Heartspace

24/10/2026

Heartspace Yoga News - https://mailchi.mp/bd864f9b9219/heartspace-yoga-news-20684736

24/10/2026

19/10/2026

I have got 2 casual spots for Yoga on Wednesday 5.30 - 7 pm at Keirunga Homestead.

https://heartspace.nz/product/casual-ticket-for-wednesday-yoga-at-keirunga/

and a few spots for the Thursday class in Hastings at The Yoga Space 5.30 - 7 pm.

https://heartspace.nz/product/casual-ticket-for-thursday-yoga-at-the-yoga-space/

Casual ticket is $20 - more info in links. Koha bookings possible, just message me.

09/10/2026

A few weeks ago I saw an event advertised by EIT - visible mending with Sashiko. I am a big fan of mending and have already been experimenting with using gold thread for mending to make a feature out of the broken much like in Kintsuki the japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold. So I booked myself in.

As usual it was a bit of effort to drag myself out of the house after a long day of work, but it was so worth it. In my ingnorance I expected a japanese lady called Sashiko, but it turns out thats actually the name of the japanese stitching technique. Turns out the japanese have been experts for centuries at making broken things pretty.

When I walked in there were garments on display made by the students from scrap fabric that were simply mindblowing in terms of technique and creativity. I could feel the enthusiasm of the lecturer Christina who has been at EIT for over 30 years. One could feel how she loves her job. Best of all this offering was free to all attendees and was part of the Great textile rescue for the month of October. Toni from Hastings District Council spoke about insane amounts of textile going to the landfill every week, which made me shudder hearing those numbers.

I grew up with my grandmother and mother always mending things. They grew up during or after the war and then we lived in East Germany where things were not plentiful, so looking after your clothes and making your own was quite common. There was always a mending basket with broken socks and the like and I can remember ovserving my grandmother and her sister carefully weaving them back together. I often repair little holes or rips in clothes. I have pieces of clothing I love and have had for many years that are mended and I still love wearing them.

For Sashiko mending one essentially uses pieces of fabric below or above the broken piece and then one uses decorative stitching to fix that fabric onto the garment. As usual there its lots of online information on the technique and stitches.

We have an enthuisatic fox terrier and when he gets angry with the flys (he hates them!) he grabs a cushion and lets his anger out on that. Hence we have got quite a few broken cushions. I had already tried to mend some with gold thread, but one didn't work so well. So I took it to repair it.

We had lots of fabric scraps to choose from at EIT. So a good thing at home to keep pieces of fabric to maybe one day make them an embellishment. I used my gold thread for my cushion, a piece of fabric I liked and choose a pattern of circles to fix my fabric onto my cushion. I was thrilled with the result and the broken cushion now has a handmade special feature.

There are still more events for the great textile rescue. Go and check out this link on the HDC website with free and low cost events to explore.

https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/services/rubbish-and-recycling/thegreattextilerescue/

Thank you HDC and EIT, I am so grateful to have learnt another skill.

08/10/2026

As a yoga guide I often reflect on my own practice and how I changed guiding classes over the years from my own lived experience. I would like to share some examples below of how I learnt over many years to be safe in my own practice and when I go to others peoples classes.

Tip 1 - FIND THE RIGHT CLASS FOR YOU AT THIS POINT IN YOUR LIFE.

Find a class / classes that really feels good in your body, where you feel safely held and that support your nervous system and energy levels. I would recommend if you are first starting to a try a few different classes, yoga styles, and teachers to see what feels best.

I came to yoga for myself as a young mother. These 90 minutes were often the only time I had to myself all week and I wanted to do something to nourish my body, mind and soul. I had previously practiced yoga sporadically and was drawn back to it after years of Pilates because it appeared to be a more wholesome practice.

I enrolled with a studio close by, which offered Ashtanga and Hatha yoga classes. I signed up for the Ashtanga class and felt like I had to keep up with the instruction, pace and correct alignment. I wanted to do it just as well as the other students in class. What I didn’t realise at the time was that this was the entirely wrong practice for a tired, young mother. Because I practiced with Ego and the drive wanting to do it just as well and trying to keep up the pace even though my body was telling me no, no, no, I promptly injured my shoulder, which took 6 months to heal. I felt loyalty towards my teacher (which was fabulous by the way and I learnt a lot from her - she was the reason I wanted to explore yoga deeper and become a guide myself) and didn’t really explore other other yoga styles or classes.

Years later I attended my first Yin Yoga class and it was a whole body yes. This was the practice my body and nervous system needed at that time.

I also experimented with Bikram, Vinyasa flow, Restorative, Yoga Nidra, gave Pilates another try, reconnected with Dance, different meditation styles, different sound healing....

To read the whole article head to my Substack.

https://myheartspace.substack.com/p/how-to-stay-safe-in-your-yoga-practice?r=19ob06&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true