Last week, I laid my yoga mat down for three oh-so-exceptionally restorative Yin Yoga classes.   I wish I could tell you this was a regular thing in my life, but alas, the last time I did three in-studio Yin Yoga classes in a week was before children    If you dont know what Restorative or Yin Yoga is Quinn, it's a style that is not so Insta worthy cause you literally sit or lay around on the floor and are told to relax. Breath. Just be. Let go.   What is the difference between Yin & Restorative Yoga?   Yin Yoga still gently stretches the connective tissues (the tendons, ligaments, and fushia). However, restorative yoga does not stretch AT ALL and is all about getting as comfy as possible to float into the ether as you soothe the nervous system.   Both are still exceptionally amazing to tap into our parasympathetic nervous system (our rest and digest).   I spoke to one ...

Hey 

It’s my first time writing this newsletter so I’ll start with a quick introduction (which, I’ve just realised, is awkward to write but hopefully less awkward to read! )

My name is Samantha and I’ve been coming to Nin Yoga since 2018. It’s the first space I ever practiced yoga in; where I did my first downward dog (with difficulty), my first child’s pose (with relief), my first savasana (with resistance – who knew lying still could be so challenging?). It’s where I completed my teacher training, and in one of those beautiful circle of life moments, it’s where I first held space for other students to flow through this practice.

I’m sure I’ve met and shared tea with many of you over the years, and if not – hello! It is lovely to meet you.

     ...

A farmer and his son had a beloved horse who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed:

Neighbor: “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!”

The farmer replied: “Maybe so, maybe not.”

 

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild horses back to the farm as well.

The neighbors shouted out: “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!”

 

The farmer replied: “Maybe so, maybe not.”

 

Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the horses and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg.

The neighbors replied: “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!”

 

The farmer replied: “Maybe so, maybe not.”

 

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all boys for the army....

Last week, we had mufti day at kindy.

She got dressed in her black bunny rabbit tights and tie-dye Pokemon shirt and walked off, only to have baby daddy and her run back 10 minutes later to quickly change back into the burgundy school uniform. Whoops! Wrong date.

As we walked into the school gates yesterday, dressed in full burgundy shin-dig, we glanced at the glittery rainbow vomit which was a primary school fully decked out in its coolest of cool clothes. We all looked at each other, ran home, threw on the bunny tights, but this time a mini mouse shirt with matching ears because the Pokemon shirt was MIA, and raced back just in time before the school bell (its literally the song "Beautiful World" by Coldplay, that's her school bell song, and yes its stuck in my head every single day).

I remember moments like this happening often when I was in primary school. English was not my mother's...

With so many fancy new humans on this email list over the past couple of months, I thought I would take this time to re-introduce ourselves to you.

We are Nin Yoga. Three studios in Western Sydney, as well as a Yoga Teacher Training and an Online Platform.

We first started in the Colyton (my own local) Neighbourhood Centre, every Wednesday night first at at 6pm. I created a public Facebook event and was not expecting anyone else to come except my biggest cheerleaders at the time, my long term buddies. I obviously forgot what the word "public" meant and my first session required many nervous wees before teaching.

"Who are these people! They trust me to teach them yoga? ahhhh!" (otherwise known as good old and reliable imposter syndrome)

After two months of lugging cushions, yoga blocks, yoga mats, incense, tea, candles, speakers & singing bowls, I was curious to see how possible it was to find my own studio.

A few months ago, Penrith Regional Gallery approached Nin Yoga asking if we would feature in a documentary showcasing the stories behind Queen Street.

Queen Street is a totes wild card back in the day Annika. I grew up in the area (and still live down the road) and used to spend my days jigging high school to roam on these streets and eat copious amounts of sloppy gravy on chips from Red Lea chicken (education and health were obviously a huge priority for me in year 11 and 12).

I went to a decent school. They were not the problem. I just had trouble focusing, and the teaching style there was not right for me.

Plus, the bits and bobs that were Queen Street and the surrounds are just so much more interesting a 16 year old 

Fast forward a large handful of years later, and I have signed a commercial lease on the corner.

I especially remember asking the property manager, who had a striking resemblance to Gru from Despicable Me, if I needed...

Hayyyyyyyyy, we just wanted to quickly show up here to give last-minute reminders of two offerings this weekend: a yoga, art, and sound healing workshop on Saturday and a Womb Yoga workshop on Sunday.

Intuitive Rituals was first conceived by three yoga teachers from the Nin Yoga community: Karen Gruber, Mihaela Zotta, and Dolce Fisher.

They specialise in movement, art, and sound healing and will host a workshop this Saturday at our Penrith Studio from 1 pm to 4 pm

"In a safe and warm group environment, you will be supported to move and shift through physical and mental layers so that you can unearth what your intuition is calling out to you. You will be guided through various experiences such as flowing yoga asana, meditation, yoga nidra, a sound bowl experience, intention setting, and intuitive download. Our offering has been curated to support you in all modules of expression (physical, meditation, and visualisation) so you can...

We want to use this email to CELEBRATE! 

As you may or may not know, we have been collecting sanitary items for menstruators in need throughout August for Share The Dignity.

We sent emails, posted on social media, and asked before and after class for help getting our hands on these items to pass on to those who couldn't otherwise afford them.

Well, cause of these group efforts, we donated 685 packets of tampons and 141 packets of pads 

Featured down below in Marys boot! 

When we first signed the lease for Nin Yoga St Marys in 2017, I dreamed of locals coming together to feel safe and supported so they could, in turn, do the same for others.

Nearly seven years have passed (it's literally our seventh birthday at the end of the month!), and this community has become that and so much more.

Thank you to the students who trust us to hold space for them every...

This morning, I was FB messaging one of the instructors from Body Barre Air (which is rebranding as Nin Yoga Castle Hill literally next week, ekkkkkkk), and we were sharing stories on navigating this thing called life. We are similar ages, and she also has two daughters, just a tiny bit older than mine. 

We talked about running a business, unexpected kind, and not-so-kind surprises that are out of our control, and just general mum life things.

She also talked about how she is always here to help us navigate these new waters for Nin Yoga as we open up in the Hills area. She has been the face and the go-to teacher for this Castle Hill community for nearly a decade and is loved and trusted by all of her regular students.

I then sat with this feeling of her offering to help, and I thought about why I found it so hard to accept help myself.

I thought about my father and how he really needs help right now and seems to...