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  1. 7 months into lockdown, how has your life changed?

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    My life, just like everyone else has been one big rollercoaster ride in the last 7 months.
     
    Some incredibly challenging and emotional things have happened to me but also on the flip side I have turned my life around so that each day is quieter, more stress free, I have lots more time for myself and I can still continue to live my purpose.
     
    The last 5 weeks have been probably some of the saddest of my life – in fact I actually can’t remember going through anything as heart-breaking as this. We suffered a family loss and the heartache it has caused is beyond comprehension, we all know that time does heal but even with this in my mind all I want to do is take the pain away from the two people that are suffering the most but I don’t have the power to do this, all I can do is support, hold space and give them every ounce of my love.
     
    What has helped me get through this time……. Honestly just sitting with it and feeling my emotions, not running, not escaping, not busying myself to avoid feeling but allowing myself to cry, giving myself time alone, hiding away from the world but also talking to others and not trying or pretending to be happy, pretending everything is ok because it’s not. And of course my yoga and meditation practice.
     
    The way we heal is not to avoid the feelings but to sit with them, feel them, allow them to be there and work with them no matter how painful it can be.
     
    I also want to talk about something really positive that has happened in my life, I have turned my business around so that I’m not working ALL the time, as a self-employed person it is very easy to just work especially when it’s something you love.
     
    I love my job but I also want to feel free from the need to be busy, society often teaches us that if we are busy we are successful when actually we might be busy and successful in our business but if we are too busy to enjoy our life’s then how can this be success.
     
    Due to the job I do it can often mean working early mornings and evenings and having time off in the day – with this time off in the day I used to sit on my laptop looking at ways I should be driving my business forward or pretending I was doing this when actually I’d spend time quite a lot of the time scrolling facebook/Instagram and wasting time.
     
    Most of my business is now online – I adore my online yoga studio – it has brought me a sense of community, allowed me to reach out to not just people that live near me but also all over the UK/Europe in fact the world - I can continue to teach yoga and meditation every day and I feel more and more connected to so many more people, don't get me wrong i desperately miss live classes but right now i am grateful to be able to continue to teach in this way.
     
    In the last month I’ve launched my new website yourhomeyogastudio.net so that anyone and everyone can be a part of my studio without the need to be on any social media channels, after watching the documentary on Netflix ‘Social Dilemma’ this is so important.
     
    I feel incredibly blessed, incredibly grateful that I can continue to do my job, live my purpose and help so many people to become connected to themselves through yoga and meditation, I have the ability to help change lives and wow what a job that is.
     
    Life hasn’t been easy the last 7 months but my business and life has become even more special,  I have now allowed myself to spend my time off in the day going for a walk, meeting up with friends for coffees/walks, reading, napping, hanging with my Cookie (cat) and generally appreciating my life rather than feeling guilty for not working more or being busier.
     
    YOUR. home yoga studio is growing and growing!  I'm so proud of all my members and the results they are seeing physically, mentally and emotionally. 
    Members can now access my studio and classes, anytime, anywhere.
      
    Membership includes:
    • 5 brand new ‘live’ yoga practices every week in our exclusive Facebook group
    • Regular meditations
    • A huge library of yoga practices from 20 to 60 minutes in the easy to access website portal
    • Daily support and motivation through our Facebook group community
    • Quick ‘learn a pose’ tutorials each week and a library to look back on
    • Q&A sessions
    • Guest Teachers offering a variety of classes from fitness to meditation
    • Discount to my yoga masterclasses
     
    All for £8 a week on a rolling subscription with the ability to cancel anytime!
     
    Fancy giving it a go? 
    You have nothing to lose… why not take up my FREE 7-day trial?
     
    START YOUR 7 DAY FREE TRIAL

    If you have any questions at all please drop me an email or message.  

    Thank you for taking the time to read this and if I can help or support you in any way then please reach out as I now have more time for you…………

    Love as always, Lisa xxxx

  2. How I pivoted my business to give people something they genuinely needed during the Covid19 crisis

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    In April I launched my online yoga membership ‘YOUR. Home Yoga Studio’ with Lisa Cuerden.  Now with well over 100 members and growing, yogi’s (and those new to beginner yoga) join me through the week for LIVE yoga classes, meditations, yoga tutorials and much more.  I'd love to share my journey with you...

    The main thing that has got me through this entire lockdown situation has been my yoga and meditation practice – without it I’ve no idea how I would have felt mentally and emotionally.
     
    Yoga is so much more than a way to stretch your body or make yourself physically stronger – it brings you to the present moment which is the moment where nothing else matters – all you have is that very moment, that breath – in that moment you have freedom and space physically, mentally, emotionally and energetically.
     
    People need this even if they don’t realise, that’s why there was no way I was going to stop teaching or giving people ‘the thing’ they needed the most in this challenging time.  I literally felt I had no choice but to put all my energy and efforts into creating something so that people could continue to practice with me.
     
     My skills lie in creating and teaching classes and definitely not in working out technology but I knew I had to. After many hours of planning and operational set up, on April 27 I was at last ready to launch my on-line yoga membership, something I’d always dreamt of but never had the time to do. And so ‘YOUR. home yoga studio’ was launched. 
     
    During the planning and launch period I worked closely with my good friend and marketing expert Victoria Branch of VB Marketing who has masses of experience in membership marketing, helping people pivot and grow businesses.  I am a creative type, I can teach great yoga but when it comes to launching something brand new in my business, I knew I needed help.   Victoria guided me through developing the structure and the branding of my new membership from the initial concept through to launching and selling my first 100 memberships.  She helped me plan the membership launch working through how operationally it would work and what messages to put out to my audience and how.   Victoria gave me the confidence to go out there and do it and then helping drive growth in the business in a sustainable way. Without Victoria I would never have been able to do all this.  I also invested in specialist lighting, microphones, internet upgrades, consistently changing my living room into a yoga studio each day, lots of tears, frustrations, sleepless nights… but I did it!   I created an online yoga studio giving people what they need each day in the most challenging of times.
     
    I wanted to make it as accessible to as many people as possible so chose the most popular platform – Facebook.
     
    By running my classes each day via Facebook live it means people can do it in their pjs as no-one can see them plus all the classes are saved so if people are not able to do it live they can do at a time to suit them.
     
    I wanted to give people a variety of classes, lengths, styles plus I add in a guest teacher each week offering something completely different from HIIT, Combat, Dance, Aerobics, Sound Baths, Meditations.
     
     YOUR. home yoga studio’ is growing day by day and I am loving putting my heart and soul into it.  Not only as it helped me through this challenging time and so many others it has continued to allow me to continue with my purpose in life and also not lose my business.
     
    If you are wanting to try out ‘YOUR. home yoga studio’ can try it for free I am offering a ‘7 day free trial’.

    Thank you for being part of my amazing journey and reading my story so far.

    Lots of love,

    Lisa xxxx