Birthday Celebration at Nirvana Spa

I celebrated my birthday at Nirvana Spa (www.nirvanaspa.co.uk) with a good friend today. I have to say that this has been a great birthday, I can’t remember the last time I had such a lovely day with so many laughs. A couple of days ago I tweeted on the laughing clubs, parks and yoga in Mumbai and having laughed so much today I feel incredibly happy and free of stress. The coming year will be a happy and joyful 12 months for me.

Returning back to Nirvana Spa, read on for my mini review. The spa now has a heated outside pool with four small jacuzzi pools, as today was such a beautiful day we spend quite a lot of time outside. The option to be outside and enjoy your spa experience is a superb added value particularly when the weather is fine and barney.

Lunch was basic, but seemed so
much better when eating al fresco on the new terrance over looking the outdoor spa area - very civilised.

Inside the spa there are various indoor pools; three swimming pools, one hydrotherapy pool (provides a full body massage if you use all the jets), various cold water plunge pools, one large jacuzzi and two flotation pools. I took the opportunity to have a floatation experience and was so lucky to have the pools to myself, it was heaven and so serene. After 45 minutes of free floating I felt so happy, relaxed and at one with myself. I would thoroughly recommend taking a floatation session, it is a lovely experience.

The staff at Nirvana are nice and friendly, happy to help and assist you.

Nirvana occasionally has membership and spa day offers, so do visit www.nirvanaspa.co.uk for more information. Finally, if you like nspa products then there’s an offer on at the moment available at the spa 6 x 100ml bottled products for £5 - very good value.

This was my second visit to Nirvana and won’t be my last. :-) The only thing I didn’t get chance to do was take the 90 minute yoga class - will do this next time. If you have any questions about Nirvana post them in the comments box below.

Hundreds of blue butterflies - one of nature’s many natural wonders. This picture is so beautiful and serene.

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#Buddha Picture - lovely composition, looks very peaceful.

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Pilates Class

Started back at Pilates tonight - enjoyed the class. Mainly worked on core, bum and arms. Still have slightly sore muscles from this weekend’s yoga sessions, but feeling positive and motivated to continue my gentle exercise routine to help enable healing of my body.

Now need to get into the routine of self yoga and Pilates practice at home -I should set aside time to do this when not attending classes.

Night night all and om shanti.

 What goes around comes back around…

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Yoga Day with Sheila Haswell, Sarva Iyengar - 6 August 2011

I have been aware of the Sarva Iyengar Institute for some time, but have never been quite ready to visit or part takes in a class there. So, having returned from a yoga retreat last weekend (which I have yet to write a review - watch this space) I found a renewed enthusiasm for my yoga practice and happiness within. On my return from the retreat last weekend I started searching for more yoga retreats and then found Sarva Iyengar popping up in the search results. There was a yoga day at the institute on 6 August, at a reasonable price of £35 for non members - so, I decided to book. In the past I have done Iyengar yoga and have found the classes to be quick strict and slow unlike vinyasa flow yoga, but as I’m recovering from an injury I didn’t want an aerobic class and I do feel I need to practice technique. The normal yoga classes I sometimes attend at my local gym don’t have teachers who actively go round the class and adjust students into the correct asanas; it is more about an exercise routine than gaining a perfect posture to help with meditation practice.

I found Sheila Haswell to be very approachable, not your typical yoga teacher. And yes, she was stricter than your normal gym yoga instructor, but she has dedicated all her adult life to yoga with over 30 years of experience and this dedication shows in her attention to all students in her classes. The day was full of mixed ability from teachers to trainees to students, which I was one of 40 plus people attending. However, Sheila still managed to personally adjust and aid everyone’s asanas. This attention to students is often lacking by some teachers, who don’t take the time to assist their students practice. The day was full on with the morning mainly focused on standing postures, we then moved onto inversions and then to back bends.

Although, the yoga day was hard work I found myself inspired by Sheila’s attention to her students and have decided to take remedial yoga classes with her to help heal my neck and shoulder injury.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit High Wycombe, I would thoroughly recommend that you attend one of Sheila’s classes you will definitely benefit from her dedicated hands on teaching style. Without the close eye of a teacher watching and adjusting your asanas, you will never quite get the true benefits from your yoga practice.

Today I feel slightly sore in my shoulders and legs from yesterday’s practice, but this is only because for several years my body has got used to practicing my asanas in a lazy manner. My top takeover tip from the day is to lift my knee caps and pull my leg muscles up particularly in the standing postures. Just doing this simple technique has had an effect on my normal posture, I’m now more aware of my leg muscles and actively now activate my knee caps.

Thanks Sheila you are an inspiration.

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Om shanti! = Peace be with you!