Great news! This is me brandishing our very first proper rental agreement!

It's quite a milestone. Thus far Yoga Quota has been above lush and below Jericho Coffee Traders in an Oriel College building. And the generosity and amazing ness of both those organisations have allowed this charitable venture to exist.

But the risk of Oriel finding a proper tenant...not just lil' ol' me and their rowing coach running a cafe...has been looming over my head. So I've been working on various leads.

Turl street kitchen have come up trumps which is ace! They are a social enterprise (the restaurant) and charity (Oxford hubs) and rent space to Oxford people like me.

It's quite an investment for me and them to change a meeting room into a yoga studio. And I'm so impressed by their open minds already!

So we'll move...after the end of term don't worry peoples...we have time to say good bye to Ex-baby-love.

And we'll embark on sharing a goregous space, with a random piano no one can get out the room and with a lovely charitable neighbour!

Happy days!

Anne

Yoga Quota teacher Laurence Nagy has been to a women's refuge in Oxfordshire twice now. She has a quota for the year of charity classes and you can find her on the teachers directory. This is how it went...

We ‘ve had two sessions so far. The women seem to like it. The first time I came, the TV was on, two babies were crawling around, toys were scattered across the light carpeted room. We got to know eachother and I made sure that children would take part in the session and mums didn’t worry about them being “lively”.

Mobile phones were still on, ready to vibrate and buzz. I didn’t say worry because Yoga would keep us focused in any environment. Their environment at the moment was not the quietest one, but it was safe. 

We bottom walked on the floor, straightening our backs. The children sat laughing on their mothers’ laps.

The second time, one woman had already left the house to get her own place somewhere with her child. Another young woman was waiting to find herself a flat, the third one was struggling to stay awake after a sleepless night with a sick baby. A new resident had gone shopping and was disappointed as she came back to have missed the session.

We managed a few poses in silence. Between cat and dog postures, the tired mum fed her child. In the meantime the other young woman asked if she could turn the TV off next door. I was very pleased with her need for quietness. 

After feeding, the baby sat in his pushchair and watched. We proceeded happily towards relaxation. 

I believe everyone felt the benefits of letting go for a few moments.

Laurence Nagy, Nagy Yoga ,  April 2015 http://www.nagy-yoga.com

Hello!

I think I may have blogged a similar post before- but it's worth reiterating- beginners are very very very welcome to Yoga Quota.

I just met a new lovely Yoga Quotee who came to yoga for the first time today. I go through all the poses in the class anyway but because she was early I could 1:1 teach her core bits like down dog and vinyasas...so do consider popping in early if you can and you're new! It also meant we got to know each other (and I was once again impressed by another student passionate about their studies! It's really wonderful to meet you all you know and your interesting degrees)

Any how! Mini plug... The blocks and straps arrived this weekend for the block party on the 1st May!!! Yey! This is an amazing workshop same price as a normal class and absolutely ideal for beginners and people advancing thier practice alike.

Cassie will be taking it and use these props to improve our alignment and techniques.

Then we'll follow with complimentary herbal teas and cupcakes made by myself (or my husband he's the better baker!)

So book in soon and if you're thinking of staring yoga think about coming to Yoga Quota!

Actually my new student had a really apt question which I pose to you... How often should you do yoga...?

I personally think regular is the way forward but you should define regular depending on how much you can do, what commitments you have etc. Daily practice is the goal I guess but if regular is once a fortnight for you then that's cool too...

What do you think? What did you do when you started yoga?

Namaste all x

"A workshop involving blocks, straps, tea and cake? Sign me up!! "

Learn some really nifty tricks to improve your practice with props with our very own Cassie. 1st May, limited space so sign up soooooon!!!

Check out the poster below for all the details!
x
Anne