A wonderful winter weekend

Andy and I spent the weekend in the wilderness that is Carrour. This one-house community is surrounded by the most fantastic scenery and I was utterly over-awed by it all.

There is one train per day and no mobile phone reception. It is the perfect location to retreat and to get away from it all.

We met up with Andy's brother for a traditional Xmas dinner on the Saturday and then went for a very long and cold walk in thick snow.

We left on Sunday with a cosy glow about us: the hospitality at the Hotel really is second to none. For anyone looking for a retreat from the pre-Xmas madness, I strongly recommend a weekend in Carrour. Just make sure that you check the weather forecast before departure - if the weather is bad, you may find you are stuck there for some time!

Wishing everyone a nice, relaxed festive period!

Ro xx

Wild weather

Terrible weather all over Scotland - particularly in the central belt. Apparently parts of Scotland have encountered winds of 150 mph!

All trains to Edinburgh from Dunblane were seriously disrupted. Thankfully, I managed to get a cover teacher for my led class in the form of Stacey Metcalf. It was her first class for the Yoga Room and she did a fantastic job - a huge thank you to her.

I spent the day baking a Christmas cake. This was a huge event in itself - I had no idea it was so involved! After an hour of stirring and beating, I left the batter on the counter in the kitchen. I turned my back for 5 minutes only to discover my naughty little kitten Simbha trying to get his tongue in about it!

Thankfully, the cake was saved and is currently in the oven on a slow bake. I am excitedly anticipating the result - only 5 hours to go!

Hopefully the winds will have settled by tomorrow. I will get cover if I don't make it through. Watch for updates on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Yoga-Room/194036207314364

Ro xx

Another busy weekend

Happy 60th Birthday mum!

I made cupcakes in the shape of a 60 and my little sis created a DVD of her life. My mum was pleased as punch! What a joyous event. It was so lovely to see my my extended family and after so much planning and hard work,we were happy her party went off without a hitch.

It was a busy weekend for us as Andy and I cycled 16 miles on Saturday and went to a gig on Sunday night!

I was grateful to have the night off on Monday and very happy that the wonderful Jo was able to cover my classes for me. It is so lovely to have so many amazing teachers that I can trust to run my classes. Thank you Jo, Yvonne and Gillian!

Ro xx

Another wonderful retreat!

Another wonderful weekend at Stronachlacher!

I am still glowing and would just like to thank everyone for coming along and making it so special.

The food was extra delicious - thank you Layla! Cath worked hard at her treatments with great result! Everyone glided out on Sunday afternoon...

I have to say I was somewhat reluctant to leave and Andy and I stayed on for an extra night luxuriating in the comfort of the 8 bedroom retreat house!

We were very lucky with the weather and for the 1st time the sun shone for the entire weekend. Monday was dense fog, so as we hit the road we weren't so sad to be heading for our cosy cottage.

I have already booked the next retreat weekend. The 24/25/26th March is all confirmed. Book now!

Ro xx

1st wedding anniversary

Andy and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary weekend in the trossachs.

We took my mums camper van to loch lomond and pitched up at a campsite in Arrochar. It rained hard all day Saturday but luckily, I had booked us a lush day luxuriating in the carrick spa. We followed this with a soggy walk in the hills and then a Cosy night in the van.

Sundays weather was even more unsettled so we took a boat trip across loch lomond. I was soaked through and cold to the bone after an hour on deck. You can imagine my joy when Andy revealed to me that he had booked us a night in forest hills hotel - the very place that we were married at one year ago! It was a very special evening. I felt quite emotional being back: it was such a happy day and the memories of came flooding back . I can't believe that it has been a year! Andy and I have had the most wonderful year, I have loved every second of married life and look forward to many more. Sadly, we both forgot our cameras, so I have no pictures to share. I have instead included one from our big day.

A very happy holiday

Andy and I spent a glorious 6 days in the South of France for our holidays.

They were experiencing a heat wave ( 36 degrees + for the duration). It was unbearably hot some days: almost too hot to practice. However, I am so committed to the cause that I did manage two very sweaty full primary series practices in the week.

We stayed at my auntie's villa in Carcasonne for 4 days and then on to Antibes to stay with my lovely friend Felicity. Andy and I laughed a lot and ate a lot and tasted the wine of the region!

I am ready to get back into my routine now. I am heading to the gym and then my studio for a lovely cool practice this afternoon. I have been feeling very cold and grumpy since my return. It is amazing how the sunshine lifts your spirits. I am sure that once I get back to my studio and my wonderful clients, my spirits will soar!

We left our kitties in the capable hands of Auntie Joan and they were very happy to see us. All seemed well on the surface... on closer inspection I found that they has peed all over the kitchen curtains! I have now removed 3 pairs of curtains. These will not be replaced until the little darlings are able to do their toilet outdoors.

I look forward to welcoming you all back tonight....

R xx

A beautiful day

We all met on Saturday for my cousin Hannah's wedding to Josiah Isles in Manchester city.

It was a stunning day and everything went off without a hitch. Andy attracted a lot of attention wearing his kilt and was fending off girls desperate to see whether he is a 'true Scotsman'. Thankfully, no one actually got close enough to find out!

Congratulations to the lovely couple! Wishing them all the best for their lives together.

I am exhausted after a weekend of white water rafting, T in the park and sleeping in a camper van!

I slept very well in my own bed on our return last night I can tell you.

The highlight of the weekend had to be the white water rafting....I am planning the next outdoor adventure already before the weather turns.

I have had to postpone the Yoga Room's 4th birthday party in August due to various reasons. I will be moving it to September ( date tbc) which I am sure will be better for most as you will have had your annual summer holiday. I will keep you posted with regards to date.

Kittens

We have bought two little kitties and are enjoying hours of chaos with them. They have settled in with ease - after some initial anxiety from me that they would miss their mother and siblings.

I am now been pandering to their every whim - I just can't say no to them, they are so cute.

The spring term is drawing to an end and I am up to my eyeballs in bookings; it looks like the summer will be a busy one. I will be having my usual summer party on the 13th August. Pencil it into your diaries. It is now 4 years since I started the Yoga Room and I am excited that so many people are now doing yoga! Long may the success of the studio continue.

Wrist injury

I have had a frustrating couple of weeks due to a wrist injury. I fell on the ice in February and the result has been a touch of tendinitis in my right hand. The full extent of this injury has taken a couple of months to kick in, but now I am unable to put any weight on it at all. I have had to pull right back in my practice and have been advised to do NOTHING.

To keep my fitness levels up I have taken to running and now my left knee is protesting! So, I have decided that I need to use this time wisely and to rest fully instead.

Now that the weather is so nice, Andy and I have been going on lots of lovely long walks in the country - at least I can still do that! We have such beautiful countryside on our doorstep and we have been exploring Perthshire over the past couple of weekends.

My wrist feels a little better today, so I did some practice without the Vinyasa and it felt great to get back on the mat and to get my body moving again.

Fingers crossed for swift healing.

Wrist Injury

I have had a frustrating couple of weeks due to a wrist injury. I fell on the ice in February and the result has been a touch of tendinitis in my right hand. The full extent of this injury has taken a couple of months to kick in, but now I am unable to put any weight on it at all. I have had to pull right back in my practice and have been advised to do NOTHING.

To keep my fitness levels up I have taken to running and now my left knee is protesting! So, I have decided that I need to use this time to rest fully instead.

Now that the weather is so nice, Andy and I have been going on lots of lovely long walks in the country - at least I can still do that! We have such beautiful countryside on our doorstep and we have been exploring Perthshire over the past couple of weekends.

New term

The new tern at the Yoga Room has been as busy as ever and I am excited to see new faces and some old students returning.

I have been enjoying the country life once more after a terrible winter of commuting with cancellations and delays galore! I wrote a letter of complaint to Scotrail and was given a paltry £9.00 for a flood on the line that delayed my journey by 3 hours and cost me £50.00 in a taxi!

I am so happy to see the service settle down and return to normal. I plan to spend next winter in India with Sharath to escape the dark and cold of Scotland and to avoid the terrible travelling conditions.

I am feeling the need for a good Teacher at the moment. I have been practicing on my own for some time now and I need to be inspired. There are only a handful of Teachers that I rate highly and that I have been fortunate enough to study with over the years. Unfortunately, these teachers are all in far - flung corners of the world - perhaps a trip to Hawaii is on the cards!

First signs of Spring

I can't believe that it has been so long since my last blog. I have been so busy - I don't know how people keep up with a daily on-line journal!

I am so glad that the first signs of spring have appeared, I have found this winter to be particularly harsh. This has been largely due to the commute that I have to undertake every day from Dunblane to Edinburgh. This journey takes an hour on a good day, but when the weather is bad, can take up to 3 hours! This has led to untold stress and many letters of complaint to Scotrail!

I still maintain that although it has been difficult, it is 100% worth it. We have a wonderful life in Dunblane, the cottage that we live in is beautiful and we have stunning countryside right on our doorstep. I just hope the commute is a little easier in the spring and I can relax and enjoy the ride.

I am teaching my retreat in Stronachlacher this weekend. I am very much looking forward to 3 days of yoga, massage, nourishing food and lovely long walks. Unusually, I still have space on this one, so if anyone fancies a last minute break in the Trossachs let me know!

The winter term is drawing to an end and there are only 4 weeks to go. I plan to run the Spring term from the 26th March and I already have several bookings, so that is encouraging. The Yoga Room continues to blossom and grow and I am excited to see so many people practicing Ashtanga yoga and to see the physical and mental changes that it has brought to so many peoples lives. Keep up the good work!

After an exhausting 30 hour journey, Andy and I finally touched down on Scottish soil late Saturday night. I was heavily laden with the cold and after 9 hours sitting in Charles De Gaulle Airport was completely wiped out.

That said, our 3 weeks travelling in Thailand was fantastic and well worth the long haul journey. We had plenty of time to lie on the beach and also to see the sights. I was amazed at how easy it is to get around, it is such a relaxed laid back country and the people are so friendly.

My favourite part of the trip was definitely indulging in the wealth of Thai massage that is on offer throughout Thailand. We both enjoyed regular pampering sessions and on days when it was too hot to do my own yoga practice, Thai massage - or 'lazy mans yoga' was a great easy and relaxing option.

Returning to Scotland has been a bit of a shock to the system - mainly due to the fact that I have been so floored with this cold.

I was sorry to miss the first class back on Monday, but was happy to have James on-hand to cover and it was wonderful to get back to it yesterday and to see all of my lovely clients.

A big thank you to my wonderful mother as well who looked after all the admin in my absence. It was so nice to have 3 weeks off and to come back to such a well ordered booking register!

Happy New Year to you all!

Ro xx