Art and Yoga are intertwined in Gurpran’s life and each practice inspires the other.

Let the waves and stars relax you at the end of your day.

Mixed media artist and Yoga teacher, Gurpran Rau treats us to a relaxing and mindful practise every Wednesday evening from her beautiful home studio space.

Gurpran’s class Breathe, Release, Restore focuses on key elements such as mindful movement, breath work, and visualisation techniques, intelligently sequenced to activate the parasympathetic nervous system - decreasing anxiety and bringing you into a state of bliss. 

If you don’t have time for a 75-minute class every day, here are 3 simple stretches that allow oxygen to flow throughout your body after a long day:

Let the light shine in as you restore your mind and body

Sit in a comfortable seat, and lift your arms above your head. Feel your roots connect with the earth and your spine growing longer. Relax your shoulders, bringing them away from your ears. Hold for up to 6 breaths.

Reach for the stars as you unwind for the night

Place your left hand to the side of your left hip and reach up your right arm. As you exhale, anchor your right hip down and send your lifted arm over the head creating a side stretch. Look up to the lifted hand if this feels good. Hold for up to 6 breaths and switch sides.

Letting go as you breathe, release, restore

Place each hand on each knee and take Chin Mudra (hand position where your thumb and first finger are touching). Close the eyes or have a soft gaze. Start to scan your body noticing any sensations that arise. When you feel ready, without changing your natural breathing pattern, start counting your breath. Do this for at least 10 cycles (one cycle = inhale and exhale). Once you’ve finished, open the eyes (if they have been closed) and take some time to notice stillness before moving from this position.

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Gurpran teaches her class on a Wednesday evening from 7-8:15pm, you can book in to join live and/or get the recording (which is available for 7 days after the class).

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Sam Thorogood will be on site in Camyoga to provide complimentary 15 min treatment session on the Andullation therapy bed on the following days:

Camyoga Shelford: 10am - 5pm, 31st January Camyoga Central: 9am - 3pm, 1st February (only few available slots left)

The aim of the event is to help people experience andullation and understand who and why it helps.

To book your appointment go here 

Few words from Sam Thorogood on his Andullation treatment:

‘Andullation Therapy is 12 years old and originates from Germany.

It works through a combination of bio-resonance and infa-red heat. It is a certified medical product - clinically tested with numerous esearch studies completed by prestigious medical centres.

Our customers in the UK over that last 2 years are predominantly those people with chronic pain and amateur sports people. (Immobility, arthritis, osteoporosis, sciatica, various back conditions, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgie etc.)

Is is safe for anybody to use providing they are not pregnant. For 20% of people it is not effective, for 80% it is highly effective. It is not a cure for any of the above conditions, it is about providing increased mobility, pain management and quality of life.'

CY: Hi Beverley, I think most of our clients know you very well by now but in case someone new is reading this article could you tell us something little about yourself?

Beverley: OK, I am a mum to a gorgeous 12 year-old daughter and we share our house with a crazy Kerry Blue Terrier and three goldfish who always seem hungry. Either that, or they are trying to tell me something! I grew up in Essex, and spent a lot of my life working in the travel industry and marketing. I came to Cambridge after a spell teaching business English in Paris, back in 89.

CY: Can you tell us how did you come across yoga and what prompted you to teach?

Beverley: I had been aware of it since my childhood when there used to be a show on the TV when I got home from school, but I started proper I suppose in the 80s when I had the good fortune to chance on an Iyengar teacher from Australia who was studying in the UK. It wasn’t long before I was doing several classes a week with her and on the workshop trail in the UK and US. I’d already planned to go to Australia on a working holiday in 86 but this shape-shifted into a teacher training in Sydney. I’ve never stopped since then, although initially I had a ‘proper’ job in the daytime and taught in Adult Education in the evenings - career yogis were few and far between then.

CY: Aside from doing our regular Open Level and Basic Yoga classes you also teach Restorative Yoga on Fridays. Can you tell us what sort of class is that? What can people expect to do?

Beverley: Actually, ‘do’ is what we don’t do! We practice a sequence of supported postures  using bolsters, blankets and cushions so that the body can safely and gradually release layers of tension.The whole concept of the practice is to rest the doing, goal-oriented aspects of our nervous system that is served by regular asana practice, and to tap into the being, process-oriented aspects where things just take the time they need as a way of restoring physical, mental and emotional balance.

CY: So, would you say that anyone can join Restorative Yoga?

Beverley: Yes, definitely, but some practices have the usual precautions and prohibitions for example in the case of pregnancy.

CY: And what are the benefits of Restorative Yoga?

Beverley: An incredible lightness of being, when the practice goes well! It invites relaxation from the surface muscles to the deep tissues of the body. It gives you time to experience a posture from the inside-out, to really know what it feels like to rotate the spine for example, and to track the currents of the breath. It also develops the discipline of sensitivity, quietness and steadiness required of the more contemplative practices including pranayama, yoga nidra and meditation.

CY: That sounds great, thank you Beverley. Is there anything you would like to add?

Beverley: Yes, just to say that we will be offering a training in Restorative Yoga and another in Yoga Therapeutics next year, so if anyone had any questions about that, I’d be happy to talk to them. I use these and other associated skills in my movement therapy practice to create a container for individual healing, and it is beautiful work with many positive outcomes.

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Come along to one of our Restorative Yoga or Meditation classes to relax and get rid of your stress of everyday life.

Restorative Yoga - Every Friday 11.30-12.45pm

Meditation class - Every Sunday 17.30-18.30pm