Whether you have a daily home yoga practice or you enjoy a weekly online yoga class. Creating a dedicated space in your home to do your Yoga helps to ground you and deepen your practice.
We caught up with Laura Dodd, experienced yoga and meditation teacher, founder of award winning Digital Studio and App and global luxury retreats, The Yoga Class, to discuss some essential tips for creating a calming home yoga space. Laura uses Spritz Wellness products to incorparte aromatherapy into her global luxury retreats.
Can you give us some background on what lead you on your yoga journey?
Yoga came into my life during a particularly difficult and unsettling period of change and trauma. Yoga helped me so much during this time as it gave me a constant to come back to over and over again, a safe and calm space to still my mind and connect back into me. It made and still makes me feel strong, open and connected in the body and mind.
It may sound cliché, but yoga helped me pass through this period and come out the other side intact and in a better space emotionally. Yoga really is a journey and I believe our relationship to it changes as life shifts. Yoga gives you what you need when you need it; as your practice broadens, you are able to utilise the many forms of yoga in many different ways, reflecting your life stage or mood.
What was your motivation for starting The Yoga Class?
I started working on The Yoga Class in March 2020 when we first went into lockdown in the UK. I have been a model since I was 16 and a yoga teacher for many years and when lockdown hit, I was left with no work. Rather than seeing a negative, I saw the opportunity to use this newly free time to create something really special and The Yoga Class was born. I wanted to create a beautiful, luxury, yet accessible, boutique-feel online space for students to develop and nurture a yoga practice, empowering positive changethrough a transformational practice, whatever the stage of their yoga journey, wherever they were in the world and without environmental impact.
As The Yoga Class is a digital studio and App, what do you suggest people do to set up their home yoga space? What are your essentials?
Schedule in set times to practice and even if you don’t feel like it, remind yourself how good you will feel after. Maybe set yourself a manageable amount each week, 2 or 3 short practices mid-week and a longer one at the weekend? Perhaps upgrading your practice space (not saying it isn’t lovely already), and making it somewhere you really want to spend time in. Use candles, aromatherapy oils and sprays, things that make you feel relaxed and happy in the space. You could evenmake yourself or find yourself a new playlist that makes you feel relaxed and motivated.
Your platform offers a range of classes that work to build strength and create flexibility. Can you discuss why you have created your platform in this way and what are the benefits to incorporating both strength and flexibility into your yoga practice?
I teach my students to move compassionately with the breath, making their practice a moving meditation and encouraging everyone to listen to their own body. I teach Vinyasa, Power, Beginners, Yin, Restorative, Meditation and Breathwork across all levels, through creative and informative yet challenging classes.
I aim for movements that create a healthy, happy body that is strong, lean and supple. My focus is to nourish people through movement to improve strength, tone, mobility and posture and create a stronger connection between body and mind. I am also a very strong believer that yoga is for everybody, all body types and ages. I always explain any specific terminology or techniques to help my students find release, calm, spaceand connection.
Which of your classes would you recommend for someone looking to building strength and which ones are better for increasing flexibility?
The classes aren’t really categorised like this, I don’t believe you can build one without the other for a healthy and mobile body. The aim of The Yoga Class is to have a wide variety, +250 classes by some of the country’s best teachers, so you can always find a class for how you feel. Expect informative, innovative, enjoyable and effective low-impact classes, across 7 styles of Yoga, Beginners, Vinyasa, Power, Skills, Yin and Restorative, plus Pilates, Barre, Active Recovery sessions, Meditation, Breath-work and dedicated Preand Post-Natal sections. Classes range from 10-60 minutes, categorised by Style, Level, Length and Target Area, making it easy to choose a class for however you feel from one day to the next.
The Vinyasa classes work with a balance of strength and flexibility, whilst the Power Yoga sessions work with more strength-based holds, pulses and less flexibility work. If you wanted a softening, calming, release class, a restorative flow, a Yin session or a stretch session would be right for you. A meditation and breath-work session will help create space, calm and reduce stress and anxiety.
The Yoga Class is a Digital Studio and App full of nourishing low-impact movement, to improve and sustain strength, flexibility, tone, mobility and posture, reduce anxiety, calm the mind and create a stronger body mind connection. It’s about coming home to you!
The Yoga Class was lovingly created by experienced Yoga and Meditation teacher, Mother and Model, Laura Dodd. Laura’s aim to empower her clients to unfold this transformational practice for body and mind. Laura has worked with a wide range of celebrity clients, is a contributing writer to Om Yoga Magazine, hosts luxury global retreats and runs classes and events at top locations such as Annabel’s, Chiltern Firehouse and Bulgari Hotels. Laura has specially selected a team of the best teachers in the UK, who share her ethos.
Discount code:
SPRITZXTHEYOGACLASS 35% off a month (making subscription £12.99 a month) for 3 months and still receive a 14-day free trial.
