Frequently asked questions

Forrest Yoga is known for it’s strong abdominal exercises and 8 ‘basic moves’, which contrary to many styles of yoga, include ‘relaxing the neck.' You’ll hold poses for longer in Forrest Yoga - giving you an opportunity to feel the pose and get connected to your breath. It's exciting work! We always set an intent (a focus), include pranayama (breathing exercises), a warm up, a hot part - to get you sweating - and a warm down to specifically down-regulate your nervous system. Forrest Yoga classes are beautifully and intelligently sequenced so that your body feels ready for the more challenging asanas (yoga poses). You'll also experience delicious hands-on assists in each class to help you feel the pose in the most beneficial way.

We know trying anything new can be pretty daunting, so here are a few tips for anyone thinking of trying Forrest Yoga for the first time either at home, in a class online or at a studio: 1) Be open and willing to learn. Forrest yoga doesn’t require you to be strong or flexible, all it requires is for you to be willing to feel authentically and respond honestly. 2) Make your breath your priority. This will support you in the practice. Deep breathing settles the nervous system, oxygenates the muscles and is used to explore a deeper quality of feeling in the poses. 3) Stay with it, even in the moments that you want to leave. Forrest Yoga, is a slow, but strong practice, and involves lots of juicy core exercises. Holding poses longer builds strength and flexibility, and it gives time to connect more to feeling. It’s a deeply healing process that you don’t want to miss out on! 4) If you are going to a class, online or in a studio, tell the teacher if you have any injuries. This will enhance your experience. Forrest teachers are trained to deal with the different needs and abilities of students, and are experienced in offering effective modifications. 5) Also for live classes, online or in the studio, equip yourself with a towel and some water. Forrest yoga is a heated practice which assists the detoxification process and warms up the muscles. It can get pretty hot and sweaty! And so, the journey with Forrest Yoga begins....

Yoga and Pilates are two of the most popular forms of body-mind exercise today and many people seem to have the impression that they are basically the same thing. But they're not. Yoga is fundamentally a 5,000 year old philosophy with its roots in India, teaching the principles for physical and mental health as well as spiritual growth. The exercises (poses/asana) as we know them today, have only been around for a few hundred years and were originally developed by yoga practitioners to enable them to sit comfortably for long periods of time during meditation. Pilates on the other hand was brought to us about 85 years ago by its founder Joseph Pilates. Pilates exercises are based around strengthening the body (especially the core), and many of the exercises were influenced by yoga postures. Both yoga and pilates encourage mindful movement and incorporate effective breathing as an integral part of the exercise. In yoga, breathing is done in and out through the nose whilst in pilates you breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. In yoga there are many different types of breathing patterns and related exercises (pranayama), which are practiced throughout the session, or as a separate practice. In pilates there is only one type of breathing and it is always done with the exercise and never in isolation. Yoga poses are generally static, meaning you get into the pose, hold it for several breaths and then you move onto the next pose. Pilates exercises, meanwhile, are constantly moving, and you would usually perform five to 10 repetitions of an exercise before proceeding to the next. In a pilates class most of the work is done lying on the mat with the main emphasis on strengthening the core of the body with little regard to the limbs. Pilates classes can also incorporate elaborate apparatuses to enhance the exercises. In yoga you are exposed to a wider range of movements creating an overall practice and conditioning routine. In some yoga classes you will occasionally use basic props to help assist you in/enhance some poses, but these are not always common place (it depends on the teacher and style). Both yoga and pilates place an importance on strength and suppleness in the spine. As you can see while both practices do have some similarities once you look past the surface, it is apparent that they are two very different systems.

It helps to reconnect with your digestive area! The roll helps with peristalsis and movement in the digestive system. And although it feels very peculiar at first, it is very nurturing, allowing you to reconnect and feel again in your digestive area. It also aids helps in backbends, when we want to lengthen out of our lower spine. The roll encourages us to lengthen the tailbone and release the pressure from the lower back. While going over the roll can be uncomfortable at first, the benefits are worth every breath you are there!

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