Date: Sunday 9th November 2025
Time: 3.30pm – 5.30pm
Venue: The Canvas, 27 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PJ
Cost: £25.00
Pre-booking required via https://www.stmargaretshouse.org.uk/events
The month of November can be a tough one. We can be feeling quite exhausted by the shorter and colder days, and feeling in need of more rest, as nature around us begins to hibernate. This afternoon of gentle yoga and restorative yoga and deep rest is an opportunity to really slow down, take care of yourself and explore practices that soothe and rejuvenate the mind, body and whole nervous system. All blended together to allow all the systems of the body to replenish and our state of mind to quieten.
This workshop will allow us to turn inwards, to rest and connect deeply to our body, breath, and present moment sensations. Dedicating some extra time away from the ‘things’, phones and life callings can really help heal and allow a feeling of a deep reset that is often needed as winter drains our resources.
Our mind can begin to quieten, our body can release deeply held tension and tightness and find more ease and our nervous system can begin to calm down and help us to feel soothed, rested and relaxed.
We’ll begin the afternoon with a series of gentle, grounding, mindful and somatic movements to release stress and tension, allowing energy to flow freely but calmly through the body again.
We will also explore a number of soothing and calming practices, including breath work, mudras and self-massage, before eventually settling into some longer-held restorative poses to soak up some deep rest, and connect to a place of inner calm and stillness.
The afternoon will finish with a grounding and calming yoga nidra (deep yoga sleep) practice. Yoga nidra has been described as “an effortless state of restfulness in the form on a horizontal meditation that takes place just on the threshold of sleep.” (Uma Dinsmore Tuli)
Thirty minutes of yoga nidra is said to be the equivalent of three hours sleep and this practice is deeply nourishing and restorative.
By the end you will feel deeply rested, refreshed and recharged, with renewed energy to move into the rest of the year.
“Stillness is like water
moving deep inside the earth
seeping slowly between rocks
trickling down
in the dark
a tide moving inwards.
Stillness is the space
between breaths
inside heartbeats
the silence of the gathering wave
that never breaks.”Judith Prest
Sogyal Rinpoche, Tibetan Lama
Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the workshop.
