My yoga teacher ended a meditation this week with the words:

"Silently say yes to yourself."

As I did what he suggested, I realised the power this small word holds.

How often do you say yes to yourself? Yes to your dreams, yes to your desires, yes to the real you? Not the one you parade around to fit in or to make everyone else feel comfortable, the true you.

So often the voice in our head whispers…

This week I’m preparing to head off on a five day silent retreat.

There’s never really a “good” time for something like this. Life always feels full. Family, work, responsibilities. And if I’m honest, the guilt can creep in quickly. Shouldn’t I be at home, looking after everyone else?

But here’s the truth I keep coming back to: just like on an aeroplane, you need to put on your own oxygen mask first. If we don’t look after ourselves, how can we possibly show up fully for those we love?

So while I will miss my wonderful…

September is just around the corner, and although summer isn’t officially over, the “back to school” vibe hangs in the air.

Routine, alarm clocks, schedules, and productivity are all patiently waiting as August slips from our playful hands into another memorable summer.

Letting go can be hard. But if August has done its job, intoxicating us with bright light, high energy, and heat, urging us to let go, indulge, and play then we can emerge from this hedonistic month with a hint of relief. Because…

The Dordogne river has been my family’s exquisite host this week, with her pièce de résistance being a twenty-seven kilometre kayaking adventure that took the three of us five and a half hours in thirty-five degree heat.

We embraced everything on offer with the steady guidance of Dom, my husband, an ex-kayaking instructor in his element, reassuring Nell and I that the rapids were possible without capsizing as long as we kept paddling! 😬

I quickly…

The sun is shining. The breeze is light.
I’m lying in the dappled shade of the trees, surrounded by the wildflowers of La Borde Blanque.

We’re nearing the end of our French yoga retreat, enjoying the wonderful company of six other families from all over Europe. Our children swim, run, laugh, and bond in nature.

Yoga has brought us all together in this special and comforting way.

On our first day, our teacher, Elleke - wise and strong in body, mind, and spirit encouraged us to follow our breath, rather than making our breath follow us.

These words got me thinking.

I know nothing about football. I don’t even really like it but I found myself tuning into the final of the Women’s Euros thoroughly engrossed.

Not by the game itself, but by the sheer power and beauty of the twenty-two women on the pitch, and their managers.
All of them in their element. Unapologetically themselves.

No makeup.
No fancy hairstyles.
No smiling if they didn’t feel like it.

Their strong female traits shining through like…

The Colenso clan of eleven, three generations, headed to Runswick Bay on the Yorkshire coast last weekend in search of adventure. We were ready to embrace the extremes: from the searing heat of a beach tent sauna to the exuberance plunge of the North Sea.

But the reality was far from what we had imagined.

When Dominic and I booked it months in advance, the vision was clear …

July in Yorkshire is such a beautiful time of year with a bloom of bright colours, long golden evenings, but unfortunately, its also the too-eager host to my arch nemesis, my antagonist...

The thunder fly!

This tiny, wriggling black bug invades our sunny days armed dangerously with the incredible superpower of…

We are not always in charge of who we have in our lives to shape, guide and influence us especially in our early years. Our parents are our parents, our teachers are our teachers, our peers are our peers.

Then, as teenagers, the opportunity to invite in a different perspective arises with the music we decide to listen to. And I thank my lucky stars that me and my posse of fifteen-year-old friends found Alanis Morissette.

It’s only now, at forty-five having just seen her live in Glasgow with my little sister that I…

“They always raised me to fly the nest,” were the wise words of a friend when I asked how his parents felt about his travels. I was only twenty-five at the time, but that conversation stayed with me. I always thought it was such a beautiful description of parenthood.

And now I find myself at the end of my daughter’s last week of primary school, another pivotal step in her journey towards one day flying the nest. And the weight of that knowing hurts like…

“Practice, and all is coming.”​
This powerful quote from yogi Pattabhi Jois has stayed with me for years. On the surface, it’s hopeful and motivating, a gentle nudge to keep showing up to my yoga mat, but it also invites me to ask a deeper question: what am I actually practicing in my life?

Because the truth is, what we repeatedly do is what we become.

When we think of “practice,” we often imagine things like…

Summer is here! Saturday, June 21st marked the official start of the season.

With it comes bright light, long days, and the vibrant energy of growth. Nature reminds us that anything is possible and invites us into a season of abundance and opportunity.

But with all this high energy, summer can also bring…

We all have emotional triggers - moments that make our blood boil or hearts race. Something happens, and instantly, we form a strong opinion about it. But what if it’s not the event itself that causes our reaction… what if it’s our interpretation of it? And what if that interpretation is wrong?

I read the story below this week and wanted to share it as it’s a powerful reminder that not everything is as it seems.
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​A monk decides to meditate alone, away from…

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Hovingham Women’s Institute this week.
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I gave a forty minute talk on the benefits of yoga and why I feel it’s especially important for women to have a regular practice.

We all had a good laugh when I spoke about the cycle of womanhood - how we begin as the Maiden, evolve into the Mother, and eventually arrive as the Crone.

The word Crone always draws a dramatic reaction. Sadly, society often sees it as a symbol of…

Summer is just around the corner! Saturday the 21st of June marks the official first day of the season.

It brings bright light, long days, warmth, and a deep sense of abundance. There's a feeling of opportunity in the air. Nature is reminding us that anything is possible.

But the question is: Are you ready for it?
​Are you prepared to meet the expansive energy of summer time?

The summer months are the time to…

I had the pleasure of witnessing the ocean from the Silver Sands of Morar this week.

A special spot from my childhood that I have not stood in for thirty years.

As I watched the crashing waves then foaming on the shore it reminded me of a Thich Nhat Hanh quote that I would like to share with you:

"Enlightenment for a wave is the moment the wave realises it is water."

As I stood there, watching the ocean, I felt…

​​My husband Dominic flew all the way to sunny Cyprus for work this week only to be greeted by heavy overcast skies and a suitcase full of shorts and T-shirts. Meanwhile, back here in Britain, we were enjoying clear blue skies dotted with the occasional fluffy white cloud. A pleasant surprise.

It reminded me of something important: there is always blue sky somewhere.

In meditation, we often use the sky as a metaphor for the mind. The vast, open blue sky represents our true nature - spacious, calm, and ever-present. The clouds, storms, and changing weather are like our…

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The words were hurled at my car window, sharp and full of heat.

“Sorry - I was just dropping my daughter off quickly to catch her friends.”

“It’s a car park! You’re meant to park your car! You could obviously see my reverse lights.”

“I didn’t. I was focused on getting my daughter out. Did you see me dropping her off?”

“Yes, but ...”

That’s all I remember. I apologised again, moved out of her way, parked the car and cried.

Here are five things I learned from that moment:

A few weeks ago, Dom and I had a sneaky date night in town to see the brilliant Gary Oldman in Samuel Beckett’s 1958 one-man play, Krapp’s Last Tape.

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In the darkness and silence of the theatre with only one attic light glaring down on the character of Krapp we watched for 55 minutes an old man rewinding and replaying his memories, stopping and starting a tape machine, listening to his younger self from three decades ago.

In this time we slowly watched the journey of vulnerability and regret wrap themselves around his being like a dark, heavy cloak.

It was a fascinating evening, not just the play or the performance but…

I fell in love with my husband of thirteen years Dominic instantly - he was and still is the bee's knees but in the early days of our relationship I noticed he had a quirky habit that I was going to have to confront. He had a tendency to overuse the word “disaster”.

If the bus was five minutes late it was a disaster. If it was raining it was a disaster. If there wasn’t enough garlic to cook with it was a disaster!

When I drew this to his attention he was completely unaware that he was doing it. We had a good laugh and decided ...