Moving into Winter: A Women’s Yoga Workshop with Kate Lovell

This one’s for the ladies. And why? Because despite the vast number of women practicing yoga, there aren’t many classes that focus purely on the female form, taking into account the constantly changing nature of our bodies and the need to amend our practice according to our monthly cycle to reduce stress.

“I practiced yoga for many years before discovering my first book on yoga and women (at the bottom of a bargain basement pile of books). The only time I heard anyone address the menstrual cycle in a class before that was when teachers excused ‘those on their periods’ from headstands and other inversions. Surely there was more to it?

Over the years, and as I developed deeper awareness of my own internal rhythms and changes, I researched the topic more and soon discovered that I didn’t need to adjust my body to yoga, my yoga needed to adapt to suit me! And not just by eliminating certain poses, but by building a practice that appealed to the feminine energy within me and encouraged me to slow down and listen.

During this workshop, I’d like to share with other women the beauty in taking ownership of your yoga practice to heal yourself and learn more about your body. We’ll look at calming, restorative sequences to practice when menstruating (or when you just need a break!), and explore ways of moving in a more dynamic practice that encourage balancing our hormones and honouring our cycles. We’ll also look at ways of using yoga and meditation to build a healthy and happy body-image that focuses more on what’s happening inside to help you look radiant on the outside.
About Kate: Kate is a regular Yotopia teacher known for her gentle yet invigorating vinyasa-flow yoga classes and welcoming style of teaching. She leads the Beginners Courses and loves introducing people to the practice that changed her life by helping her to love her body, reduce stress and access her movement centre. Inspired to use yoga to heal her body and lessen the symptoms of PMT, she recently completed a Womb Yoga training with Uma Dinsmore Tulli specifically focused on yoga for women at different stages of their lives.