Yoga with Clare McGinley

Hi There,

I am Clare and have recently joined CWD as the Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator. I teach a weekly Yoga class with CWD in the Meadow Centre which I started a s a newbie Yoga teacher – I have learned so much from the class and they have put up with me trying new things – like my very badly co-ordinated Yoga dance with great patience!

In my new role I can offer one-to-one or small group sessions to help you meet your identified health and well being goals whether that is managing stress, improving sleep or supporting you to move to get stronger, fitter or more flexible.

We can have an initial chat  – we can discuss, goals and timescales and then see how I might support you to meet those goals.

Clare McGinley

The original translation of the word ‘yoga’ means union, so for me all yoga means is having more of a connection with my body, mind and breath. It also connects me to the people I do yoga with and helps me be more mindful with what’s going on around me.

More and more is emerging about the benefits of yoga. In the past, it would bring to mind tying your body in knots or be seen as a bit hocus pocus! However, there is now lots of evidence that links yoga practice to good health and wellbeing.

It can:

• Improve the quality of your sleep and relax your nervous system
• Lowers your cortisol (stress hormone) levels
• Boost your immune function and ease chronic pain
• Help you “be in the moment” rather than worrying about your past or future
• Improve your balance, posture, blood pressure, flexibility, joint health and bone density
• Help you achieve greater inner calm

Yoga practice can be adapted for everyone, but never put yourself at risk of falling over. Do it in a chair or steady yourself by holding onto a secure surface, like a wall or a work surface. Listen to your body; you must never push your body past its comfort zone and never move too quickly.

Please note: if you have high blood pressure, never hold your breath or do exercises where your head is lower than your heart. Don’t do anything your doctor or a physiotherapist has told you NOT to do.

Short practices can improve your strength, balance, flexibility and concentration, but more importantly boost your mood!

Visit my Youtube channel where I demonstrate short practices for:

• Strength and balance for different parts of the body
• Breathing
• Chair Yoga Dance – and I’m very happy to take requests!
• Sleep

Please visit my yoga sessions on YouTube >

I will also be doing live Zoom classes on Thursdays at 11am – 12pm. Here’s how you can join in:

• If you don’t already have Zoom, you will need to download the app. You can do that by visiting: https://zoom.us/download
• Once you have Zoom, tell us you want to attend the class by contacting Joanne McGinley at: joanne@carerswd.org (you need to be registered with Carers of West Dunbartonshire and we will need your email address)
• Prior to the class, we will send you the login link
• Click on the link about 10 minutes before the class is due to start and we can iron out any problems and chat with each other
• Enjoy!