Let’s face it, the more we live our lives the more realise there’s work to be done! As we gain a bit of maturity and insight we become increasingly aware of the noisy mind and how getting caught up in the thoughts and narratives it endlessly produces might be holding us back from living our best lives, free from unnecessary additional stress. We read articles and books, we listen to podcasts, we go to yoga, and of course this all helps. But did you ever have that niggling feeling that a deep-dive into a committed learning journey of self discovery is really what is required?

“Befriending one's mind through formal meditation practice can be thought of as a radical act of love, sanity, wisdom, and healing,” Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Having undertaken a Masters of Science in Mindfulness Based Interventions I am qualified to teach what would be considered the Gold Standard in Meditation Courses, The 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course. I have taught several of these courses in the past and due to extensive travel over the last two years I postponed teaching courses as they need to run for 8 consecutive weeks for maximum benefits. And now I have the luxury of having time back to run a new course. Start date is Wednesday October 1st 2025 to begin a course to take us through October and November. Venue will be Mutton Lane Yoga Studio with it’s wood-burning stove, outdoor heated seating area and deck in nature.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an eight-week evidence-based program that offers intensive training to assist people with developing a personal meditation practice and to embody greater awareness. Developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the 1970s by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, MBSR uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and exploration of patterns of behaviour, thinking, feeling and action. Mindfulness can be understood as the non-judgmental acceptance and investigation of present experience in order to reduce stress and to increase well-being.

The benefits of mindfulness include decreased stress, enhanced ability to deal with illness, facilitation of recovery, decreased depressive symptoms, improved general health and well-being, improved communication, sleep, the list goes on. The 8-week MBSR course is an immersive dive into the foundations and applications of mindfulness, and it’s role in stress reduction and in living a rich, full, meaningful life. 

To discover and experience mindfulness an intense immersion over 8 weeks is recommended. One class, once a week, of 2.5 hours, and home practice of 35-45 minutes a day, six days out of seven. There is a day-long retreat in the middle. Studies show this is enough to create enduring change on the brain and the brain’s patterns. These changes persist beyond the 8-week course, especially if you keep your practice up, even in some small way. The cost of the course is €350 which includes your extensive manual and your day-retreat in the middle.

The sessions are interesting, alive with practices, mostly done seated in chairs. There is a lot of emphasis on actually practicing together… seated meditations, lying down guided body scans and mindful movement (similar to gentle yoga). Home practice is a key part. Together with the teacher, before you sign up for the course, you decide if it is a good fit for you and the right time in your life to undertake such a commitment.

Some comments from previous course participants:

“I really enjoyed the whole course, Sylvia is a really engaging teacher. I learnt so much about myself.” 

“I feel so much more aware of my mood and my energy levels since doing the course.”

“Highly recommend for stress reduction, my sleep has also improved”. 

Let’s plant these seeds of thought and keep this conversation flowing over the coming weeks of the summer so we emerge in the Autumn ready, maybe ready for something brand new, something radical. I am here for any questions at all; I welcome your doubts, fears, hopes and dreams! More details with booking links here.

Dear Yoga Friends, 

Breath-work is everywhere! It seems that science is catching up with yoga in so many ways and how we breathe is being explored amongst many modalities, not least as a tool to calm the nervous system and help us live our lives with ease and vitality. However, the suggestions we hear about how we should be breathing can be a bit noisy and confusing, with mixed messages and hyperbolic claims. 

There is no doubt how we breathe has a profound impact on how we are in general, and how we move through life, but really, should it all involve such hard work?!

I like to call it breath-play. In learning about what are the unhelpful patterns of breathing we may have accumulated in life, we can learn how to un-do those patterns to restore a relaxed breath that is easy and efficient. Like yoga, like meditation, a lot of the practice is not about acquiring new tricks or skills, but rather it’s about letting go of the habits we have had in our lives that can keep us stuck. Your own natural breath should feel comfortable and familiar. This might take a little while to discover if you’ve been breathing in a tense, rushed way, which many of us have a tendency to do. I invite you to be patient, be playful, and be curious. 

In yoga we get curious about the breath, we get playful with it, we discover something about ourselves, and we learn how to choose wiser courses of action. The goal is to live a life of ease and peace, regardless of the external circumstances. And, let’s face it, external circumstances can be challenging to say the least. Do you know they say it’s impossible to be a functioning human in today’s world and not be stressed. No wonder we can be breathing away every day and doing it “wrong”. 

Where do we go wrong? For simplicity I like to have us explore the two main ways. One, we can breathe in a rushed, stressed way. In our busy world many of us are used to doing things quickly, always thinking about the next thing we have to do. No wonder, since the age of 4-ish, or younger, our poor parents encouraged us to hurry along to accomplish all we had to do to get along in life. “Dont be late for school”, “don’t dilly-dally”, “hurry up” - who doesn’t feel a knot in their tummy when they reflect on the sheer terror of being late for a strict teacher or principle, and the punishment that might follow. Who amongst us doesn’t know that feeling of waking up in a panic, starting our day hitting the ground running. A healthy breath is a slow breath. Slow and smooth and so relaxed and un-rushed it is silent to us. 

Speaking of that knot in our tummies, the second way we can get in the way of our own natural un-rushed healthy breathing is by carrying tension in the body. Tension anywhere results in muscle tightness everywhere. Poor posture and lack of exercise can result in muscles in the torso being weak and tight and under-used. Holding onto that knot of tension inside can lead to our diaphragm being stiff and restricted. Our diaphragm should be fluid and relaxed like a jellyfish, in fact it’s shape is not unlike a large flat jellyfish, think of a large sheet of muscle from the bottom of the ribs at the front to the bottom of the ribs at the back. The diaphragm moves up and down inside us, in the watery space of the inner body, as we breathe. The intercostal muscles between the ribs gently expand and contract as we breathe. In this watery spaciousness inside we might learn to become aware of relaxation all the way down into the base of the body, the pelvic floor. We might learn to notice that the other places we could hold tension in the body, for example the jaw, or tension in the shoulders, or gripping in the area of the root of the tongue. These tense areas we learn to recognize, with patience and curiosity, should ideally feel spacious, relaxed and fluid all the time. 

With that in mind I invite you to come with me on a short breathing practice, just as you are right now. Settle the body in a comfortable position. Notice the body as a whole, like a big temple, maybe notice your posture or the expression on your face. The idea is to be spacious, relaxed and open as best you can. Ideally we are breathing in and out through the nose all of the time. For the practice, in daily life, in sleep and even in exercise; as best you can nose breathing all the time. Notice where you are noticing the sensations of breathing, maybe the air in your nostrils, or the rise and fall of the chest, or the expansion of the rib cage as you breathe in, or a soft rise and fall in your tummy area. Let’s see if we can notice this breathing sensation while also noticing the spacious container of the body as a whole. Let’s start with an out-breath, an exhale, and keep our attention on the sensations of breathing from the start of the exhale all the way for that half-breath cycle until the very end when the breath is all gone and the new inhale naturally begins. Let’s repeat that as we inhale. And so on. When the mind wanders, which it will, simply begin again at the start of an in-breath, or an out-breath, and see if you can stay attentive to the sensation of breathing for the entire half-breath cycle. And maybe the next one after that again. 

There is no hurry as we breathe. We remain aware of the soft space of the body as a whole, we might need to re-relax something like the jaw, or the hands, or the root of the tongue as we go along. A useful breath-play as we get settled into the practice is to extend the out-breath, the exhale, to make it a little bit longer. We could do this using a count (eg. breathe in for a count of 3 and out for a count of 4) or we could just breathe out a little bit more or a little bit slower each time we find ourselves breathing out. Another breath-play is to pause that moment when the breath is all gone for a silent count of one. This helps us slow down the breathing pattern - remember, this is one of our goals. It’s also immediately calming for the nervous system which relaxes the body as a whole, the second one of our goals. 

After a little bit of breath-play (you decide… a few rounds of breathing, ten minutes, longer?) see if you can settle into your natural pattern of simple, un-rushed, spacious breathing. Soft and gentle. Relaxed and complete. A sense of the body as a whole as being a strong, receptive container for this easeful breathing. The body as a whole relaxed, spacious and receptive. The natural breath easy and soft, so quiet it’s whispering. 

Dear Yoga Friends, 

We learn more than how to do the pose in our yoga classes. We learn how to find refuge in the safe space of our yoga mats so they can be like a little life-boat in the turbulent waters of life. We learn the etiquette of being in the yoga space, when to be quiet, how to sit patiently. We learn how to lose our usual expectations, and how to open to curiosity about what will unfold during the class, each one so similar and yet so different. What I am learning, over and over again, is the value this brings to the times in life we travel. Travel outside your comfort zone and go to yoga somewhere else, if possible, far far away from home. 

I’ve recently spent time in London and I get it. I get London! In my youth half of Ireland emigrated to London and the other half emigrated to New York. A loyal New Yorker, I always thought of London as being a bit noisy and dirty. And of course it is! Like all of the great cities. But it’s also cool and quirky and full of character, full of friendliness and full of love. Did you know they say thank you to the bus drivers in London, same as we do in Dublin? And the bus drivers will pull back in after pulling away from a stop for a lady running madly towards the bus with her child gripped in her hand. London, I get you!

The yoga studios are gorgeous. No more than our own, each studio oozes uniqueness and friendliness and that soft, cool ambience only the yogis can pull off. Music that is mellow and edgy at the same time. Clothing that is comfortable and luxurious. Professional and safe, and yet so welcoming and homely. Tri-yoga in Camden, I am your fan. The Green Room in Mussel Hill, I am your fan. Hotpod in Notting Hill, I have a date with you next time! 

We go abroad and we eat and drink, we walk and shop and look around, and we do all the stuff tourists do. Travel and be like a local. Get sweaty, and lie down, and have a cry or a little sleep if you feel like it. They’ll have a yoga mat for you, you can borrow a towel if you need one. They’ll lend you a locker key, they’ll tell you the best place for coffee after, they’ll point you to your bus or your tube or your Uber, or to the rest of your life. You can have a bit of chat and banter after class, or you can go quietly about the rest of your day, nobody minds, you can be exactly as you are. You don’t have to be there person you are with your family, with your friends, as a tourist. In yoga you can be exactly as you are. 

Don’t under-estimate how capable and brave you are, yoga friends. Don’t under-estimate what you have learnt and absorbed for all those hours you have put into your practice. Don’t under-estimate the exhilaration that comes from stepping outside your comfort zone. Go to yoga the next time you travel, pack your yoga pants and a vest in your suitcase, tell your travel companions you’ll see them later. 

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”. Helen Keller. 

Sylvia is teaching a yoga retreat in the beautiful Burren Yoga Centre October 3rd to 5th 2025. Mini-retreats and workshops are in Mutton Lane Yoga Studio in the Dublin Mountains. Community Classes have spaces for course participants and drop ins. Outdoor yoga in Marlay Park resumes Spring/Summer 2025. All upcoming events and classes are listed here. 

This blog is an updated version of one originally posted in 2018. Yes there have been some changes!

1. Find your venue, a local hall, community centre, school or office. Be brave and go walk-about and knock on doors and ask. Have your courses inclusive, affordable and welcoming.

2. Create your professional presence in person and online. Authenticity is key, don’t show off, there’s no need; nobody cares if your handstand is perfect! But do have some fun and express yourself. Try to aim for few words, clear information and pretty imagery. Share a little about yourself but you don’t need to share much if you don’t want to.

3. Find out where on social media your audience hang out, for me it is Instagram and Facebook. Possibly Tiktock but I don’t really have the energy to spend much time there. I am largely ignored on Twitter and Linkedin but Linkedin could be a great place to promote your classes if you spend time engaging there. Above all act with integrity in everything you do. Every time you put yourself out there shine out your best self. Your job as a yoga teacher is to spread kindness and help to teach the world to relax!

4. Keep your prices affordable, cheaper than the studios. Structure a course. 4 weeks or 6 weeks. We love structure, we love commitment. Offer a small discount, eg. 6 weeks €55 or €10 per class to drop in. 

5. If you are lucky enough to secure a local communtiy centre or school hall posters in your local area can be great. Design them yourself on Canva and print in a local print shop.

6. Put a portable sign outside the venue. A blackboard is gorgeous if you are good at art. 

7. Special offer promotions, e.g. bring a friend for a fiver. 

8. E mail often. Request e mail addresses from every drop in and e mail them weekly to remind them class is coming up. Remind them how amazing they will feel afterwards!

Find out more about Sylvia’s classes on the events and workshops page or sign up for her newsletter on her home page. Pre-recorded classes are available to you any time, you purchase once and own forever. If you’re new to Sylvia or back to yoga after a break we suggest Hatha Yoga to start. Bundles include the Zen Collection, a variety of classes for every mood, and the Daily Collection, five half-hour daily practices. Please inquire about Mindfulness in the workplace.

Join Sylvia Ferguson and Dr. Eva Orsmond for a supportive 6-week programme.

The Mindful Eating Solution is an online or in-person expert-led programme created by Dr. Eva Orsmond, a specialist in weight management and diabetes reversal, and Sylvia Ferguson, who has 25 years experience as a yoga teacher and holds a Masters of Science in Mindfulness Based Interventions.

What is included:

• Lifestyle assessment with a nutritionist from Dr. Eva’s team to evaluate your current habits and needs

• Personalised diet plan tailored to your goals and lifestyle

• Five additional in-person or online follow-up consultations with a nutritionist for guidance and support

• Six weekly Zoom sessions consecutive Tuesdays, 7.30pm-8.15pm, beginning March 18th. A recording will be available of the main practice and some of the discussion, however real-time attendance is a highly beneficial aspect of attending the course. 

• Practical exercised and resources to implement mindful eating techniques into your daily routine

• Guided mindfulness meditations  

"Losing weight is hard. 

Being overweight is hard. 

Choose your hard."

Cost: 

€420 payable to Dr. Eva’s Clinics

 01 2827500 info@drevasclinics.ie www.drevasclinics.ie

Sylvia Ferguson is a yoga teacher of 25 years and has a Masters of Science in Mindfulness Based Interventions. She has worked with Dr. Eva Orsmond for the last two years creating and running health retreats in The Algarve and is a co-host on Eva’s radio show, Dr. Eva’s Life in Balance. 

Dear Yoga Friends,

Don’t you love it when science catches up and confirms what we intuitively know, Yoga Nidra is a game changer!

Dr. Andrew Huberman is my favourite scientist, maybe not the world’s, but pretty close as he is host of the Huberman Lab Podcast, frequently ranked the #1 Health Podcast in the world. In 2022 he coined the phrase, NSDR or non-sleep deep rest and when you hear him talk about it you will also hear him mention Yoga Nidra in the same sentence. He is a huge proponent of both.

Non-sleep deep rest, or NSDR, is an umbrella term for a variety of practices that guide your brain and body into a state of deep relaxation without falling asleep completely.

Practicing NSDR for 10-30 minutes offers many advantages to your mind and body. Scientifically proven benefits of NSDR include:

Enhanced memory retention

Boosted neuroplasticity, aiding learning

Stress relief

Improved cognitive function, focus, and mental clarity

Enhanced sleep quality

Potential assistance in pain management

In week 4 of all courses we explore Yoga Nidra for half the class after having moved and stretched the body through a full range of motion yoga flow. You can also practice it any time at home.

Yoga Nidra is the powerful technique from the Tantra Yoga tradition. In yoga language it allows you to relax and heal your entire being, expand your imagination, enter the realm of subconscious and superconscious being, and assist in reaching a state, called by some, of enlightenment, Samadhi or Nirvana. 

No wonder the ancient yogic practice was kept secret by the Indian Yogis, potentially for centuries, until the 1960’s when it was introduced to western students by Parmahansa Satyanada Sarawasti.

The ability to remain fully awake and aware is not only accessible to advanced practitioners, but it can occur spontaneously the first time. Referred to by some as a state of trance, lucid dreaming or an altered state of consciousness, Yoga Nidra is an extremely safe practice, yet may evoke some deep seated emotions. It is quite possibly the easiest of yogic practices to follow with the minimum of effort. There is no way to do the practice ‘wrong’; you simply listen without trying too hard.  

It’s perfect for beginners, even the very restless ones. It’s an ideal practice for someone who is fairly new to yoga as it adds a whole new dimension to savasana (corpse pose for relaxation); experienced yogis tend to love it!

Yoga Nidra, sleep of the Yogi, ideally takes place in savasana, lying comfortably on a yoga mat on the floor or on a couch or a bed. Getting very comfortable in savasana is one of the key benefits of the practice. For absolute beginners to yoga this may be the most profound experience, the ability to relax at will, the ability to surrender the physical body and allow it to be fully supported and held by the earth beneath. Often beginners find, despite never reaching a state of ‘switching off’ from the busy thoughts of the mind, they cultivate the ability to be still, to be comfortable with whatever arises in thoughts, feelings and sensations. Yoga Nidra is often, for this reason, hailed as an aid to falling asleep. Falling asleep during the practice, particularly in the beginning, is very common. Even if you do fall asleep you will receive peripheral benefits as your subconscious mind remains aware of everything that you take in. In the ultimate Yoga Nidra experience, however, the mind is fully awake and aware and yet fully asleep (even while snoring audibly!)

In the stillness of savasana my voice guides your consciousness on a tour of the whole body in a structured fashion, the rotation of awareness. During the rotation of awareness you visualise the body part mentioned without moving it, you are literally shifting awareness. This stage of the practice is conducive to detachment from the external world, pratyahara. Concentrating on a single body part focuses the attention rigorously on one point. Prolonged concentration, dhyana, saturates the mind until it permeates to the source of existence, then the intellectual and conscious energy dissolve into the seat of the soul. It is then that samadhi, when you lose the sense of your separate existence, is attained. Awareness of nothing else remains except the core of one’s being, the soul.

After rotation of the consciousness focusing the attention on the act of breathing completes physical relaxation. My voice guides you through breath awareness techniques. Often at this stage of the practice practitioners report they drift in and out of conscious hearing, some are well and truly asleep. 

The final state of Yoga Nidra relates to mental relaxation. You will try to visualise a series of objects as described by me This aspect of the practice helps to develop self-awareness, faculties of imagination, and instinctual reactions to concepts within the deepest part of the psyche. The experience can be quieting and calming, yet fascinating and exhilarating.

Towards the end of the practice you will be guided back to awareness of the breath, awareness of the floor beneath you and will gradually guide your attention back to the present moment. 

For all practitioners there is a sense that Yoga Nidra is place on an ongoing journey towards the liberation of the self, a journey of observing the experience of releasing, of expansion, of resting in stillness, quietness and peace. In other words, as you drop through all the layers of your outer self, seeing everything on the way down, you become aware of all those layers themselves. This awareness can be brought back on returning to normal waking consciousness. You are gifted a sense of space within yourself, a sense of time and a consciousness needed to help choose what to say, how to respond, what direction to go in, in each moment. Witnessing and sensing physical release as the body sheds layer after layer of tension and holding is one of the most blissful yet practical aspects of the practice.

You can follow Sylvia’s guided Yoga Nidra by purchasing the audio download here. For those who use Yoga Nidra as an aid to sleeping you can access my audio recording, which just switches off when it's over. €10 for 45 minutes of bliss, you can listen to this audio recording multiple times on any device, it is yours forever!  

Sylvia teaches weekly yoga classes and events and workshops in Dublin, you can sign up for her newsletter on her home page. Pre-recorded classes are available to you any time, you purchase once and own forever. If you’re new to Sylvia or back to yoga after a break we suggest Hatha Yoga to start. Bundles include the Zen Collection, a variety of classes for every mood, and the Daily Collection, five half-hour daily practices.