The difference between listening to your body and hearing it

I woke up this morning thinking about the difference between being able to listen to your body and being able to hear it - and there is a distinct difference. I'm wondering if it's something other people think about?!

One of my siblings and I's favourite movies growing up was White Men Can't Jump. In it, Wesley Snipes says to Woody Harleson, who was playing Jimi Hendrix in the car: "You can listen to Jimi, but you can't hear him" and I have never forgotten this - just because you're listening, it doesn't mean you're hearing. 

I'm currently writing content for my 300 hour yoga teacher training, exploring how as teachers (and students) we regularly say to people to listen to their bodies, do what feels comfortable, do what feels right etc. But a lot of people don't know what it is they're even listening for, and some aren't able to hear it. It makes this concept pretty devoid.

We can listen to something and notice it in the background, but that's not the same as actually feeling it, tuning in, understanding and experiencing. This isn't so easy to do, especially with our bodies. So many of us go about life in a state of semi-stress. We're distracted by technology, work, life and it takes us away from ourselves. Furthermore, when people have experienced trauma they sometimes dissociate from their bodies, making hearing it's signals even harder. And there can be a discomfort in re-connecting that must be approached with care too. 

We also exist in a culture that encourages us to push ourselves further and further, to keep striving, keep climbing up the mountain of capitalist life. There is truth in the idea that growth happens outside our comfort zone, but are we differentiating 'good stress' from pain or exhaustion? Often, no. 

So what can you do instead of flippantly saying 'listen to your body' or 'do what feels right for you'? (and I'm guilty of this too) What can you do as a yoga student?

As a teacher, explain what you are asking people to listen for - sounds simple! 

And as students, get curious about the sensations in your body. Try to take the emphasis away from whether or not you can make a certain shape and instead see if you can focus more on how that shape feels inside your body. If there's sharpness, tingling, shooting sensations etc, always stop. But even if there's simply a slight discomfort, pull back for a moment. Breath. Ask yourself why you even need to go further. Perhaps this will be enough for your body to release into the position you are trying to move into. Perhaps it won't. 

Being able to 'hear' our bodies takes time. It asks us to slow down, especially in our yoga practice. But when we commit to this, our bodies hold so much wisdom. There's a saying 'the body knows before the mind does', but so often we second guess our bodies, listen to our heads, analyse our way out of things, and then realise our bodies knew all along. 

So, perhaps this is my invitation to you - especially as we begin to wind down for the year. To slow down a bit, sit in your body, and really start to hear it. 

I'll be exploring this a little more in my last class of the year, next Wednesday 17th December. You're welcome to join me! >>>

p.s.. if, like me, you find this stuff fascinating, you can delve into it all more on my upcoming 300hr yoga teacher training, starting in March >>>

And if you're not yet a yoga teacher, maybe it's time? 200hr YTTs start in January in Sussex and online >>>

Hybrid YTT starts in January, and self paced starts whenever you feel ready!

Stepping into your authenticity

I’ve stopped writing blog posts over the last few years, but I’ve decided it’s time to start sharing more.

The last 4 years have been a time of transition, shedding, growth, reconnecting, in a way I never imagined. I think this has come about for a number of reasons, but I know I’m not alone in feeling this. It’s perhaps a rite of passage.

For many people, especially women, we hit our 40’s and start to wonder what happened. Our bodies begin to change, our hormones fluctuate, we realise we’ve spent years being what everyone else thought we should be, doing what we thought would make us happy, making everyone else happy. And then our bodies begin talking to us, or screaming, and we have to listen. We feel another transition is on its way, but it’s not just hormonal.

For me, as I think it does for many, this coincided with my marriage ending. Suddenly becoming a single mum, running a business, moving to a new town, dealing with a not so easy ‘co-parent’ have all put a lot of pressure on me. But it’s also made me re-evaluate what is actually important to me. It’s forced me to find ways to support myself so I can be strong and stable for my daughter, but in doing so it’s helped me to uncover so much of myself that I wasn’t even aware of.

And so here I am, 4 years later, feeling in many ways like a totally different person, and in other ways like the person I’ve always been.

We talk a lot in Yoga about connecting to your true self. In any school of philosophy this seems to be something that we strive for in order to find happiness. It’s cliched to say money doesn’t bring us this, but it’s true - what does is feeling like we are living in line with our Self. But we can’t do this if we don’t know what our ‘true self’ is.

Inadvertently, whilst seeking support to just keep me grounded, I seem to have found myself on this path, slowly but surely reconnecting. It’s (again slowly, but surely) bringing me a sense of peace and confidence that I haven’t had in maybe ever.

As a result, I’ve decided recently to tick off a bucket list, mainly of places I want to visit. Travel has always been a big part of what makes me happy, but I’ve pushed it to the side for many years. I’m grateful for the fact I have the best travel buddy in my daughter and it’s so easy for us to go on adventures together. A few weeks ago we hopped off to Northern Ireland to tick off the Giants Causeway, and I’m sure there will be more to come in 2026.

Why am I sharing this? Because I believe so many of us get lost a bit as we walk along the path of life. And then life shakes us up (or our hormones do) and we have to reroute. I’ve seen so many cheesy posts about this, but I think it’s true. That rerouting isn’t pivoting or making lemonade, as I have often thought. It’s just getting back on our path.

Part of me wants to throw in some sales line about how this might be your sign to follow the path of teaching yoga and sign up to one of my YTTs, but I also don’t want to do that! Maybe it’s teaching yoga, maybe it’s going deeper into yoga if you’re already teaching, with a 300hr YTT. Maybe it’s making a bucket list. Maybe it’s quiting your job. Maybe it’s getting the dog. I don’t know… that’s for you to decide. What I do know is that, when you begin to really follow what lights you up, life feels a whole lot easier. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m closer than I have been in a long time.

But… if you think teaching yoga might be your path, check out my upcoming courses in person>> and online >>

And if you want to go deeper into yoga, as a teacher, the 300hr YTT >> is definitely for you. It’s largely through exploring the different aspects of yoga, the philosophy, energy and breath work that I have found myself where I am now, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

The benefits of studying online

Before the pandemic most of us had never heard of Zoom, but we now seem to have been catapulted into a totally new way of working, learning and living. For some people it still feels alien, and that’s ok, but for many of us the freedom of being able to do so much more online has opened up lots of possibilities we’d never thought of before.

Online learning is one of those possibilities; whilst they have been around for a long time, there have never been so many distance learning courses as there are today. This is largely as a result of us all having to move online in 2020. Zoom (and similar programmes) have enabled us to make our classrooms virtual and therefore take them out to a wider audience, across the globe. So, whilst we may have felt cut off and isolated during the pandemic, paradoxically we have also become more connected in different ways.

Yoga is all about connection, at least it is for me, and I know that nothing beats being in a room with people, feeling, hearing, seeing, touching them. We are sensory animals and we thrive on this stimulation. However, with the best will in the world, it isn’t always possible to get to a training course for so many reasons. These may be logistical, financial, emotional to name a few. The world of online learning has given us more choices and made learning far, far more accessible for so many people. This is something that’s hugely important to me; there are lots of barriers to learning to teach yoga, yet I know how incredibly powerful it is as a practice for so many people.

It’s often the people who might find it difficult to get to a yoga studio to do a teacher training who need the course the most!

If you’re wondering why learning online is such a great option, below are just a few benefits:

• being able to study from anywhere, including your home

• fitting learning around your routine

• feeling safer and more relaxed by in your own space

• being able to set your own pace of learning, watch things back and go over content

• courses are often cheaper, and take out cost of travel

Personally, I love learning online from the comfort of my own home, often at my own pace. I’m not great in a classroom as a student (ironically!) and I like to be able to study when I want, which is often in the evenings when my daughter is in bed or during the day when she’s at school. Life is busy and unpredictable, so I like to be able to set my own timetable to an extent, and I’m self motivated enough to be able to stick to it. A bit of support and accountability from a teacher is also really helpful when I need it.

During the pandemic I moved my yoga teacher training course onto Zoom. I also created a lot of online content that my students can access to help support their learning journey through self paced study. I’m really excited to be launching a fully online yoga teacher training course this Autumn, with scholarship places also available. If, like me, you find learning online suits you better, simply follow the link below to find out more.

Why train to teach yoga?

enquire about yoga teacher training

For those of us who practice yoga regularly, we feel it’s benefits; that’s why we practice. Some of us reach a point where we want to deepen our understanding of yoga, perhaps sharing it with other people so they too can experience all the positives it has to offer. This is where the Yoga Teacher Training comes in.

Training to become a yoga teacher is about more than gaining a qualification or a new career. Yoga is a way of life, and the more we practice it the more we start to realise this. For me personally, I know that what began as a purely physical practice quickly grew into a way to:

• honour my body

• cultivate self worth

• self acceptance

• balance my nervous system

• help me to feel connected to myself and the world around me… the list goes on.

Yes I learned how to do some fancy yoga poses, but I discovered, and continue to discover, so much more.

If you’ve reached a point where you, too, are recognising all these other facets of yoga and noticing the positive impact it’s having on your life, the next step may be to join a yoga teacher training course. Plenty of people do the trainings with no intention of teaching, at least not initially. A yoga teacher training gives you time and space to delve deeper into yoga as a whole practice, lifestyle and philosophy, and this is often hugely transformational on a personal level.

One of my recent graduates commented:

‘I don’t know exactly what’s changed for me, but something has’

and many have told me what a life changing experience the course has been.

Personal growth is one of the outcomes of a sustained yoga practice, and the more we learn about it the more we grow. It is also an incredible gift to be able to share with other people, and this is why so many trainees end up teaching yoga even if they had no intention to when they signed up to the course. Yoga is empowering, it’s something you can do on your own, anywhere, without any equipment. It’s accessible to everyone; you can challenge yourself physically with asanas or focus on breathing and meditation (which arguably challenge many of us more!)

Most importantly, yoga works!

Yoga has been well documented to have a powerful effect on our nervous system and mental health as well as improving strength and flexibility. The philosophical element of yoga can help improve people’s self worth, self confidence and feelings of being connected, both to themselves and the world around them. This connection is our yoga.

To be able to share all of this with other people is a privilege but it’s also something that’s much needed. The world needs as much yoga as it can get right now, at least in my opinion! This is why I’ve created two teacher training courses this year.

The in person teacher training is:

• based in Worthing, West Sussex,

• gives you the opportunity to learn in person with other students

• one weekend a month, allowing you to fit the training into your work and family life.

The online teacher training offers:

• flexibility as you can join us from anywhere!

• runs one day a week, during school hours and term time only

• perfect for people, like myself, who are juggling the school run and a busy life!

Whichever option suits you best, there is a course out there for you, whether it’s one of mine or a different school. Taking the plunge can be daunting but I know from seeing so many trainees do it, it is an experience that will not only change your life but the lives of all the people you go on to teach.

Below are some comments from a few more of my graduates:

“A really well paced course, I never once felt under pressure to complete anything. Lovely nurturing , interesting and informative teaching style.”

— Karen Warland

“The course has definitely helped and although i can’t put it in words very easily, I feel a different person after the course than before. ”

— Katrina Perkinson

“The environment that has been created within the course has been amazing! The course is really well set out, I found everything really interesting and liked that we got to practice teaching from the first weekend.”

— Nicola Simmons