This month we’re catching up with one of the newest members of the LushTums teaching family, Candy Myhill. Candy has recently completed her Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Training with us and will soon start teaching LushTums classes in Chichester , West Sussex.

Another week, another horror story about local postnatal exercise classes. This week it’s the online group course requiring women to practice burpees and star-jumps just 8 weeks after birth…

My journey that eventually led to me becoming a Lushtums Yoga Instructor, began when I was just in my early 20’s. I was living in London and after a series of attacks in which a knife was held to my throat, I was punched in the face and almost forced into the trunk of a car, I developed terrible anxiety- possibly brought on by post traumatic stress (PTSD). I was afraid to leave the house I thought everyone was going to hurt me. Two things got me through it; cognitive behavioural therapy, and yoga.

LushTums Ipswich is branching out! We have had such a fantastically positive response to what we do in Ipswich, so we are so excited to announce we will soon be bringing our happy, healthy and informative approach to pregnancy and birth to mamas-to-be and their birth partners from all around Suffolk!

Lots of people think yoga is not for them. I often hear people say they like to sweat when they exercise (I always suggest Bikram), or they like to know how many calories they are burning- perhaps they feel that in order for exercise to be beneficial it should be punishing in some way. But I believe the many physical and emotional benefits of yoga can help everyone. And so I ask, shamelessly ripping off John Cleese and Monty Python …

Top Tips for Breastfeeding Success.

Congratulations, you are pregnant! If you are one of the 81% of women who wants to breastfeed, I have tried to condense some key elements and practical ideas of things you can do to help you succeed.Skin to skin as soon as you can after birth You can usually do this no matter what kind of birth you have had- often doctors will let baby stay on your chest after a c-section while they are stitching you up. You can ask that the newborn checks be done a little later so you can enjoy your first golden hour uninterrupted. There are huge benefits of skin to skin including boosting your baby’s immunity, regulating temperature and respiration, creating a secure attachment as well as allowing the baby to initiate feeding. Watch a video of laid back breastfeeding to give you some inspiration

I took my first yoga class when I was 19 years old, but If you’d told me then that I’d be teaching yoga in my thirties I’d have struggled with the idea! My yoga journey has been a very subtle process of undoing, letting go and finding stillness, and it’s shaped my life profoundly. 

What I find most amazing about yoga is that it starts out, at least for me, as being this thing you do for an hour or so, once a week until, at some point, you start to feel something from your practice. I distinctly remember a moment in class when I experienced a feeling of inner space expanding between my shoulders, it felt really extraordinary at the time. For others it might be the feeling of relaxation, the quiet, the feeling of being present, the sense of well-being after class, or simply being able to touch your toes for the first time.