After a busy morning, our latest yoga session was just what we needed! 😊 🧘 We stretched out on our mats. 💪 We did gentle movements to stretch our: 🦵 Legs 💙 Back 💪 Arms 🌿 We also enjoyed some mindfulness and relaxation. It helped us feel calm, happy, and refreshed. 🕊️
✨ The benefits of yoga: 💙 Helps us relax. 😊 Reduces stress and worries. 💪 Improves strength and balance. 🤸 Helps with flexibility. 🧠 Supports our mental wellbeing. 🤝 Gives us time to connect with friends.
👏 A big thank you to Lisa for another fantastic session. We always look forward to yoga, and our next, and unfortunately final session, will be on Tuesday 21st July at Fleur-de-lis Community Centre.
Yesterday afternoon our members enjoyed a relaxing yoga session outdoors in the fresh air. ☀️💚 We started by using bubbles for breathing exercises, helping everyone to slow down, focus, and relax. 😌
Being outside allowed us to connect with nature as we enjoyed some mindfulness activities, listening carefully to the birds singing 🐦 and the gentle breeze through the trees. 🍃 Gethin invited members to choose yoga pose cards, and everyone had a turn taking part in a variety of stretches and poses. 🧘♀️🧘♂️⭐
Sessions like these are a great way to support wellbeing, reduce stress, build confidence, and spend timetime together with friends. 💙 A big thank you to everyone who joined us today. We hope you left feeling calm, refreshed, and smiling! 😊✨
🌿☔🧘♀️ What a busy, fun-packed day for our members at Caerphilly People First at this week’s Tuesday Reconnect session! 🧘♂️☔🌿 Our day started with a visit to the beautiful TARAGGAN Educational Gardens. Unfortunately, the rain showers had other plans, so our gardening session was cut a little short. We still managed to get some weeding done before heading back to the office! 🌱🌼 Back at the office, there was plenty of fun with games of 🎱 pool and 🎯 darts before lunchtime.
In the afternoon, it was time for our fantastic yoga session with the wonderful Lisa! 🧘♀️💜 At this session we practised breathing exercises using colourful chiffon scarves ✨ Enjoyed gentle stretches ✨ Picked letter cards with different yoga poses ✨ Tried Warrior poses, Tree pose, Sitting Baby and many more ✨ Had lots of laughs, including some fantastic dance moves from the lovely and hilarious Paula 💃😂 ✨ Finished with relaxing music, mindfulness, and yes… a little bit of snoring! 😴🤣
These sessions are so important to our members. Feedback tells us that yoga helps reduce anxiety, improves wellbeing, boosts confidence, and gives people techniques they can use at home whenever they need them. ❤️ Many members tell us they regularly practise their breathing exercises and favourite poses between sessions. A huge thank you to Lisa for another amazing session filled with relaxation, laughter, friendship, and fun. 🌟 We can’t wait to do it all again next week! 🥰
Yesterday, at our Stretch, Connect and Belong yoga session we took things nice and easy due to the heat ☀️🧘♀️ We enjoyed some gentle stretches, relaxation and mindfulness together. Everyone had a turn smelling different relaxing scents and talking about how they made us feel 🌸🍋💜 It was lovely hearing everyone’s thoughts and favourites!
We also had some new faces join us today which was so lovely to see 👋❤️ We finished the session with relaxing music and a calming story during our relaxation time 🎶📖 Thank you everyone for another lovely afternoon. See you all next week❤️
Another fantastic yoga session yesterday with the lovely Lisa! We got creative and made mindfulness pockets filled with flowers, leaves, and lavender. The room smelled amazing! We stretched it out with some Chair Yoga poses, then ended the session on a relaxing note by laying on the floor with our legs over the chair while listening to calming music. Breathing exercises helped us unwind and feel at peace. We’re already looking forward to more yoga magic with Lisa in August and September after the summer break! Thank you, Lisa, for guiding us on this wonderful yoga journey!
Another fantastic Chair Yoga session with the lovely Lisa yesterday! As well as our usual attendees, we welcomed Ben, a new member to the group. The main activity today involved members rolling dice to decide which yoga poses the group would do. The poses we did included:
Tree pose Butterfly pose Warrior Pose Half-moon pose Plank
As usual we finished the session with relaxing music (and even Gethin was quiet!). It was lovely to stretch our muscles and spend an hour feeling relaxed and calm. Next week’s Chair Yoga session will be held on Wednesday rather than Tuesday, so we hope to see you all then!
Another brilliant Chair Yoga session yesterday! Kirsty said she loved everything about it – and we all agree!
Here’s what we got up to:
We made calming breathing aids using pipe cleaners and beads – perfect for when we’re feeling anxious. We used ribbons on wands for some gentle arm and shoulder stretches. Enjoyed some lovely chair yoga movements and stretches. A few of us even got down on the floor for some extra poses!
We ended the session with relaxing music to help us wind down. Lisa will be back with us in three weeks – and we can’t wait!
This afternoon, we had a wonderful Chair Yoga session with the amazing Lisa Harwood from EchoYoga! We explored the power of sound and vibration using singing bowls – special bowls that create deep, soothing sounds when played. Some members even balanced them on their bodies to feel the vibrations travel through them!
We also enjoyed some gentle chair stretches and yoga poses, helping us improve flexibility, strength, and relaxation. To end the session, we closed our eyes, took deep breaths, and embraced a moment of calm and mindfulness with peaceful music. A big thank you to Lisa for another fantastic session – we can’t wait for the next one!
Yesterday saw the final mindfulness session with Dr Andrew Lewis at Libanus Lifestyle. Over the past six sessions, we have practised how to calm the body and mind, the body scan, living in the moment, mindful eating, and for our final session, mindful walking.
Mindful walking is the practice of becoming aware of your surroundings and how your body and mind feel while moving. How do you practice mindfulness when walking? Walk at a natural pace. With each step, pay attention to the lifting and falling of your foot. Notice movement in your legs and the rest of your body. Whatever else captures your attention, come back to the sensation of walking. Members and volunteers have enjoyed every session – especially mindful eating with chocolate – and are practising mindfulness often. Thank you Dr Andrew Lewis for everything.
Thank you, Dr Andrew Lewis, for our mindfulness session this week, where we learned about mindful eating. Chocolate meditation is a form of mindfulness meditation where a piece of chocolate is used as a focal point for all the senses. You hear the wrapper and smell, feel, see, and taste the chocolate as part of the practice. Mindfulness meditation trains the mind to focus and stay in the present. Of course, we all enjoyed the chocolate! In two weeks’ time, we are looking forward to a walking mindfulness session.
