Lucy Lucas - Yoga & Mind

18/09/2021

Ibiza. You will always have a piece of my heart 💜

17/07/2021

I've stopped teaching yoga.

No, this isn't a post about how I am still teaching yoga but calling mindful movement or embodied flow.

I've really stopped. I have two more classes with existing students to complete, some refunds to process, then it's done.

There are several reasons, all intertwined. The most pressing is financial. Even before the pandemic, I made just enough to live on. I was never going to own a property, or have savings. I lived with baited breath as someone not renewing a pass when I forecast meant problems paying the water bill. This way of life, so normal for many people, is exhausting.

The pandemic has crucified my business. Even with a core group of committed and wonderful online students, I needed to rely on a top up from Universal Credit to survive financially. And although restrictions are meant to lifting, my business and the yoga industry have changed so much, I don't see things going back to the way before.

I needed to get a job, and I have done. It's 5 days a week on a major transformation programme, and I have a senior and well paid role. Thank God for that and my amazing consulting colleagues from the past decade or so who reached out to help me when I needed it. Thank you.

But I can't do that and teach classes. What you see as students is just the tip of the iceberg: you don't see all the admin, prep, creation and marketing that goes on in the background. It takes more time to do this than turn up to class. I know many teachers who don't prep, they just rock up and churn out the same old stuff again and again - but that is not the kind of teacher I want to be.

My mum died in January from a stroke and I think from that moment I knew everything would change this year. It has been emotionally and physically exhausting and I crave some normality: getting my evenings and weekends back, having a stable income, even buying a property. These were things I never thought I'd have again. But now I can, and do.

There are many ways to teach the principles I work with, and group yoga classes are probably one of the least effective methods. I'm interested in embodiment, regulation, connection and how that affects how we live and work. I'm finding that I can teach this AT WORK, funnily enough, guiding my team and senior executives alike: holding space for them, encouraging regulation and checking in with each other.

Maybe one day there will be another small business looking at coaching and embodied leadership training.

But until then, I'll keep teaching the important things, just in a different way.

If you have any questions about your pass or refunds, please contact me directly.

02/07/2021

All Change.... new job and new booking system! read more in the latest newsletter-

Hi there I started a new / old job this week. In my previous life, I used to be a management consultant, helping companies manage large scale change in their organisations. Now I've returned to such a role, and whilst some might think it's a 'step back' or ask whether I feel sad about it, I've reali...

01/07/2021

A management consultant with her yoga book.

Back to work this week in my old/new career. Already using a LOT of the skills I’ve accumulated! You read about them and more in the book!

Right, have to go as it’s time for another video call….. I have never talked so much in my life.

25/06/2021

We're led to believe that life goes in a straight line: birth, school, work, marriage, retirement, death. And that if anything throws you off this path, you’ve done something wrong. Or if you haven’t followed this path by choice, there’s something wrong with you.

It’s called conditioning, the way we are programmed to believe, think, act and move in particular ways. Sometimes it’s useful (you cannot have a functioning civil society without some conditioning!) - but a lot of the time, it can be unhelpful.

The path of yoga is to unwind that conditioning, at least to a level where you ask questions, even if you don’t change anything. It’s why we move in different ways, creating new neural pathways, challenging old ones. Always curious, always questioning.

Life isn’t linear, that’s what I’ve found. It’s ok to step off the conditioning conveyor belt if it doesn’t work for you, or if you were never on it (neurodiverse anyone?). What looks like going backwards isn’t, because every repeat is slightly different, with new experiences, and permutations.

I used to be a management consultant. Then I became a yoga teacher. Now I’m a management consultant again. But like each step in this video, I’m a very different consultant to the one I was before. And that makes all the difference.

Join me at TWBGS every Saturday morning for in person classes or join the online channel.

14/06/2021

Join my sister for this group embodied reset and healing session!

Heyyyyyy! Are you looking to dip your toes in social connection but aching for some energy rest bite too?

Step into summer with a deep energetic reset…

This is an IN PERSON circle/group healing~ which will be cemented in rich embodiment practices, which will help us to ground and land in the body~ before we journey together in a guided healing mediation.

The idea of getting together with other people in the physical at this time can have us feeling trepidatious and activated. However, now more than ever, we need to be around other humans and connect socially. We are designed to be around other people~this helps us reduce stress and helps us to regulate our nervous system. Even if you don't speak~ your very presence is healing for other people~

🌹 Lets come together, create a safe sacred space and help each other release the energy of the last eighteen months and reset ourselves ready for summer.🌹

>>>Currently limited places due to restrictions….

>>>Open to all

This is gathering is taking place at Arty Farty Retreat in Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

7:30-9:00pm

Please arrive fifteen minutes early to be ready to begin, bringing a mat, cushion, blanket plus anything else that will assist in making your time extra comfortable and nurturing.

£27

11/06/2021

Gratitude
~~~
I often struggle with this. Personally, because there can be a cage around my heart (hello, depression), but also because nothing makes me more annoyed than wealthy white people telling people with less than them to be grateful. Seriously.
~~~
It’s been a rough old year for many of us. NO ONE has been untouched by this pandemic, but some have had it harder than others. My business has been crippled: so much so I am returning to my previous career as a consultant, and will just teach on the side. My mum died, and my sisters and I are orphans.
~~~
But. The ONE thing that quitting the London rat race, and having more time meant… was that I live here. In the utterly glorious garden of England, with the sea and forest and hills and lakes on my doorstep. During lockdown, I have never, ever been so thankful to live here - a 10 min walk to the woods and fields. With biking snd outdoor swimming nearby. When I could only socialise by walking with a friend and a takeaway coffee I was quite happy - because that’s what I do anyway!
~~~
So here’s to you, beautiful Kent and Sussex and all that you offer. With much gratitude.
~~~
Tunbridge Wells people…. What say you?
~