Sarah Rush Yoga

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.“
Kahil Gibran

As we move towards the Cancer New Moon tomorrow, it reminded me of one of my happiest yoga retreats, pictured above doing the Cosmic Crab on the beach.

So many of us are like crabs, wandering around with a hard outer shell, hiding our soft and vulnerable underbelly beneath it. In a culture that celebrates being capable, strong and endlessly resilient, it’s easy to mistake the armour for who we really are.

We say “I’m fine” — incidentally an acronym for f*cked up, insecure, neurotic and empty — rather than admitting that sometimes we’re struggling. Especially on social media, where everyone else’s shell seems so beautifully polished.

Sometimes the shell isn’t just protecting our sadness. Sometimes it’s protecting our overwhelm. Our disappointment. Our irritation. Our grief. Sometimes when we find ourselves becoming impatient, judgemental or a little hardened around the edges, it isn’t because we’ve become unkind. It’s because something softer underneath is quietly asking for a little protection.

As Kahlil Gibran reminds us, yoga has never been about building a harder shell. It’s about creating a space where we can feel all the feels. A place where, for a little while, we can lay the armour down, let the body soften before the mind catches up, and remember that vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s where our aliveness lives.

The world tells us to toughen up, to keep producing, to become some shinier version of who we think we should be.

Well... sod that. I’m not buying it.

Nature doesn’t ask the moon to shine all month. The seasons don’t apologise for changing. Even the crab knows there comes a moment when it must shed the shell that once kept it safe in order to grow.

Maybe that’s what this Cancer New Moon is inviting us into.

Not becoming someone new.

Just becoming brave enough to loosen the armour... and come home to the beautifully imperfect human being who has been there all along.

See here if you would like to practice with some fellow crabs https://www.sarahrushyoga.com/book-online

I was at a festival over the weekend with one of my oldest friends and had such a hoot. I danced and laughed a lot, drank a lot and stayed up late.

As is always my pattern once I’m back home I feel flat.

My nervous system is having a full-on drama. My mind has gone straight to, What’s the point of everything? Other yoga teachers seem to be doing so much better than me. Maybe I’m deluding myself. Maybe I’m behind.

I’ve been here enough times now to know I don’t always have to trust my thoughts. Not because I believe in toxic positivity but because I’ve learnt that a tired, overwhelmed nervous system tells very convincing stories. It mistakes exhaustion for truth, comparison for reality and fear for intuition.

One of the best things yoga has given me isn’t a handstand or touching my toes but the ability to pause and ask, Is this actually true, or is my nervous system sounding the alarm?

Our deepest magic isn’t found in escaping ourselves but in coming home to ourselves. Every season, every moon is a reminder that nothing stays the same. Not the high. Not the low.

So today I’m choosing not to make any big decisions about my life, my business or my worth and instead , I’m choosing to drink water and watch Netflix with my son trusting that tomorrow my thoughts will probably tell a different story. And maybe I’ll remember that we don’t have to believe every spell our minds cast

Somewhere along the way we’ve bought into the lie that healing is something we do alone, another self help book or online course but the real magic happens when women come together. Not because we’re trying to become better but because, for a little while, we stop trying to become anything at all.

Even the wellness world can become another place where we’re endlessly trying to improve ourselves.

It’s exhausting and nature doesn’t work like that.

Between the Summer Solstice and Lammas, the earth stands in the fullness of what it has become.

It ripens, blooms trusts and rests in its own wisdom.

What if we did the same?

This month’s Sister Circle, Between the Fires, is a chance to step out of the noise and into something much older. We’ll gather together IN REAL LIFE in the sweet pink sanctuary above, to reflect, meditate, journey, and share stories to remind us that healing doesn’t come from doing more.

It comes from living, loving and from getting it wrong, over and over again and beginning again.

It’s not about fixing yourself but recognising that the woman you’ve been searching for isn’t waiting for you five years from now, ten books from now or another training course from now.

She’s already here and sometimes she just needs a circle of women to remind her.

If you’re craving deeper conversations, genuine connection and a place where you can exhale without needing to perform then you are welcome next Thursday to sister circle in REAL LIFE because when women gather with honesty instead of comparison, something quietly revolutionary begins to happen.

Book here https://www.sarahrushyoga.com/book-online

Tonight in the early hours we see the Capricorn full moon - also known as the strawberry moon -just as Mercury begins its retrograde journey until 23rd July.
Mercury is often associated with a disruption in travel plans and a break down in technology but before we blame it for losing our door keys or dead batteries it’s worth remembering that retrogrades aren’t punishments from the universe but rather an invitation to slow down which is pretty cool advice given that we live in a culture obsessed with improvement.

Be better. Look younger. Heal faster. Manifest harder.

It’s fricking exhausting and many of us have spent years trying to become a better version of ourselves as if we aren’t enough as we are.

This moon asks a different question - what if you stopped trying to fix yourself for a moment? Capricorn is associated with responsibility, achievement and our foundations - it’s not about knowing more but caring less about the things that don’t matter.

June’s Full Moon is known as the Strawberry Moon, named after one of the first fruits of summer to ripen and our practices this week will take inspiration from this. Strawberries don’t strive. They don’t compare. They don’t wonder if they’re doing enough and they definitely don’t attend online webinars because they need to improve themselves - they ripen when the conditions are right and are beautifully beautifully sweet when they do.

Just like the moon. Just like the seasons. Just like the strawberries. We are nature too. And perhaps that’s enough.

If you are called to a sweet yoga practice in real life community this week or to a sister circle next - see https://www.sarahrushyoga.com/book-online or sign up for my fortnightly newsletter for moon and seasonal musings and poems

Lotus mudra is a reminder that the lotus flower rises in muddy waters - symbolic of our growth and resilience when we move through difficult times. Today is the ancient festival of Beltane as well as the Full Flower Moon. Together, they mark the threshold between spring and summer, when the world becomes fertile, alive and in full bloom. Traditionally this a time associated with creativity, desire, and the fullness of life symbolised by the union of the May Queen and the Green Man. Ancient Rome held the festival of Floralia at this time dedicated to Flora - the goddess of flowers, spring and fertility marking the renewal of life.

Beltane reminds us that we, too, are part of nature’s cycles inviting us to notice what energises us, what awakens us, and where we may be ready to stop holding back and fully step into life.

In my dream life, I live in the woods away from the hustle and celebrate these ancient festivals living in alignment with the earth but in reality there are days I don’t even look up at the sky, let alone notice the phase of the moon as I constantly race between one thing and the next.

However busy and loud the surface level noise is this time calls us to remember, to reconnect and come back.

So maybe you’re not marking today with a full on ritual under the stars but you can set an intention to pause and take a breath and remember that even when we’re caught up in the busyness of modern life, these cycles are still happening. The moon is still rising. The earth is still turning. Something is still blooming and we can always pause, even briefly, not to some ideal life in the woods—but to ourselves, exactly where we are.

Because even in the busiest, most modern version of our lives… the ancient rhythms are still there, waiting for us to remember.
And when we do—even briefly—it can change everything.

Timetable from Monday 20th April ♥️

With the hideous news of war and the Epstein files this week I’ve been reminding myself of all the good in the world and actively seeking evidence to stop me running away to live in the woods forever.

It really didn’t take me long - I saw a woman teaching people to read for free in Portswood library on Tuesday - she was so kind and patient. It moved me so much that I told her I hoped she knew how kind she was and, I’m blaming this on the full moon that day, then burst into tears. A librarian appeared and gave me a tissue and a glass of water and patted me on the shoulder, although I made a note to self to not return for a few weeks out of embarrassment, evidence again of the kindness that is there if we look. On Wednesdays and Thursdays I work with volunteers at Citizens Advice who give so much so that’s a win. Even on a good day it’s stressful and distressing to witness the suffering of those who come in, but they come each week and give their time. In the UK there are more foodbanks than Mc Donalds now - all mainly staffed by volunteers.

Our practices this week will be focusing on kindness as the Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield states “ If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete” . Practices to soothe and nurture you through mindful movement with breath drawing inspiration from the Buddhist teachings around metta.

Monday’s class is 6-7.15 at St Mark’s Shirley - lots of space plus car parking available. Booking link in bio

This post comes from my heart without any assistance from TW*T GPT

I’ve been thinking about marketing lately because I don’t really do any. I genuinely believe if I work on my energy my classes are busy. I have been teaching for 15 years now and this does seem to be the case. In terms of a marketing strategy, however, trusting the universe is a start but putting something on Instagram occasionally and knocking out a flyer or two probably won’t do me any harm.

So I am really grateful for the work I’m doing at the moment with on my marketting as it’s helping me to focus on what I am offering and why. All a yoga teacher can ever share is their practice and , whilst I’m inconsistent on social media , I do show up every day for my yoga and meditation. If I don’t it doesn’t take long before I’m bouncing off the walls and burning out.

My nervous system is often dysregulated and always has been ,but I don’t always notice, so my practice is only ever about regulation - through breath, mindful movement and stillness. Despite the endless posts on insta from the sorted perfect people who think being “good” at yoga is showing off their athletic prowess in a pose (yawn) especially on a beach (bigger yawn). I know I’m not the only one. There are currently 131,000 women in the UK waiting for an ADHD diagnosis. I won’t be joining the queue because I can’t sit still long enough and anyway I don’t think it’s a disorder but rather a rational response to a world that’s too loud, too fast and too overstimulating. Practices like yoga help quieten the nervous system, slow the pace, and create space to reconnect and give the mind a break from being constantly “on.” It’s only from this space can we begin to truly heal.

So that’s why I do yoga and if that appeals I’d love to see you. Send me a message if you’d like to try my Monday class for free 6-7.15 in Shirley, Southampton.

I was never really a Madonna fan. I think I switched off somewhere around Living in a Material World as it epitomised the hideous greed of the the eighties a bit too much for me. However when I turned the radio on yesterday and heard Open Your Heart, I took it as a nudge from the universe - like a cosmic instruction or something . So I tried my best and managed it for about a minute — feeling gratitude for another day noticing the small good things present and then the news came reminding me of the prick in America playing a game of risk on the global stage.

Some days, opening your heart isn’t easy and as I work for Citizens Advice twice a week now where people don’t come in to tell you their lives are wonderful I do have to dig deep some days.

So once again I thank the goddess for my yoga practices - not as an escape, but as a way to regulate my nervous system — to slow things down, breathe and feel my feet on the ground again. It gives me just enough space to look up, to look around, and to remember there is still good here.

Most people are kind and we do have collective power when we come together in community

So some days take more effort than others and maybe just opening your heart for a few steady breaths is enough to let a little hope back in.

Today my heart opened when I saw a woman buy a coffee for the homeless man at the station, I supervised amazing volunteers at Citizens Advice and I am off for a pizza tonight with my mates - lucky lucky me.

I hope your heart is well and truly open today ❤️

My all time favourite David Bowie died ten years ago today so it seems right to be taking inspiration from my favourite Bowie track (yep pop pedants - I know it’s a cover!) Fill your heart from Hunky Dory

As we move deeper into the darker, colder months the song invites us to “Fill your heart with love today.” Not yesterday or tomorrow but here and now.

At this time of year, when energy naturally drops and old memories or self-doubt can rise to the surface, these lyrics invite us to come back to the present moment. Bowie asks us not to “play the game of time,” reminding us of the teachings of yoga and Buddhism that tell us suffering grows when we cling to the past or worry about the future—because those stories live only in the mind.

This week we will move through heart-opening movement, breath, and mindfulness creating space to soften, to reconnect with compassion, and to remember that we can light our inner spark even when the world feels cold.