The new year has started, and with it often comes the expectations we place on ourselves, to be healthier, stay fitter and so on. These expectations can be hard to live up to, and can become part of the ongoing process of feeling that we are just not quite ‘doing enough’ to feel happy, and so we feel frustrated with ourselves once more.

Contentment and harmony rarely arise from a feeling of control, they are more linked to a sense of being at one with what is happening to us at any given moment. The basis of mindfulness is to focus on the here and now, and to make the best of this moment. Yoga encourages you to be fully present in the moment by focusing on your breath, and so your body.  When we learn to do this we start to feel calmer, steadier and more balanced, and so we feel happier. Here’s to being in the moment, and to a happy year ahead.

‘You are what you did yesterday, you will be what you do now’ The Buddha