Yoga in the Ranges

28/03/2023

Hello to my beautiful fellow students. I’m here to let you know that I’m taking a leave of absence due to some personal circumstances. I’m sad to step away from teaching Yoga and our lovely Sunday evenings at the hall but now is the time to take really good care of myself and pull back from all the extras (as much as I enjoy our sessions 😭). I’ll hopefully catch some of you at other local classes and workshops as I delve into a supportive practice. Until next time, take good care, thank you for your understanding and lots of love ♥️ 🙏🏼
Xx Lauren

10/03/2023

Feeling like Monday night could be a good time to stop and pause, deep stretch and release, meditate. Thinking a 50/50, first half of class is spent flowing through Yin, second half Meditation Practices. A deep re-set. Who’s around and keen?

✌🏼 🧘🏽‍♀️ ✨

05/03/2023

Autumn is just the best… here’s a great post on seasonal eating… 🥕 🥬 🥑 🍋 🍊

Seasonal eating is the best excuse we know to bake apple and rhubarb crumble, squeeze a fresh immune-supporting orange juice, or roast a tray of warming root vegetables!

Take a wander round your local farmers’ market to appreciate the colourful abundance of autumn fruit and vegetables available at this time year and see what kitchen inspiration follows.

🍇 Fruit: avocado, apple, blackberries, banana, cumquat, custard apple, feijoa, fig, grapefruit, grapes, guava, kiwi fruit, lemon, lime, mandarin, mango, nashi, orange, papaya, passionfruit, peach, pear, persimmon, plum, pomegranate, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries

🥕 Vegetables: artichokes, Asian greens, beans, beetroot, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, shallots, parsnip, potato, pumpkin, silver beet, spinach, squash, sweet potato, tomato, turnip, zucchini.

🌱 Herbs: basil, chervil, chilli, chives, coriander, dill, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme.

References are available upon request. Please contact Clinical Support: ClinicalSupport@integria.com

03/03/2023

Final call for this Sundays 3Hr (easy) hike with 🥾 🌲 🎵
We’ll immerse ourselves in the sound, scents and stunning scenery of Mt Macedon and stop for meditation and therapeutic sound sessions 🎶

We have a wonderful group of 6 joining us so far, most people are coming along by themselves so please feel free to join solo!

Bookings close tomorrow at 4pm

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/542156774507

(Access link via story and in my profile bio)

✌🏼 🦜 🥁

01/03/2023

A practice makes a habit, a habit makes a ritual, a ritual makes a way of life. I’ve never been good at sticking to a practice. That’s why I keep practicing.
Rolling out the mat each day, even just for 5 minutes, reminds us of our worth, the value of our time, the comfort of our honour. Putting this here to remind me (& anyone else who needs it) to keep on keeping on with heart led practice, nurturing habits, meaningful ritual. So that it becomes second nature, a way of life, as innate as breathing.

Science tells us we can mould and change the pathways in our brain with consistent love and kindness practices. We can transform our conditioned patterns, instilled fears, limited beliefs and frustrations to a more accepting, compassionate, open and connected way of being.

Rather than filling space with endless distractions, we can become comfortable and content in our own skin, in our own company, in silence and stillness, and even in the endless brain rattle. We can become amused by our wild mind rather than entwined with it.
It’s not something we can ever achieve or perfect, it’s just something we commit to making space for. Our ritual. Our journey.
To authenticity and connectedness.

Some of us live like this already, “Life Naturals” as I’ve heard them called. They’ve probably scrolled on by now. Please enlighten me with your ways😆. For the rest of us type A chronic fixers and perfectionists, and beautiful wild philosophers, let’s roll out our mats and take a breather…

28/02/2023

It’s looking like beautiful weather on Sunday for our Sound Medicine Hike! Yipeee! ☀️ ⛰️

🥾 This 3Hr nature hike has a few spots left if you’re interested in coming along to enjoy the bush scents and sounds, and of course the stunning visuals 🤩

We’ll stop to enjoy sweet sounds and meditations, to really soak up the magical vibes of the ranges.

Final tickets are available here (& link in stories and bio) https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/542156774507

Pack light snacks, a towel/yoga mat, water and sun protection ✌🏼

23/02/2023

HOW TEA CAN TRANSFORM YOUR DAY ☕️ 😌 🤌🏼

Have you noticed that every culture has a tea ritual of simply gathering to sit and sip together or take a lone moment away to contemplate with tea. It’s imbedded in our human nature.

We can implement a simple 10-15 minute practice of sitting with and noticing tea and the world around us. It can be an incredibly grounding and transformative practice that sets the tone for the rest of your day.

1) Firstly, decide on the timeframe available to you. Let everyone in the house or your work colleagues know that you’re taking this amount of time “DND”.

2) Away with technology or any distractions and set up your scene. A comfortable place to sit in peace.

3) Start to make your tea. Become embodied in the process. Watch, wait, select, open, smell, drop, boil, pour, wait, stir

4) When sitting with your tea, connect with the senses available to you…

-SIGHT, notice the space around you, gaze at your tea, see colours, patterns, ripples, reflections. Where are you in space and time, on the earth, amongst nature, become a witness of the world around you and of you

-TOUCH, feel the surface beneath you, feel where your body meets surface, hold your tea and feel it’s warmth, the texture of the mug, it’s weight. Notice the warmth as tea runs through your body

-SCENT, as you bring your tea towards you, what aromas can you smell? Are there other scents that surround you? What notes are you picking up on? Notice the contrast of the air and the scents of your tea

-TASTE, slowly sipping, become taste. Let your tea linger on your lips, tongue, noticing the graduation of taste as it rolls to the back of your throat. What can you taste? Earthy, floral, citrus, tannin, what else? Is there texture with taste? Scent with taste? Sound as you taste?

-SOUND, close down your eyes and connect with the sounds around you and from within you. Hear the orchestra 🎶

Stay here. As long as you need. Bring it back to human basics. Existing, living, breathing, enjoying tea.
Listen/feel out for that 6th sense, your intuition, inner feeling, inner guide. They might have a little something to enlighten you with in this quiet moment.

✌🏼 ☕️ 🌲

22/02/2023

Time to set up a restorative practice for this weekend - Sunday evening is Yin at 6pm, the perfect chance!

See you there!

X Lauren

Passes 👇🏼

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/557431371237

21/02/2023

Gift yourself a MAGNESIUM COCONUT MILK BATH 🛁 🥥 😌 🕯️

You’ll need…
- a can of coconut milk/cream
- essential oils
- epsom/magnesium salts
- a bath!

Empty a can of coconut milk/ cream into a bowl. Add 10 drops of your favourite pure essential oil. Whisk together until silky and creamy. Add to running bath water.

Add two cups of epsom/ magnesium salts.

Light your candles, play your favourite relaxation playlist or meditation track 🎶

Enjoy for at least 20-30 mins for the full benefits of magnesium, coconut lipids and relaxation to sink deep.

Perhaps run through a little yoga sequence afterwards before you tuck into bed. Immediate Savasana also good 👍🏼

13/02/2023

Sound Medicine Hike in the Ranges!⛰️ 🎶

Sunday March 5th 10 am -1 pm

Mark this one in your calendar and skip out of the house to join this beautiful group hike on Mt Macedon 🥾

Run by Catherine Marty, the founder and owner of , these hikes are designed to promote wellbeing through nature connection and sound healing🌲 🦜🎶🥁✨ 🧘🏽‍♀️

Catherine brings together her experience as a Counsellor, Trauma Therapist, Ecotherapist, Sound Healer, and a licensed tour operator with Parks Victoria, to ensure her hikers have the opportunity to learn and relax in a trauma-informed space.

During a Sound Medicine Hike you will be taken on a guided hike, learn about and experience forest bathing, explore nature meditation, and listen to the plants and trees sing via plant music. You will also roll out your yoga mat to receive a sound healing out on the trail with flutes, drums, voice, chimes and more.

This not to be missed event is available now via this link https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/sound-medicine-hike-3hrs-mt-macedon-tickets-542156774507

Enjoy a stunning day of relaxation, hiking and sound bathing in the Macedon Ranges!

06/02/2023

Benefits of Magnesium after Yoga✨

Tired, tight or sore muscles require magnesium for tension release. Magnesium is used up by our muscles, nervous system, and bones every moment of the day and demand for this essential mineral increases with physical activity and every day stressors.
Magnesium depletion can cause muscle and nervous system tension, twitches, spasms, cramps, exaggerated sympathetic nervous system responses (e.g highly strung, jumpy, reactive), fatigue and poor sleep. It is “the mineral of relaxation” and you’ve probably noticed Naturopaths and Nutritionists are quite obsessed with it for its calming benefits.

🤓 Magnesium is our GABA regulator. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps to induce a calming parasympathetic nervous system response.
Mg is also required for serotonin production, our feel good “happy” mood stabilising neurotransmitter. Serotonin converts to melatonin, for a deep restorative sleep.
Mag also helps to regulate our blood sugar, thyroid and repro hormone cycles.

After practice, it’s a good idea to replenish your body’s magnesium status. You can do this quickly with the following…

⭐️ Magnesium oil rubbed into your areas of tension (the more this tingles, the more your body needs it!). I love .minerals
🛀 Magnesium foot soak or whole body mag bath (2 cups). Again .minerals
☕️ Hot cup of cacao (yay cacao is a rich source of magnesium). My fave is
⭐️ Magnesium supplementation. is a winner.
🥬 Consuming foods rich in magnesium e.g. pumpkin seeds, almonds, dark leafy greens, tofu, avocado (however soil levels may be depleted, biodynamic is best)

This Mg replenishment will also help to deepen your practice as you can sink into and prolong the relaxation response of Yoga way beyond the class.

A good test of your levels is to see how magnesium oil feels on your skin. If you’re depleted, the rapid uptake by your cells will cause a tingling sensation. This is quite intense for people very low in magnesium.

Sometimes I bring the oil to class for a play, you’re welcome to try it any time!

Shout out if you have any questions about Magnesium.

xLauren

04/02/2023

where I get to dust off my Naturopath hat for a wee moment to concoct our Yogi Sleep Tea for class ☕️ ✨

My not so secret blend…
🌿 Chamomile
🌿 Passionflower
🌿 Lavender
🌿 Melissa
🌿 Spearmint
👌🏼 😴