Elle Nash

Tell a friend, to tell a friend, INTRO OFFER: FIRST CLASS ONLY £10, across these dates.👯‍♀️ Classes usually £20 (or pack of 5 for £80) these are our set dates over the next 6 weeks, we will also try to host a handful of mid-week outside sessions weather dependent. You can DM me if you have any questions, would like to book or are interested in a private session. 🌻💛

The other day someone asked me “why did you do your teacher training?” …well I said, and I told them this story. “Woooow” they exclaimed, “you healed your own body, your-self!! That’s incredible! You have to share your story.” This is a story of someone who was let down by the UK Healthcare system, like so many people are!! Western medicine often only prescribing pain killers but no long term solutions. This is a story of a young girl who, like so many other young girls, had body image issues and used food and exercise as a means to find control. Thank you @maddiesheaaaa for the push to share and for the photos, you are so talented 💛 My journey to yoga like life wasn’t linear, neither is my relationship with my body. Some days I still feel disappointed, some days I still strive for perfection, some days I push my body too far and some days I don’t do enough. That’s natural, we’re only human. But without yoga I genuinely don’t know how I would get through life without taking a ton of pain killers. I’d like to take this opportunity to also thank @ashtanga_yoga_san who looked after me when I arrived in India, taught me to not push my body but just to listen, to practice and wait for all to come💛 #yoga #yogalife #backpain #sciatica #sciaticarelief #yogainstructor #yogapracticenotyogaperfect #yogacommunity #yogaforeveryone #backrelief

Mine still isn’t perfect. But here’s why I think it’s one of the most important asana’s👇 • strengthens legs, ankles, hips and core while engaging the spine and shoulders - almost the entire body is participating at once! • it mobilises the thoracic spine while keeping your legs strong, reducing back strain in every day movements!! • lengthens hamstrings, groins, side body, chest and spine, acting as a global fascia stretch. • improves balance, hip joint mobility and stamina, not just in yoga but in running, lifting and walking!! • the alignment is hard to get right, so you have to carefully learn the foot placement, leg activation and pelvic engagement - getting this right, sets you up for other poses. • the revolved, open torso encourages a sense of openness while staying rooted to the ground in the lower body. How to get it right: ~ stand with feet apart, turn front foot to 90 degrees and align the heel of the front foot, to the back arch, turn the back foot in about 35 degrees ~ engage both thighs, keep legs straight, firmly press through the outer edge of back leg, to prevent knee hyperextension. ~ inhale arms to t shape, hinge from the hips forward as far as you can go!! ~ lengthen both sides of the waist and bend from the hips not the spine!!! ~ rotate chest toward the ceiling ~ shoulder should be stacked and you’re trying to make your arms make one long line through your body ~ top shoulder should be pulling back not collapsing over your body If you feel like your back is crunching forwards, try practicing this against a wall. You may not reach your toes with your bottom hand, it’s okay to have your hand just resting on the inside of your leg. 💡Holding the shape while staying relaxed in the face and jaw cultivates mental clarity, concentration and the capacity to stay in mild discomfort.

Most of us spend 90% of our time hunched over a computer screen or phone, backbends move the spine out of repeated forward flexion, countering the “hunched forward” posture. 🙌🏼 If you find flexion (folding forward) makes your back pain or sciatica worse these are for you!! They improve extension mobility, and may reduce irritation in certain disc-related pain patterns. They can also strengthen the back, glutes, and core while stretching tight hip flexors, which can improve support around the lower back. Back bends are not a universal fix, and for some people they can aggravate pain, especially if the movement is too deep, too fast, or done during an acute flare-up. My advice if you’re new is to start with daily bridge exercises to strengthen the necessary muscles. Always listen to your body. If bending backward increases leg pain, numbness, or sharp back pain, that’s a sign to stop and get assessed. The safest approach is usually gentle, controlled extension rather than forcing a big backbend.

Today I arrived in the wrong class. I had intended to join a handstands workshop and I arrived in Yin. I usually resist Yin with every fibre of my being because if I’m honest, my head tells me, it’s a waste of time.. not productive enough. However, whenever I do join, usually around once a month, I always feel like I needed it. The truth is my body was tired today. I had already practiced with intensity 5 times across the weekend. And I was mentally overstimulated. I wanted to go to a handstands workshop but was it the right thing for me? I don’t know but I read the wrong studio and arrived in the wrong class. I realised a couple of minutes in. And I stayed. I decided maybe the universe knew best. I’m a yoga teacher and I don’t always immediately know what is right for me or my body. I’m a yoga teacher and I can’t do every pose. I’m a yoga teacher and I can’t do things that I could do last year. I’m a yoga teacher and sometimes I feel frustrated, impatient, I push for more. But sometimes I remember to let go and let the universe decide.

Does anyone else have a “yoga boyfriend”?😂 Add it to the dictionary.

Everything is better by the sea. Yoga is better outside. Napping on a Sunday should be mandatory.

UPDATE: since recording this I have managed to teach two yoga classes, get back into a routine with my daily movement and even practiced handstand. The clips in this video were shot on day 1 and day 2 of peak sciatica flare up, although symptoms had begun for this. The difference between the 2 days is crazy. What did I do? Alternated between walking, light stretching and rest (lying vertically not sitting) hot baths with Epsom salts, naproxen and Tumeric milk. As soon as I was able to move more I did. There are no quick fixes for sciatica ❌ Somtimes even when you know the right things to do, life gets in the way, we’re all human! But becoming more aware and in tune with my own body through yoga has changed what was weeks of pain multiple times in a month, let alone a year into one two day flare up in over a year… #sciatica #lowerbackpain #backpain #yogatherapy #yoga

12 weeks ago I held my first yoga class at a little local cafe near me. I hadn’t taught in over 4 months. I was nervous as hell. I had been praying for a place to start teaching in London, and then one day I was sat in the newly opened Forty Cups working for my marketing clients, and that’s when I overheard the owners saying they wanted to host events and yoga classes… At first I didn’t say anything but I eventually talked myself around… hiiiii I’m Elle I’m actually a yoga teacher and just like that, we ordered mats and curtains and our weekly classes began. It felt like fate. Right place, right time. Prayers were answered. My first yoga class was full!! Sundays Vinyasa were extremely popular, we added Ashtanga on a Wednesday. Every week I left each session feeling energised, full of light from the community feel and warmth that came from the people who joined and the space. The reality is of course that not every class is a sold out class, some of the Wednesdays were quieter but that made them even more special. And I feel so lucky to not have had a single no-show class. This has also been such a learning journey for me, I’ve had the privilege to teach those with injuries, those recovering from operations, pregnant women, I’ve learnt to become more deaf aware because of a deaf client, and I feel so so grateful to be able to hold a space that welcomes all. Lots and lots of love to everyone who has joined a class so far, I appreciate you. My favourite thing to hear is when people tell me they leave the class feeling a little lighter, truly I always feel a little lighter after teaching too, so thank you!!! This Sunday 6pm we still have a couple of spaces left.

“Simple” asana’s aren’t simple when everything is engaged. It’s taken me a few years but I’m learning to slow things down sometimes..🧘🏼‍♀️

You wanna stretch but can’t find the time… I get it!! The truth is you only need a minute or two each day and a handful of poses to notice a shift in your body and your mind 🧘🏼‍♀️☀️💛 If anyone would like some specific stretches for specific areas/aches/pains please drop a comment below or a DM, I’d love to help 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 #yogatherapy #morningroutine #yoga

The real thing standing in the way of you and balancing postures: the Drishti 👁️ or our focused gaze requires mental strength as well as physical. If the mind wonders, if you cannot control your breath, the wobbles will set in. If you can be present, focus your gaze, find your drishti, control your breath, you can find ease in any posture. Yes, the teacher will likely tell you to find something to focus your eyes on but you will also need to train your attention to stay steady. When the mind is quiet, the body will stabilise. Balancing postures aren’t just standing on one leg. Although they do build physical stability, they can can teach us what to see and what to let go of. They can teach us to embrace the wobbles, like we must embrace the wobbles in life, while finding comfort in knowing we have the strength within us to remain, to balance, to see what is important. When you can control your gaze, when your gaze is intentional, so is your inner world, so is your wider world. #yoga #yogatherapy #yogalife