Your Yoga Formula for Freedom Is…
Befriend Your Body
with Gentle Movement
You only get one body. It’s time to nurture and accept yourself. Change won’t happen until you welcome it into your life. With yoga, you can find freedom to feel good in your own skin.
You don’t have to be a super flexible size zero to start a yoga practice— Yoga doesn’t discriminate. It is useful for every single person on the planet, big or small, young or old, rich or poor, weak or strong… you can do it.
If you’re struggling with mobility issues, gentle yoga can help you loosen up and relieve pain and tension. For weight loss, yoga gently stimulates the metabolism, builds strength, and alleviates stress in a way that’s sustainable.
You deserve to feel comfortable in your own skin.
Yoga can help you…
- Get in touch with your inner strength and confidence.
- Lose weight and keep it off while nourishing your body and mind.
- Increase your mobility and reduce physical discomfort, aches, and pains.
“Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.”
— Jigar Gor
Why Yoga Is the Best Weight Loss Method Out There
Yoga is better than any pill or diet plan. It’s safe, sustainable, and comes with hundreds of fringe benefits. Yoga balances your metabolism, strengthens the body, reduces cortisol, increases insulin sensitivity, and so much more.
Here are some of the ways yoga helps with weight loss…
- Improves thyroid health
Thyroid hormone is what regulates metabolism and too little can cause weight gain. There are many poses in yoga that stimulate circulation around the thyroid allowing for healthier hormone levels and increased metabolism.
- Low impact exercise
Build strength and stamina minus the struggle and risk of weight training or running. Yoga, particularly Vinyasa flow is a low impact form of movement that gets the blood pumping and burns calories without excessive strain on the joints.
- Reduces stress levels and calms the nervous system
Cortisol, the stress hormone, is linked to weight gain and difficulty losing weight. When the body is under stress, it goes into survival mode and holds onto fat stores like your life depends on it. Lowered cortisol levels makes weight loss far easier. When stress falls away, so does excess weight. Yoga balances the nervous system, which can also reduce the risk of overeating and help you develop awareness for unconscious patterns keeping you from your weight loss goals.
- Increased insulin sensitivity
Research shows that yoga has a direct effect on insulin sensitivity and helps regulate blood glucose levels.
- The body mind connection
Yoga teaches you how to listen and understand the needs of your body. It’s far easier to make healthy choices to give your body what it needs when you feel connected and empowered.
- Sustainable weight loss
Yoga isn’t a quick fix solution or magic pill type of weight loss treatment. It’s a long term method for overall well-being. Fad diets and hardcore exercise regimes aren’t sustainable, but yoga is.
- Improves sleep
Sleep is the most important piece of the weight loss puzzle. When you’re sleep deprived, your body produces more ghrelin, otherwise known as “the hunger hormone”, and cravings for chips and chocolate are impossible to control. Yoga has been shown in numerous studies to help improve sleep quality.
The Top 3 Gentle Yoga Poses to Stimulate
Your Metabolism and Increase Mobility
Befriend Your Body and Lose Weight with This Gentle Yoga Sequence tutorial that will show you many adaptations for each of the poses…
Learn about the benefits and contraindications of the 3 Gentle Yoga poses
Tree pose
Benefits:
- increases balance
- increases focus, memory and concentration
- strengthens the legs
- stretches the inner thighs, groins, chest, and shoulders
- improves posture
- may helps to remedy flat feet
- may be therapeutic for sciatica
Contraindications:
- Recent or chronic knee or hip injury, you may be able to do it with modifications
- Headache – practice when you feel better
- Insomnia – don’t practice before bed
- Low blood pressure – practice at the wall
- High blood pressure: Don’t raise arms overhead
Chair pose
Benefits:
- Strengthens the feet, ankles, knees, legs, hips, glutes, core, back, shoulders and arms
- May help to alleviate lower back and knee pain
- Stretches shoulders and chest
- Stimulates the abdominal organs, diaphragm, and heart
- May reduces flat feet
- Strengthens the mind
- Invigorates and energises
Contraindications:
- acute ankle, knee or shoulder injury – may be ok with modifi
- severe back pain – try this when you feel better
- Headache – practice when you feel better
- Insomnia – don’t practice this before bed
- Low blood pressure – use wall support
Wide legged fold
Benefits:
- lengthens the spinal column
- Stretches the backs of the legs and the back muscles
- May help with fatigue
- Calms the brain
- Relieves mild backache
- May help with mild depression
Contraindications:
- Recent or chronic injury to the legs, hips, back or shoulders – you may need modifications
- Headache/ Migraine – try this when you feel better
- Blood pressure issues – may be ok with the version in the picture
Meet Your Teacher…
Marie Mann, Certified Yoga Teacher and C.H.E.K Practitioner
Hi, I’m Marie and I came to yoga in a roundabout way when I had been unwell with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), an inflammatory condition of the spine and joints for several years.
AS leaves many people completely immobilized by fused joints and extreme chronic pain. I was only 30 at the time of my official diagnosis and terrified of losing my mobility at such a young age.
Yoga amongst other things has helped me thrive despite having this condition. It’s the only reason I was able to recover good movement in my in my lower back and with that return to living a normal life.
I run a yoga studio in Castleford, U.K. where I work with people struggling with mobility issues, chronic pain, arthritis, and many other conditions.
People assume that yoga is only for the young, fit, and flexible, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
If a stroppy and resistant person like me who thought yoga is never going to work for my back can find relief with yoga, so can you.
I’ve helped countless students of all ages go from completely immobile and in severe pain to finding freedom to move, find relief from pain that felt like it would never recede, and experience a sense of connection to their bodies that they never knew was possible.
I’d love to help you too.
Welcome to the Simply Doable Yoga community where everyone is welcome and you’ll be able to do a version of every pose.
Your Journey to Relief Starts Now…
I’ll be popping into your inbox with more information and resources to help you make yoga a part of your life. You deserve to feel at home in your body and I’m here to help you do just that.
Happy Customers
Tina M.
“I can’t give enough praise to Marie for helping me get my health back on track. I had suffered with a bad back and aching joints for years and more recently a chronic back issue. I tried conventional physio which didn’t help me and the doctors pretty much wrote me off. When I signed up with Marie for my first Yoga session my back was so bad I could barely make it to the class – but her encouragement to just try and do what I could, was so supportive and non- judgemental that I kept going and within about 6 weeks I couldn’t believe the difference it had made and even friends and family noticed the change.
I have been doing Yoga for 10 months and have also taken up Pilates & Tai Chi – I just love it – and its enabled me to do so much more in everyday life that I struggled with before because of back and joint pain. Not only do I feel stronger and more flexible, I am pretty much free of the chronic pain I had for almost 2 years. I couldn’t have imagined when I came to that first class, that Yoga would become such an important part of my life and I just wish I had tried this years ago.
Marie has such a great ability to take into account everyone’s individual needs and she picks up on the smallest things that can make such a big difference. She has taught me to understand and listen to my body and given me the knowledge and confidence to feel in control of my health going forward. I would encourage anyone to come to a class or work with Marie to improve their wellbeing.
Thank you Marie for helping me to change my life for the better.”
Julie J.
I’m 51, late to motherhood, not very fit with a list of ailments and past injuries, I work full time with a young family and a disabled parent to take care of.
I initially started with the hope of improving my health and gaining some ‘me’ time, Little did I realise just how much help my body and mind were in great need of! I’m not a trendy bendy typical yogi but after only a few months I started to feel the benefits of attending Marie’s classes and quickly realised the more effort and perseverance you put in, the more you gain from it.
Her classes are welcoming and with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, come as you are and do what you are able to do, Marie is experienced with a wealth of knowledge on all ailments and will guide and help you to find a way, if you are willing to try and to help yourself.
Thanks to Marie and her class, Yoga really has changed my life, not just physically but emotionally and mentally. Because I struggle to attend more than once a week my aim is to home practise every day – not easy to make time for but well worth it when I do. So I signed up for the online practise too.
For me the combination of class and home study works well – I prefer to have them both as I really enjoy attending class.
If I struggle I can email Marie for support or guidance on how to do a pose in a way that works for me personally.
If you’re thinking about it but not sure if it’s for you – come to a taster day or if you’re self conscious about coming to class or find it hard to find the time – try the online practise. We look forward to seeing you on the mat, Namaste, Julie
Nikki A.
Then I discovered Marie’s classes. She makes you feel welcome and makes you realise yoga is for everyone….it doesn’t matter what size or shape you are and it doesn’t matter how many blocks, straps, cushions, etc you use to assist you in poses.
I have a weird back issue which means I cannot do back bends. Marie is always very good about offering me alternative poses to stop me hurting myself. She is very good about finding out about people’s health issues and ensuring they push themselves in a class, but in a way that is not going to hurt them. I feel I have gained a lot from Marie’s classes, not just physically but also mentally”