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August 2020 August 2020

with annual flowers as this requires time to prepare the ground for sowing and can
be expensive. A new cutting and collecting regime will be used instead, with YOGA
fewer cuts each year at different times of year. A cut later in summer rather than
spring can provide time for summer flowering plants to set seed. Some plants such
as yellow rattle, which helps to keep tougher grasses down, could be introduced. Most people think that
It is important that any cut material is removed as wildflowers and the more yoga is about contorting
delicate grasses thrive in nutrient poor soils. yourself into weird shapes
and learning to relax.
The Bere Regis Wildlife and Environment Group will carry out a short survey this You definitely do learn
summer to determine the best areas in which to create wildflower verges. how to relax (and most
We will be working with Highways in order to comply with any highway regulations. people in our culture
Road safety is a priority and sightlines will be maintained. really need that), but it
really isn’t about weird

Open Spaces shapes – if it were, the best yogis would be circus performers.
We would like to express Yoga evolved as a theory and practice, as an answer to the perennial questions,
our appreciation to Brian ‘Why do we suffer?’ and ‘What can we do about it?’
May and Tilhill Forestry for
the May’s Wood area. It recognises that we have many different aspects – body, breath, mind,
Now, 7 years on from the emotions, habits, attitudes, principles, beliefs – and that they are all
interconnected, affecting each other. It offers many different ways in which we
original tree planting, a can make life better for ourselves.... that is one of its keys: you do it for yourself,
great diversity of wildlife you don’t have to rely on anyone else... in fact, you HAVE to do it for yourself. As
has evolved and we are such, it is very self-empowering.
told by naturalists that this
is now an exceptional One of the things I love most about it is that it’s practical. It says, if you practise
area. Although primarily this, you will gradually change those habits that aren’t helping you and replace
woodland, there are wide them with better ones, whether the habits are physical (stooping instead of
open rides for visitors to standing upright, for instance), mental (replacing seeing everything in the worst
enjoy as they walk through light, with a more sanguine outlook) or emotional (feeling very anxious, or having
the woodland. The trees very low self-esteem).
are growing rapidly and
scrub is developing which Why should we change our outlook? To decrease suffering... if you always look
supports interesting wildlife. It is fascinating to see how the wood changes over the only at the dark cloud and never at the silver lining, your life will be very joyless.
seasons. The sowing of both annual and perennial wildflowers has created Yoga does not recommend rose-tinted spectacles, but I does say that we should
spectacular shows of colour. We all enjoy walking along the rides through the try and see things as clearly and honestly as possible.
wood and can we remind all dog walkers to pick up and dispose of droppings When people come to see me as a yoga teacher or therapist, we discuss their life
appropriately.
and what they feel they want to change. We evolve a practice – which could be
Bryan Benjafield anything from 5 minutes to 25 minutes, to start with. I write it down and they go
away and do it, ideally every day. This way, various things including their
breathing gradually improve, so that all bodily systems start working better, and
they begin to feel better. Then they come back after a little while and,
depending on how things are going, the practice evolves some more.

If you want to find out more, go to my website, www.sarahryanyoga.co.uk.
Sarah Ryan

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