Enjoying the Tranquil Beauty of St Lucia: Yoga in the Sunshine

Sometimes we all need a boost, particularly after the stress of the last few years for many of us. My sister and I both turned 50 during the lock downs. Yes, I know you thought I was just a bit over 21! We decided to have a special holiday to celebrate, now that we can travel freely again. We agreed on a trip to a lovely resort in St Lucia, a once in a lifetime trip that we enjoyed anticipating almost as much as we enjoyed experiencing. Before we went, the Trustees of YHET had agreed to start some short videos to enhance our blog offering and I agreed that I should do something apart from enjoy myself, whilst I was away. To be fair, there was much to enjoy.

The sequence below was filmed in the yoga pavilion, a beautiful and peaceful open air venue, on the edge of the resort. We did several yoga classes during our stay with a lovely and inspiring teacher called Jill. The hardest part was concentrating on what we were doing rather than watching the birds and butterflies and the sun-bathed palm trees waving in the breeze. A lovely distraction which we don’t often suffer from in Scotland!

The sequence is very simple; cat posture, ancestral worship, dog face down and repeat. The breath is simple too and hopefully it becomes a meditative sequence as well as a physical one. Breathing is as follows:

• Breath In – Cat pose: lift head, drop tummy, lift buttocks
• Breath Out – Cat pose: drop head, arch spine, tuck buttocks under
• Breath In – Come to flat back position on hands & knees
• Breath Out – Keep hands & knees in same position and bring buttocks towards heels, stretching through arms & shoulders
• Breath In – Come back to hands & knees and tuck toes under
• Breath Out – Lift knees & hips into dog face down
• Breath In – Hold dog face down.
• Breath Out – Release to hands & knees ready to start again

As always, work within your own means. If you need to take an extra breath between postures, then do that. If you need to do a gentler version of a posture then work with that. For instance, you may not want to bring the buttocks back to the heels. You may only move part way. It really doesn’t matter, as long as you are careful and continue to focus on your breath so mind and body work together with the breath.

Enjoy!

Sara Matchett, YHET Chair & Trustee

We hope you enjoyed this practice and we invite you to enjoy the extended article available to members under INSIGHTS in the DOWNLOADS section. Not a member? Click here to join us.