Embodied Mindfulness

22/02/2026

There's been a lot of talk about stretching lately. Is it good/bad -or makes no difference?

I like the idea of releasing instead of stretching, it suits my body. Releasing means, I can let go of excessive tension in my back and allow my spine to ease into length. Stretching feels too pushy, as if I'm forcing something that I'm not.

We can all know the typical forward bend stretch, the feeling tightness in the lower back and/or backs of legs. As you bend forward, that stretchy feeling can seem good, (and you might even find yourself pushing into it) but what does your body think? When you come back up to standing what's going on in your lower back? Is there just a dull ache now? And did anything really change in your upper back? Perhaps it stayed locked down, gripping on to your head...

We've come a long way in understanding that your body isn't just a machine with skin. The reductionist theories helped us learn so much, but now it's time for integration, because the parts of your body do not work in isolation.

In my February classes we've been practicing “connecting up” and finding easy length without the push. It feels good. It feels safe. When you feel connected, nothing needs to grip to hold you together.

You're probably not surprised to hear that your nervous system is a huge factor in your flexibility. A feeling of danger (real or perceived) will trigger a response in your connective tissue - think "gripped with fear". When you're stretching is that what's going on?

Anyone on the hypermobile spectrum will tell you "yes", it's a feeling of falling apart, of too much stretch, but hypermobile or not, that same risky feeling can occur deep within you.

So, what's the difference between releasing and stretching?

Inside us all is a person who wants to succeed, to do their very best, but sometimes that inner self can be a bit pushy.

Next time you feel like your body wants to stretch, either on or off the mat, keep a watchful eye out for the desire to go just a little further; to push into that forward bend so you can feel it. When you notice the pushy self, pause and gently pull back from that edge. Expand your awareness, not just in the area you’re focussed on but your body as a whole. Is there somewhere that needs to feel more integrated? Which bits need reconnecting before you can let go?

With practice this all becomes easier, but if you’re new to working this way, start with your limbs; have the intention that they connect much further into the body than you think or feel. You’ll need to allow plenty of time for this. You’re training your body and your mind.

This embodiment practice is an exploration, an expedition into the depths of you!

18/02/2026

It’s notoriously tricky explaining what I do for a living.

I can tell you some of the outcomes; stronger back, easier breathing, improved internal support/posture, pain management, personal confidence, voice projection, improved co-ordination, efficient movement, better balance, tension release, less frequent headaches, deterring RSI, pregnancy support, self-awareness – the list goes on.

The tricky bit is explaining how I help you get there.

I teach you a practice, it’s a kind of mindfulness, a mindfulness for the body. Embodied mindfulness!

The practice is pausing. The practice is awareness. The practice is intention.

Pausing = stop!

Awareness = become aware of your jaw.

Intention = Ask it to release.

Stop. Become aware of your tongue. Ask it to soften.

This thinking, this organising can be applied to anywhere, legs, hips shoulders, neck etc.

The pause gives you the opportunity of choice instead of habit. The awareness tells you what needs to change. The intention creates the new response.

This is the beginning, then the work gets deeper, you could say it becomes a self-mastery. Your awareness expands, you’re able to connect to your whole self. You find you can think, and be aware, in times of stress, as well as quiet. You can even recognise your body’s first response to stress – gripping, holding breath – and then choose to respond differently. Your mind is clearer; you’ve interrupted the stress responses within your body. You can breathe easy again.

How extraordinary this work is, can also be hard to get across at first. It’s the steady development of deepening awareness and skill, that brings the body and mind into balance and ultimately health. You may start with the intention of getting rid of your chronic neck pain, but as time goes on, you’ll see that the neck pain was telling you a bigger story. Something of your inner-Self. The pain in your neck is your body’s voice, asking something of you. It’s a voice that in time you’ll be able to hear and fully understand, so you can make better choices, physically, mentally and spiritually. As well as a pain free neck, you get so much more.

This work is not fast, which is why I like to call it “self-mastery”. Like becoming skilled in tai chi or playing the piano, it’s up to you how far you take this mastery. However, this work is gentle, non-invasive and on occasion miraculous!

P.S. MY NEXT JOB IS CONVINCING YOU THAT LYING AROUND ON THE FLOOR AND JUST THINKING WILL WORK!

13/02/2026

Starting on Tuesday 3rd March my colleagues and I are offering a free introductory series.

3 guided sessions focussing on key elements that will help you Relax Better and let your mind and body find a deeper quality of rest.

Resting is something we could all do with getting better at; whether it’s to calm the body & mind for meditation and stillness practices, or simply to get a good night’s sleep.

Each hour long session is a combination of support, Constructive Rest and Q&A; all hosted by the absolute champions of relax and rest.

Schedule: -
Session 1 — Back & Pelvis - 3rd March 7pm
In this first session we're introducing you to the main principles of Constructive Rest. Getting really comfortable in the position and giving awareness to the spine and pelvis, as central support structures. Exploring support, easing effort, and reducing unnecessary holding.

Session 2 — Neck & Shoulders – 8th March 10am
This gentle session addresses common patterns of tension in the neck, shoulders, and upper body.
We're looking at resting in ways that allow your weight to be received and supported, rather than held. Changing how we support the shoulders can be a huge relief, allowing them to finally become fully mobile and pain free.

Session 3 — Knitting Yourself Together – 11th March 10am
As your skills progress, you're able to bring the whole body into awareness.
This final session focusses on sensing connection within yourself and how real rest can help you feel more physically coordinated and integrated.

All the sessions will be recorded so you can catch up on any you can’t make live or use it as a video course.

Free sign up in the comments 👇

30/01/2026

I had an Imbolc moment the other day; the feeling that I’m going to make it through winter, after all.

Imbolc is a celebration of the first signs of spring – think snowdrops and swelling buds on trees. It would have been far more significant hundreds of years ago, when staying alive through winter wasn’t such a given. However, some of us, even in this modern world of comfort, find Imbolc emotionally uplifting because winter can still feel long and dark, and hard work.

Imbolc marks the mid-point between winter solstice and spring equinox. Almost everyone who celebrates this festival does so on the 1st & 2nd February, but this custom would have been happening well before we had fixed days with numbers, before days of the week and weekends. Imbolc would’ve been as moveable as it needed to be. It would have shown up in the natural world in the busyness of birds and the first signs of the emerging spring. It would have been a feeling, felt by humans and animals alike.

As the energy builds to bring the natural world back to “life” how are you feeling? Can you feel this emerging energy within yourself?

Perhaps the feeling of relief that spring is coming overwhelms all other feelings. Or maybe you love the peace of winter, and the knowledge that the busyness of the approaching spring doesn’t bring good feelings at all!

Whichever it is, your body will have an opinion of this shift in the season. Somewhere within you will be a voice letting you know how you feel and how best to be present at this time. Take a moment to be with your body, with this inner voice, whether it’s on a walk, sat by the fire or even a fleeting moment grabbed between the many demands of life. Drop down, deep within your self – your rib cage, your pelvis – and ask yourself, “How am I now? What’s needed to support me through this time?”

And if you’ve got the time and the inclination, light a fire and send a prayer to Brigid, thanking her for the gift of healing, purification and clearing, but mostly for bringing back the light.

Imbolc blessings to you,
Gemma
PS If your winter feels tough and too much to bear, connecting to nature and to your body is a huge help. I speak from experience…

02/01/2026

Starting back on Wednesday 14th January at 7.15pm online.

In these relaxed and friendly classes, you learn the practice of Embodied Mindfulness, using the principles of the Alexander Technique, all within the framework of gentle movement. Each month there is a different theme and as you progress, you’re building a skill for life!

Spending time on the floor (on a yoga mat or similar), seated and standing, you’ll learn to use these unique skills to enhance your mind-body connection. Gentle enough for everyone, even those suffering with chronic pain. The classes will improve your muscular tone and strengthen your internal and postural support.

Joining these classes is an ideal way to nourish and support your body in its constant quest for balance and ease. You will also get the opportunity to learn the self-care practice of Constructive Rest; a “lifesaving” practice for busy people!

** Classes are small (max 8 people), so I can give a lot of individual attention. You don’t need to be flexible or to have any previous experience to enjoy these classes.**

message me or email to book your place - Gemma

02/01/2026

Starting back on Thursday 15th January at 4pm. Tavistock Physio Clinics

In these relaxed and friendly classes, you learn the practice of Embodied Mindfulness, using the principles of the Alexander Technique, all within the framework of gentle movement. Each month there is a different theme and as you progress, you’re building a skill for life!
Spending time on the floor (on a yoga mat or similar), seated and standing, you’ll learn to use these unique skills to enhance your mind-body connection. Gentle enough for everyone, even those suffering with chronic pain. The classes will improve your muscular tone and strengthen your internal and postural support.
Joining these classes is an ideal way to nourish and support your body in its constant quest for balance and ease. You will also get the opportunity to learn the self-care practice of Constructive Rest; a “lifesaving” practice for busy people!

message me or drop me an email to book your place - Gemma

30/11/2025

Do you know what’s going on in your body? Can you feel it?

Our body awareness isn’t solely an external experience. One of our most useful senses is our internal body awareness; our interoception. It tells us when we’re hungry, excited, or need the loo. It’s how we know that our heart is beating fast or our breathing rhythm has changed. As you read this, check in with this sense.

What’s going on in your body?

In the past this sense has been overlooked, and frequently dismissed as less important than some of your other senses. So, you may not have refined your interoceptive skills as well as you could, leaving you unaware of your body’s shift from a calm rest/digest state, into the more frantic fight/flight.
Do you know which state your nervous system is in now? Are you creeping into high energy or settling down into calm?
We absolutely need both functions, but overstimulation from the modern world we live in tends to influence us up into our fight/flight, and this is exhausting.

Interoception is a subject that crops up frequently in yoga and other somatic practices. Most people on a mind, body & spirit journey will have ventured along the path of the autonomic nervous system, looking to meditation or body calming practices to get out of their habitual fight/flight response. But the usefulness of developing interoception isn’t just for when you’re on your mat or meditation cushion, it’s for life - out there, during the ups and downs of your world. It’s recognising the shift in you as you interact with the high energy influences, online and in person. As you’re doom-scrolling your way through social media, your senses shutting down, your present moment connection disappearing with each scroll, that’s the point at which your interoception is calling to you, that’s the point when you’re shifting into fight/flight, but possibly not recognising it. Your “monkey mind” is occupied, so you think you’re relaxed!

Take a pause. Feel into it. How is your body responding in the moment?

Like any skill, the more you practice the better you get, interoception is no different.

Take some time for yourself, any time, sitting on the loo, stuck in traffic, on-hold on the phone, and bring yourself into your body. Check in regularly to recognise how it feels. Don’t get caught up in words to describe it, just do the feeling bit first.

Fortunately, in this wild wide world, we’re surrounded by brilliant therapists, teachers and friends, all making their own way with this work. Make a connection, use their wisdom to help you on your journey. You might be able to do this all on your own, but it’s so much easier (and quicker) if we accept some help.

Image courtesy zensationalkids dot com

07/11/2025

Come and try a Free online session Tuesday 25th Nov 7pm GMT. Sign-up details in first comment.

🧠 When stress shows up in the mind, you might notice:
💭 Racing thoughts
🌫️ Brain fog
⏰ Difficulty focusing
🔁 Overthinking
😴 Restless sleep or mental exhaustion

When the mind feels crowded or stuck, it’s often a sign your system is overloaded — doing its best to keep up.

Constructive Rest offers a way to quiet that inner busyness, giving your brain space to breathe again.

✨ Awareness is the first step in resetting.

Join us for Reset Before the Rush — Tuesday 25th November, 7pm GMT (online).
Sign up via the link in our profile.

05/11/2025

04/11/2025

How does stress show up for you — in your body, thoughts, or the way you move through the day?

Stress lives through the whole system — a busy mind, tight muscles, shallow breath, or that drive to keep going. These are signs of a system under strain, doing its best to manage demand.

When we pause and notice, even for a moment, we create space for the body and mind to quienten. Awareness is the beginning of resetting...

If your system feels stretched, this week is an invitation to slow down and reset.

Follow the for more about resetting your system.

16/10/2025

Tension and a keyed-up nervous system are often part of the back-pain picture — sometimes more than we realise.

Alexander Technique helps us unlearn strain and rediscover autonomy — a coordinated, responsive way of moving through your day.

Through Constructive Rest, we practise the conditions for this natural support to return.

Change begins not just with awareness, but with how we use it and take it forward.

Explore Alexander Technique and how Constructive Rest supports back care — this Awareness Week and beyond by clicking follow before you go.

13/09/2025

The classes I teach have a monthly focus, and this month it’s the fascia that runs down your back. There’s a connection from your eyebrows to your toes; this run of connective tissue has been named the Superficial Back Line. Like most anatomical names this points to the location, as much as what it is.

If you’ve excessive tension anywhere along this line of connective tissue, your head and/or pelvis will be constantly out of balance. This can show up as neck pain, lower back inflexibility, tight hamstrings or even plantar fasciitis.

I like to the think of the fascia as a connective tissue “wet suit”. If one area is tight and gripped, the discomfort or misalignment is often felt somewhere else in the body.

Those tight hamstrings might only be tight because your habit is to grip your neck or jaw. The ultimate cause of your tight hamstrings might be because your habit is to let your eyes stare, rather than let them relax back into their sockets.

Incredible, isn’t it?

Learning about these connections can help unravel the complexity of your pain or rigidity. Understanding that when you fold forward to put on your socks, you’re asking the entire length of your body to release, can give you permission to stop the relentless battle to stretch your hamstrings. Or the frustration of your stiff lower back. It’s not one bit that needs your attention, it’s the “whole”.

The word holistic has been used and over-used, but when it comes to improving your body’s elasticity and postural support, it really is the best approach.

To join the Alexander technique classes you don’t need to be flexible or knowledgeable, but if you join them, soon enough you’ll be both.

P.S. COME AND TRY A CLASS. IT ONLY COSTS £10 AND COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Image: Superficial Back Line - Anatomy Trains by Tom Myers