brief pause in all of that. Not because we’ve “fixed” anything. But because we’ve managed to stop getting wrapped up in the incessant commentary.

Ah. The elusive stillness.
—

This inner narrative doesn’t switch off just because we walk into a Yoga class either. Instead it can look like:

Am I doing this right?
My Trikonasana doesn’t look like it should.
I’m so rubbish at balancing.
I hate forward folds
How is she so still? I bet she’s only taken three breaths in the last minute?

It’s relentless. Even in a space where we’re encouraged to take a break from all of that, the mind finds a way to build a story.
—

In the last From the Outside In workshop, someone came up to me at the end and told me that it was the first time she hadn’t questioned whether she was doing the pose “right”. Or whether she looked good compared to everyone else in the room.

She could just enjoy feeling what she was doing without the usual layer of commentary on top. And the quiet.
—

So we’re creating that space again this Thursday 7 May, between 7 – 8:30pm.

If you’re curious, you’ll find the details at the bio link.