Described by many people as one of the most beautiful places on earth. From art to food, from stunning and varied countryside Italy has so much to offer. This is the country that brought us Slow Food, devoted to the promotion of fresh products and fine traditional, cooking.

With 44 sites, Italy has more Unesco World Heritage sites than any other country on earth. Its great cities of art, like Rome, Venice and Florence, have been attracting visitors for centuries. Milan is up and coming creating one of Europe’s  biggest and most modern trade fairs and is planning a major residential development, the CityLife complex, in the heart of the city. Venice, the city of romance, is possibly the city that has, in appearance, changed least down the decades but it has recently opened a sleek new bridge over the Grand Canal.

Alongside Italy’s art treasures, you’ll find plenty to keep you busy in the countryside. You can ski in the Alps and hike the Dolomites. But as much as all of this, a trip to Italy is about lapping up the lifestyle. Taking a moment with a coffee and people watching is all you need on a bright sunny afternoon.

Yoga Wellbeing step by step

The Staff pose(Dandasana) is a great pose to refocus on your alignment throughout your practice

1. Sit on the floor with your legs together and extended in front of your torso. If your torso is leaning back, it may be because tight hamstrings are dragging the sitting bones toward the knees and the back of the pelvis toward the floor. It may be helpful to sit on a blanket or a bolster to lift the pelvis.

2.A simple way to check alignment is to sit with your back against a wall. The sacrum and the shoulder blades should touch the wall, but not lower back or the back of the head. Put a small rolled-up towel between the wall and the lower back.

3. Sit towards the front of the sitting bones, and adjust the pubis and tail bone equidistant from the floor. Without hardening the belly, firm the thighs, press them down against the floor (or your support), rotate them slightly toward each other, and draw the inner groins toward the sacrum. Flex your ankles, pressing out through your heels.

4. To lengthen your front torso perpendicular to the floor, think of energy streaming upward from the pubis to the sternum, then down the back from the shoulders to the tail bone. Then imagine the tail lengthening into the floor.

5. Imagine your spine as the “staff” at the vertical core of your torso, rooted firmly in the Earth, the support and pivot of all you do. Hold the pose for one minute or longer.

There are a huge selection of Yoga classes and workshops available all over Clapham. As discussed yesterday finding a yoga class that you feel comfortable with is very importance to your yoga journey. The Tulip Yoga studio offers a wide range of yoga classes. Also the Awareness Centre offers a diverse selection of yoga classes and therapies to suit most needs.

Yoga for everyone

Nearly everyone will eventually encounter some health challenge —  a tweaked back or knee, a little bit of back pain, or the natural process of growing older—that temporarily or permanently alters our asana practice. Yoga can be adapted to benefit everyone from the young, fit, and able-bodied to elders with arthritis.

Medical research has documented yoga’s benefits for some special-needs populations. Researchers found that older adults and people with multiple sclerosis who participated in a weekly yoga class and home practice for six months showed significant improvement in measures of fatigue compared to a control group that didn’t practice yoga.

Yoga’s ability to help stooped seniors stand taller was demonstrated in a recent study of older women with hyperkyphosis (a.k.a. dowager’s hump). Research found that one-hour yoga sessions twice a week for 12 weeks helped participants increase their height, reduce the forward curvature of their spines, and improve their scores on physical tests that assessed everyday tasks like walking, rising from a chair, and reaching for an object in front of them. Participants also said the yoga helped reduce pain, improve breathing, and increase endurance.

Although Western scientists are just beginning to study yoga’s potential to alleviate many chronic health conditions, a large number of practitioners swear it’s made a huge difference in their lives. Others, credit it with helping them build and maintain strength, flexibility, and balance.

Always remember to breath

The breath is the most important part of the pose. Never sacrific the breath for any of the yoga poses. Learning to breathe deeply and move with the breath is crucial,whether you’re lifting just one finger or your entire body.

Use props to your advantage

Whether your difficulties involve strength, endurance, stability, mobility, flexibility, or postural challenges, the primary solution is similar: Modify the traditional poses, using props if necessary, so you can safely perform their key actions.

If you would you like to know more about Yoga Wellbeing classes in Clapham click here.

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) is an amazingly versatile backbend that you can practice in a variety of ways, depending on what you want to achieve and how you use it in a sequence. The posture can also be a precursor to a range of postures with very different energetic benefits —from a heating, stimulating pose like Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose) to a cooling and calming pose like Salamba Sanvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand).

Bridge can be either a restorative posture or a dynamic way to open and strengthen your body. It opens your thoracic spine (the middle and upper back) and imprints important alignment principles in your lower body that will serve you throughout your practice.

Benefits

Are you finding it difficult to find yoga classes in Brixton? One place to start your search is the Brixton Therapy Centre.

Our well established team of therapists provide affordable complementary therapies from cradle to grave. 

They have a dedicated neck and back pain clinic staffed by registered osteopaths. This clinic deals with any musculoskeletal disorder, from sporting injuries to osteoarthritis. We also treat pregnant women as well as offering craniosacral therapy for babies and children.

Shiatsu is a holistic full body treatment combining the use of acupressure points and massage. Shiatsu, literally meaning finger pressure, balances the energy through your body, relieving pain, reducing stress and increasing flexibility and vitality. Regular Shiatsu is a very effective way of treating recurrent back problems. Click here for to feast your eyes on other services that Brixton Therapy Centre.

Brixton Therapy Centre supports the Brixton Pound. A fantastic way of supporting our local community. Check out brixton pound for more details,

Brockwell Park is a large chunk of beautiful green space located between Brixton, Dulwich and Herne Hill.

As well as ornamental ponds, formal flower beds, a walled ‘Old English’ herbaceous flower garden and a charming 19th century clock tower, Brockwell Park also contains  Brockwell Hall which serves up a mean English breakfast.

There are a wide range of outdoor sports facilities available at Brockwell Park including basketball, football, bowling, cricket, tennis courts and the Brockwell Lido. Brockwell Park has a popular children’s play area, a paddling pool and a purpose and even a built BMX track.

But that’s not only what Brockwell Park offers. When we draw nearer to the months of Spring YogaWellbeing will be out there teaching Yoga in the Park classes. There are so many different areas in Brockwell Park to find a bit of green to practice your sun salutations. We have found at least four brilliant spots that have stunning views and enough space to stretch out in relaxation.

What have you gained in Brockwell Park?

Can we really afford to lose any of the large green spaces in the city? There are so many green spaces in London, perhaps more parks than any capital in the world; but every day, gradually and by minute fractions, the process of building over small open spaces. Therefore, the County Council need to try and take care of our green spaces.

Brockwell Lido, can be found in the corner of Brockwell Park. It’s been at the part of the local community since 1937. The Art Deco Grade II listed building has been extended and transformed. The Lido is managed in partnership with Fusion. As a registered charity, Fusion Lifestyle are continually reinvesting to improve and develop what’s on offer in the local community. The update on the pool is that the ice has broken from the surface of the open air pool for the annual winter swim at the Lido on Saturday 19th December 2009. Vast numbers of people attended to see swimmers aged 8 to 80 making their way through the ice. So when you visit the Lido, you’ll be helping to keep one of London’s few remaining open-air pools open for future generations. Click here to learn more about the lido.

Today there is an active Friends of Brockwell Park made up of local users.  They are working in partnership with Lambeth Council  to protect and enhance this much loved and valued greenspace. Click here to find out a wee bit more.