Dear Yoga friends,

After 15 months of consistently teaching yoga online I am taking a break to focus on teaching outdoor yoga and spending time with my elderly Dad. Peter recently had a fall and although his broken bones are healing really well he now requires more care. Despite having Alzheimers he is in top form, the happiest man in the world!, and it is my absolute honour and privilege to be the person adventuring with him this summer. We share a love of nature, doggies and renovating his 200 year old cottage in Wicklow.

Our twice weekly online yoga classes on Zoom will go on pause for June, July and August and we will resume in September. It feels like the end of an era, in a way like ‘war is over’. Many of you have been meeting regularly, a smile and a wave from our bunkers, as we collectively sheltered from the war and survived it, as best we could, in whatever ways we could. I am exceptionally grateful to everyone for the times you have showed up, it has been incredibly grounding and normalising at a time of so much uncertainty and change. Distant friends, please continue to connect on social media and stay in touch with your yoga tribe until we can practice together again.

Local yogis, I have some very exciting news; I have found a great outdoor yoga location for us in the Dublin mountains in Mutton Lane. Our first outdoor yoga class is on Friday 28th May at 10am, you can read more about the event here. Outdoor yoga continues in Orlagh House Wednesday mornings, 10-11am, until June 2nd. Numbers for outdoor events are very limited so bookings are via Eventbrite. I am still awaiting clarity on whether Marlay Park will go ahead on Fridays this summer, I’ll update as soon as I know. I’m hopeful our June workshop on Saturday 19th at 10am will go ahead in Mutton Lane!

Over the summer I will be continuing with my dedication to my practice and reading required for the Masters in Mindfulness I am studying in UCD. As I have shared with you all, many times, it can be a struggle for me to keep up with my daily seated meditation practices but I always feel better afterwards and I increasingly find small changes creeping in as a result. I will continue to cheer you on silently in encouraging you to tip into a little practice regularly, maybe a morning stretch and breathe, maybe committing to your ten minute seated daily practice for the summer. My Daily Collection consists of 5 daily 30 minute yoga practices you can repeat over and over again at home. I’ll stay in touch with you all with the occasional newsletter and my social media posts, you’ll see more doggies and ice creams and beaches than yoga mats this summer.

As always, huge thanks from me and Jasper for joining our little yoga space. I'm looking forward so much to seeing some of you in the open air and some of you back on the mat on the other side of summer!

Kindest regards,

Sylvia.

sylviayoga.com

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Updated June 2025

Dear Yoga Friends,

This tells you everything you need to know about attending your yoga class in Mutton Lane Yoga Studio. The most important thing is to note the Eircode which you will receive upon booking and to note the gate code which will allow you to access the property.

Mutton Lane is in Tibradden, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. 10 minutes from the Firhouse/Knocklyon exit of the M50, 2 minutes drive from the Merry Ploughboy Pub, it’s on the same road as Hazel House Cafe. The Eircode brings you straight to the gate.

The yoga studio is located inside a private property on Mutton Lane in the Dublin Mountains, a little haven of nature, peace and tranquillity. Mutton Lane Yoga Studio is a purpose-built studio with a stunning spacious deck. We practice both outdoors and inside. Completely separate from the houses sharing the property the studio has its own entrance, a separate brand new spotlessly clean toilet and a small heated outdoor seating area. Our studio has a wood-burning stove; we often practice in firelight. When you enter the property you following the signage for the studio, turning right to go the parking area.

We have a large, spacious deck, surrounded by nature where we often begin the class. In Winter and on colder days we remain fully dressed in shoes and coats for a standing sequence. We then make our way into the warm, cosy, well ventilated yoga studio for the rest of the practice. Please bring plenty of warm, cosy layers. Please bring your own mat and a small folded blanket to sit on or to throw over you for final relaxation. Shoes suitable for the deck, runners or flip flops are great. A raincoat you can move freely in for mindful movement can be helpful on unpredictable days (most days!)

All yoga poses are suitable for all levels, please chat to me at the beginning if you have any concerns. Every movement I suggest is optional and I give plenty of choices for all levels. It’s always fine to do your own thing on the mat.

Events in Mutton Lane Yoga Studio include monthly Saturday morning workshops, two hours from 10am to 12noon and monthly Full Moon meditations, on the day or very close to the day of the Full Moon, 7-8pm. All of these are listed on Eventbrite or on the events and workshops page of the website. Sylvia will be running an 8-week MBSR course in October/November in Mutton Lane.

Often, after our Saturday morning workshops, we sit outside in the heated seating area for a cuppa. Please join us!

Cancellation policy: Cancellations made less than 72 hours before the workshop/event starts will not be refunded (but please check with me and I will do my best to accommodate you another time in lieu.)

Directions: Mutton Lane Yoga Studio is the first property on the right as you enter Mutton Lane. Please use the Eircode D16WV10. The address is: Grasslands, Mutton Lane, Tibradden, Dublin 16. To keep informed please sign up for the newsletter on the homepage of the website.

Thank you so much for your interest in attending yoga in Mutton Lane, I can’t wait to welcome you to our little haven of nature, peace and tranquillity.

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If you are considering attending Outdoor Yoga with me in Dublin I consider you a Yoga Warrior … courageous, curious, and ready to embrace whatever unpredictable adventure Irish weather will unleash on you! Remember, there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad preparation.

Of course we all love a sunny day with clear blue skies, and it often is. However our experiences of outdoor yoga are just as rich and meaningful when it’s dull or raining. As we know only too well with Irish weather we could easily have both climates in the same hour and it’s often hard to predict. Here are some things you can do to prepare to be comfortable and well prepared for your experience.

• Prepare for all weathers. Bring warm removable layers. I suggest a vest, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a coat you can move in, a hat for sun, a hat for cold, shoes for rain, warm socks, your yoga mat, a small folded blanket (to sit on or throw over you), water and sunblock.

• I suggest arriving around 10 minutes early so you are relaxed and ready to enjoy the whole experience from the moment you enter the space where yoga is held. Of course it’s no problem if you find yourself running late, just join us when you can. The most important thing is your relaxation; it’s extra special if you can begin to experience it from the moment you arrive in your haven!

• I will adapt the class to suit the weather. My intention is to bring your body through it’s full range of motion for a big tension-releasing stretch everywhere! If it’s cold and wet we may just do this standing and then head off on our silent, mindful, tree-lined walk: forest-bathing. If it’s dry and/or sunny we’ll enjoy our movement on the mat. I feel we can all benefit from plenty of movement while soaking our senses in present-moment awareness and I have loads of creative ways to do both, whatever the weather!

• I teach classic hatha yoga with a dose of playfulness. All yoga poses are suitable for all levels, please chat to me at the beginning if you have any concerns. Every movement I suggest is options and I give plenty of options for all levels. It’s always fine to do your own thing on the mat!

• I teach mindfulness meditation as we practice. I’m currently studying a Masters of Science in Mindfulness based interventions in UCD and will teach you the skills of developing a mindfulness practice of your own.

• Please let me know if you have any feedback, any questions or any suggestions. We’ll be doing this together for some time to come, I hope! You are a valued member of our outdoor yoga community and I intend continuing to adapt and get creative as required.

• Please note the events go ahead in the case of cold weather or light rain. In the case where the event does not take place due to really bad weather conditions a full refund will be issued.

• We have a whatsapp group for each venue which has the location, the link for tickets and any relevant information for directions or parking. We also use it to communicate on the day and to share photos afterwards.

• Yoga in Orlagh House takes place on Wednesday mornings 10-11am until June 2nd. Individual event booking is via Eventbrite. You can join our Orlagh House whatsapp group here.

• Yoga in Marlay Park will resume once we have the go-ahead from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Last year we were there Wednesdays and Fridays, 10-11am, all summer long. You can join our Marlay Park whatsapp group here.
  

Hope to see you in our little slices of heaven!

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This practice can be done on-the-go, you literally stop in your tracks and gather yourself for a few breaths. It can be done as a stand-alone Mindfulness practice, a few minutes seated, or walking in nature or lying in bed. The process remains the same - we become aware of what is, we gather our awareness to one focal point, we expand the awareness back out to notice the whole body. We ground, we pause, we start again.

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“Mindfulness meditation is the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally”. Jon-Kabat Zinn. Mindfulness is an intimate witnessing. We are having an experience at the same time as we are aware of the experience we are having. During our mindfulness practices we suddenly realise we are caught up in thought. We remember we are doing a mindfulness practice of observing thought. Oops! We bring our attention back to breath and the train of thought dissipates.

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During a time when many of our social connections have come to a halt, and external practices to support employees’ well-being are no longer being offered the workplace, employers are seeking ways to find connections and supportive practices to offer online. Mindfulness meditation classes are typically 30 minutes in duration and structured as part of the working day. At the end of class cameras are turned on and conversations bubble up, but even without this interaction there is a communal energy that comes from sharing meaningful experiences. This energy, this connection, is not limited to in-person experience. Human connections can span time and space. Just think about a phone call or text exchange you've had with a loved one, friend, or colleague. Did you feel connected with them? Were you able to feel their energy?

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Are you one of the many tend to carry your tension in the shoulders? They hunch up towards the ears a little when we feel rushed, anxious, busy or stressed. They can do the same when we are met with feelings of fear, guilt or shame. Conversely they can droop forward and round down when we feel dull, depressed, sad or lethargic.

These feelings, thoughts, and life situations present themselves to us all the time. As the Buddhists wisely tell us, life is suffering. Our job is not to place further suffering on the difficulties we already face, but instead to accept the moment and soften into it. We practice acceptance of what is and we add on to that an element of compassion, of softness, of consciously relaxing at will, regardless of the external circumstances.

In Mindfulness they tell us the key to being present and minimising this suffering is to feel what we are feeling in the body. How appropriate, then, for us to practice tuning into the sensations in the shoulder area and using that awareness to move from the busy, noisy, thoughts of the mind to the mode of simply being. Being with what is.

The shoulder joint is one of the most interesting and complex in terms of mobility and range of motion. In yoga we explore this; we take the shoulder joint through it’s full range of motion to explore freedom of movement and to notice the sensations when we feel a little stuck. By breathing, moving gently and consciously relaxing the tension naturally melts a little. It feels good. When we are feeling, we are practising mindfulness; mind and body get to relax.

We don’t even have to be on the yoga mat to practice our ability to relax the shoulders and soften at will. Try it now, on an inhale lift your shoulders up towards your ears and on an exhale allow them to soften and fall. Try that three times. Make your exhales big and deep and noisy if you’d like - the out-breath is releasing.

On the yoga mat we have a multitude of ways to get deep into those complex muscles that support this incredible joint. Eagle pose, cow face pose, even a simple sun salutation. “Binding” where we take the hands together to get extra leverage to really stretch out can happen in many creative poses. In a well sequenced yoga class the muscles gradually get looser and looser, warmer and softer, tension naturally melts.

The life changing skill happens when we really pay attention to these feelings and we fine-tune our ability to turn the attention to sensation in the body - we notice. That is our moment of mindfulness. In noticing on the yoga mat we develop the skill of noticing in life. In learning to relax the shoulders on the yoga mat we learn to relax in life, consciously relaxing at will, regardless of the external circumstances.

Come to yoga to change your body, come to yoga to change your mind, come to yoga to change your life!

Next week on the mat we delve deep into the shoulder area. Join us Tuesday and Thursday, 25th and 27th August, 1-2pm. Recordings of both classes are available to you for one week. Maybe this is your time to explore daily practice?

Following this I’m rolling out a focused programme for us for the four weeks of September: Intention.

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Just two weeks of classes in August; an opportunity to go deeper into awareness of your own posture as you move on your yoga mat, deeper into awareness of your posture as you move through your life.

Good posture was there for all of us as children, our job in August is to notice the patterns of tension and stiffness in our bodies which take us away from the natural feeling of moving with ease in a body that is well aligned. When we are moving in optimal alignment it feels right, we move freely. The great thing is that each one of us have our own unique best pattern of alignment, you move in a way that feels good for you.

I’ll guide you through discovering the patterns of movement that tend to suit most of us best, you will fine-tune your awareness and learn to relax muscles that are tight and strengthen muscles that support your good posture.

Note, just 2 weeks of live classes in August, no yoga Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Tuesday 18th, Thursday 20th. (Recordings of yoga classes will be available for you.)

Each class is a complete range of motion, hatha yoga class with a particular focus in each class on quietening the mind, and developing progressive learning.

Week 1: Head, neck and spine: perfect your posture! August 11 and 13th. (One week break follows, recordings available.)

Week 2: Soften your shoulders; ease and relaxed movement. August 25th and 27th .

“By cultivating strength without rigidity and relaxation without collapse in our yoga poses we are training our bodies, and our minds, to remain awake and yet calm, regardless of the external circumstances.” Jason Crandell.

Please sign up for the entire month by selecting two class passes here, you’ll also have access to four class recordings for our weeks off. To join us for one week select one class pass here.

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Preceded by yoga you get an opportunity to bury your feet into the soft supportive earth gently holding you. You tune into your yoga alignment which promotes ease of movement and good posture. You can wake up the senses and tune into the subtle sensations of the inner body, the sensations associated with connecting and relaxing. Wide awake, fully aware, relaxed and curious you begin your forest bathing immersion.

Following the experience you get to reconnect with your yoga. Standing tall and with dignity, like the trees, you get to reflect and allow the experience to soak in. Noticing what calls to your attention with a calm, open mind, you open up new, fresh thought patterns and patterns of behaviour. Observing with calmness and compassion, your mindfulness practice soaks in and spreads from there far beyond the experience, into the rest of your life, filtering out to those around you.

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