Guest blog from Lara Heppell Fluid Yoga

Hi I am Lara Heppell. I am a Yoga Teacher and a mother who has been practicing yoga for around 14 years.

I run a business called Fluidyoga and I teach the majority of my classes as a lovely studio in Chapel Allerton called Yoga Kula. One of my aims is to be able to provide supportive yoga for women of all ages at all stages of life including pregnant women and mums. I became a mother myself just under two years ago and nothing could have prepared me for the many physical and emotional changes that I would encounter both during my pregnancy & labour and beyond into motherhood. However with the support of appropriate yoga postures, breathing and meditation techniques I was able to charter the unknown waters with a little more balance and calm then I would have done if those tools had not been available to me; that is why I feel passionate about the job I do, which enables me to share these powerful practices with others.

Since becoming a mum my own yoga practice has completely changed and now has to fit around nap times and the needs of my toddler. Now I try to use any spare time I have wisely, with appropriate practices that will enable me to optimize my energy, de-stress me and keep me calm as I juggle motherhood and working (as so many women do today). The practices I do now are very much focused on self nurture and inner healing and also on relaxation and restoration. The Yoga I teach postnatally works on realigning and healing the body little by little from the inside out with a big focus on having breathing techniques and meditations that can be used practically throughout the day to bring a moment of calm when needed!

This is how I approach all the yoga that I practice now and the yoga I offer to postnatal mums who come to my mum and baby classes. I take a similar approach in my Pregnancy classes providing mums- to- be with a toolkit of practices that can be used throughout their pregnancy and beyond into their labour. In addition I teach yoga especially designed by women for women and have studied extensively in this field obtaining a Well Women Yoga Therapy diploma, this style of yoga invites us to embrace the nature of what it is to be a women working with Yoga in a cyclical way, adapting the practice to meet the needs of our energy levels at different stages during our monthly cycle. I teach specific monthly workshops with this style of yoga at Yoga Kula on the 4th Sunday of every month and I love having this extra time to really offer a full yoga practice that combines both flowing sequences and lots of relaxation including Yoga Nidra (Yogic sleep). We have a very special day happening soon on the 19th October at the Quaker House in Adel Leeds. We are inviting women of all ages and stages of life to come together to indulge themselves and their senses. This retreat is just for women and in particular over-tired, stressed mums! The day will run from 10am until 4pm and during this time we aim to deliver an oasis of calm with some nourishing and nurturing yoga practices while still remaining in the city.....a retreat experience without the travel.

Do come and join us! (Babes in arms welcome; and there is the option of an onsite massage on the day too, at an additional cost!) All Woman Urban Retreat Vitality day Date: 19th October Venue: Adel Quaker Meeting House � Garden Room 10.00 - 4.00 cost: �45.00 The timetable looks like this:

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