Give or take a day, it’s 10 years since I opened Yinspire studio – one class just before Christmas 2015, and then a full timetable from January 2016. It’s poignant then that today marks the end of this chapter in the studio’s life.
 
I wrote to you a short while ago explaining that the current timetable of group classes would end in February 2026; in the event both Della and Caroline have decided to move on at the end of this current month, and hence have taught their last classes at Yinspire – I thank them for their support and dedication.

Looking Forward

However it is not the end of Yinspire, by any means.
 
My classes will continue into 2026 on a smaller scale, with the studio reconfigured to use space better, and provide a more intimate facility for up to five people.
 
I’ll initially carry on with the Tuesday morning and Tuesday evening timetable, with the evening class also on zoom, although the timetable will almost certainly change as things evolve.
 
These classes, Therapeutic Yin Yoga, are open to all, and will continue to provide an unambitious nurturing environment for those who appreciate this slower approach.
 
If you have questions about these classes do please reach out; if the “therapeutic” description leaves you thinking “not for me” then I invite you to look past this, the class won’t be a significantly different experience for anyone who has practised with me in recent years.
 
I also plan to offer some short courses and workshops in 2026 focusing on topics like Yoga for Back Health; Stress and Resilience; Yoga for Healthy Ageing. More on these in due course.

I’d love to keep in touch, of course and share with you future offerings – please join my newsletter to keep in touch.
 
I wish everyone a happy Christmas.

Jess

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In this short article our friends at Minded Institute look at the links between stress and inflammation, and how a therapeutic approach to yoga can help.  

Its worth noting that short term stress is a good regulatory mechanism in out body, telling us to take protective action.  When stress settles in and becomes prolonged – aka chronic stress – then problems start. 

It is also important to recognise that stress is not a fixed condition or entity in itself. Rather, it reflects an ongoing interaction between perception, meaning-making, and physiological response. From this perspective, what we commonly call “stress” arises from how experiences are interpreted and held within the system over time—an understanding that closely parallels yogic concepts such as samskara, where unprocessed experience leaves an imprint that shapes future patterns of reactivity.

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Knee osteoarthritis: Small change to gait may relieve symptoms

The nub seems to be research showing that retraining walking patterns to turn the toes further in or further out by a small amount was, in some cases, as effective for Knee pain as medication. 

Worth some further thought if you have knee issues.  Its possible, although clearly would need research, that similarly hip pain could be aided. 

Seemingly not explored here is whether freeing up tensions in soft tissue – muscle and connective tissue – to take out restrictions and imbalances acquired over time with the aim to returning to a normal gait from an altered one could achieve the same thing?  Its entirely possible, and this is where a practice like Yoga or Pilates would help. 

Gait however is complex and whilst many of us have variances in gait – including a common one of foot turn out – in some cases this is a natural effect of skeletal variation, and certainly not something to be corrected of changed for the sake of it – I’ve known Personal Trainers who have taken a simplistic view that any turnout is wrong – that’s not supported by studies of human anatomy and variance. 

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This is a group class drawing on Yoga Therapy principles, and is suitable for anyone with physical or psycho emotional issues who would like to use Yoga to help their wellbeing. This could include, amongst other things, back or joint issues, anxiety, overwhelm and stress, digestive issues.   Equally suitable for anyone who would simply like a slow simple unambitious class.

Expect a slow class, mostly Yin, some other practices, focused on physical and psychological wellbeing.

Suitable for all, including beginners.  This is a floor based class, so participants will need to be able to get up and down unassisted, and be comfortable sitting and laying on the floor.

These classes run 10am and 18:30 on a Tuesday, starting October 7th 2025, with a class duration of 75 to 90 minutes.  The evening class is also streamed on zoom.

Book This Class

The class is taught by Jessica Garbett, who is an experienced Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist (Minded Institute London, CNHC registered)

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Knee OA Pain? Yoga, Strengthening Exercises May Help Equally

The research suggests, as the title implies, that for painful knee arthritis Yoga is as effective as strengthening exercises – the latter sis often suggested for knee pain.

The research suggests that Yoga may be marginally better than strengthening exercises, and yoga also gives improvements in quality of life and physical performance.    However, “adverse events” – strains and aches I’d imagine – were slightly higher in the Yoga group, but none of them serious.

One key thing in the headline is “may” – some people take to yoga, some don’t.  Some people take to strengthening exercises, some don’t. 

Not really covered in this report is the psychological effects of yoga – notably tress reduction, mood improvement and improved regulation – which matter a great deal in pain conditions.   This would add to the beneift of Yoga.

The takeaway though is that for a first line treatment for Knee arthritis, yoga is well placed to help.

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Only 10% of non-surgical treatments for back problems kill pain, says review

As a Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist, and indeed in the latter role with a specialist interest in both Back Health and Pain, you might expect me to be railing against this, and extolling Yoga’s benefits.

Indeed NICE (National Centre for Clinical Excellence) already do a good job of this –  Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management – where although yoga isn’t mentioned specifically, they do say “Consider a group exercise programme (biomechanical, aerobic, mind–body or a combination of approaches) within the NHS for people with a specific episode or flare-up of low back pain with or without sciatica” which sounds like Yoga to me.  They also go on to say “Consider psychological therapies using a cognitive behavioural approach for managing low back pain with or without sciatica but only as part of a treatment package including exercise”, which encapsulates Yoga Therapy very well.

Truth is I’m not surprised by the reports findings as, surprise, our backs are complicated.  

Where reports like this fall down is, in my view, three fold.  

First they look a population based outcomes and tend to ignore the individual – a treatment may not work for a majority of people, even a significant majority, but if you are the one of the minority where it did work, then happy days! In other words, no one model or modality suits everyone.

Second, often interventions are looked at in isolation, whereas the reality is a combination of approaches probably suits most people, eg exercise and some mild pain relief, or as NICE say, as quoted above, “psychological therapies… …as part of a treatment package including exercise”.  There is an additive effect of using a combination of interventions.

Finally, the cumulative protective effect of interventions is ignored.  EG you had a couple of back pain flare ups, so your decide to take up Yoga or Pilates to keep you back flexible and strong, invest in a better office chair and eye level monitor, etc.  The next flare up is a lot less troubling, or maybe avoided all together.

In short they simplify matters and look in the abstract, indeed much medical research does, rather than looking at real life.

Yoga may, or may not, help with an acute back pain flare up or long term chronic back pain.  However when practised, and taught, with care and intelligence, the chances are it will improve someone’s situation, especially when part of a integrative approach with, maybe, massage, input from a Osteopath, Physio or Chiropractor,   some pain relief, and some addressing of causes if known.   The key is an integrative approach; not a one size fits all treatment; not a take-this-pill-and-everything-is-alright approach; not a quick fix, but a nuanced combination that suits the individual.

Ethically, as Yoga Therapist, I am never going to claim that one Yoga session will cure someone’s back flare up; likewise I’m never going to claim that by itself Yoga does it all; I’m not going to claim Yoga will help everyone. I’ll be honest; in most cases Yoga, done well and carefully, will help rather than hinder.

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Mindfulness may be as effective as antidepressant for anxiety symptoms

Researchers assessed the progress of two cohorts with anxiety, one cohort treated with a common antidepressant drug, the other cohort attending a mindfulness course, MBSR.

Results were reviewed at four and eight weeks. 

At four weeks the medicated cohort were reporting a greater improvement than the mindfulness cohort, however at eight weeks both cohorts had the same improvement in their symptoms; interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, at eight weeks the mindfulness cohort experienced less side effects compared to the medicated cohort.

So the takeaway is that over eight weeks, mindfulness is slower to act than an antidepressant, but achieves the same outcome symptom wise with less side effects.  Of course taking a pill is easier than carving time out for a mindfulness practice so the ease of the intervention needs to be considered as well.

It would be interesting to see these results over a longer term, and also to see a blended approach with medication given initially alongside a long term mindfulness approach.

However this research does underline what was already known – that mindfulness can be a viable alternative to, or can compliment, medication.

One final thing to add – in this study the mindfulness cohort were using a structured programme known as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, MBSR – this is a well known course syllabus which includes yoga based movement practices alongside sitting practices.  As part of my Yoga Therapy training I wrote my short dissertation on the efficacy of general Yoga classes, and different styles, versus courses like MBSR, based on published research.  Where taught in a therapeutic context, there didn’t appear to be a significant difference in outcomes.  So tentatively any consistent therapeutic yoga and/or mindfulness practice should produce a positive outcome for anxiety, however consistency will be the key, alongside working with a teacher who is therapeutically orientated. 

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Six Distinct Subtypes of Depression, Anxiety Identified Via Brain Imaging

Of interest is the blurred line between Depression and Anxiety, and the different sub types identified.  Lets unpick that.

First, the blurred line.  Historically Depression and Anxiety have been seen as different things, however experience by therapists in practice shows they often present together, and are often blurred, to a degree feeding off each other.  This doesn’t mean everyone who is anxious is depressed or vice versa, but there tends to be a correlation.  Its good to see this being investigated in the round. 

Second, the different sub types.  Our brains have various networks, think of that as interconnected pathways, and the research looked at in this article has identified that different networks are activated in different people.  This makes sense, as peoples experience of depression and anxiety is very personalised.     Many factors, biological, social and psychological will shape our we respond to, and experience, external stimuli, and how depression and anxiety take root and are experienced, however all to often the treatment and support can be very homogeneous – “one size fits all” – this is a step the other way, as the article says “Depression is a highly heterogeneous disease”.  In practice it will be some time until this more nuanced approach filters down to day to day care.

So what of Yoga?  As a Yoga Therapist you’d expect me to say “Yoga is great for Depression and Anxiety”.   In all honesty, maybe, maybe not.  As this article suggests, depression and anxiety show up differently in different peoples brains, and therefore just as one size fits all medical care doesn’t work, a one size fits all Yoga approach doesn’t work.  It maybe a slower Yoga approach is needed for some, a focus on relaxation; for others a more dynamic Yoga practice; for others a focus on breathing and the nervous system.  For some people a carefully curated Yoga practice may be the only support needed, in other cases Yoga may be part of a range of medical, holistic and complementary interventions.  Being host, in some cases Yoga may not help at all.

What I would say is that Yoga for Depression and Anxiety benefits with working one on one with an experienced Yoga Teacher or Yoga Therapist, and also Yoga is never a quick fix.  Simple Yoga practices, worked with over time will help most people in most cases.

Read more about Yoga Therapy for Anxiety and Depression

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As always, the answer is “maybe”.

The two things going through my mind in these circumstances are “Would Yoga make this worse?  If so, how to guard against that?” and “How may Yoga actively help?”.

Initially, after an injury, we may have inflammation, bruising and shock – depending on the severity and circumstances of the injury you may need to rest.  There is, of course, a difference between, say, an injury from overdoing it in the garden or gym, verses being caught up in an accident – the latter brings added psychological stresses.  If you attend a Yoga class regularly then your first port of call regarding Yoga is your Yoga Teacher – they can let you know if it’s appropriate to come along, or whether it’s best to take a break.   If you practice Yoga by yourself, or from online sources, then you will need to feel your own way with caution.

Generally, as a Yoga Therapist, my advice would be caution, although in most cases some gentle mobilisation of an area when it can be tolerated is helpful, and in the meantime Yoga relaxation practices can be beneficial.

So, what about longer-term recovery from an Injury?  Well, here Yoga can nearly always help, whether it’s physically bringing strength or release to an injured area and its surrounding tissues; using Yoga practices to help us tolerate pain; or helping us deal with shock and anxiety if we have been in a traumatic situation.  Working with an experienced Yoga Therapist or Yoga Teacher is vital here, to choose the right practices and give you the support you need.

Yoga Therapy is not a substitute for emergency healthcare, so if you have urgent issues, please speak to your GP, NHS 111, or other Health Professional.

You can learn more about my practice as a Yoga Therapist, and in particular how I work with Injury and Rehabilitation, and book appointments, at https://www.yinspire.co.uk/yoga-therapy/

Jessica – Minded Yoga Therapist

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Yes, No, Maybe.  The answer is more nuanced.

Stretching is thought to help loosen the body and give us more flexibility, and within Yoga there can be a cult of flexibility alas.  However, the opposite of flexibility is rigidity and tension, and without rigidity and tension we would probably fall over every time we moved.  Extreme flexibility has another name – it becomes a strain when we overstretch and overstress ligaments in an accident or ill-judged movement.

So, we need to approach flexibility with caution – we want it matched with strength as a start, and we want enough flexibility to allow us to move fully, easily and pain free, but without creating laxity and instability.

Sometimes the word “stretch” itself is unhelpful as it creates a goal driven approach to a range of movement for its own sake – a better term for what we do to the body’s tissues in Yoga could be “stress”, as in stressing them.

Within our bodies, not all tissues are created equally – soft tissue in our body ranges from muscle tissue which moves dynamically through to ligaments and tendons which have more of a connecting and stabilising function, making them susceptible to strain.   It could be said that muscles like to stretch, and other tissues like to be stressed, although that is a little simplistic.

Moving away from the purely physical, a stretch in our muscle fibres can help release psychological stress and relax us via receptors in our muscles called “Golgi Tendon Organs” and a process known as the Reverse Stretch Reflex; so if we are tense and experiencing stress psychologically, some gentle stretching can help a lot; Yin Yoga, which I largely work with, is especially good at this, as it takes a slow, measured and controlled approach with support. 

So, in summary, some stretch is good, but strength and rigidity have their place as well; the key is to be flexible where we need it and have rigidity elsewhere.  Of course, this is Yin and Yang.

Finally, it should be said that this is quite a technical area, known as Biomechanics, although even the validity of this term is disputed at times on the grounds that it’s misleading to think of the human body as a machine.  On a personal note I have over 1,000 hours of training as a Yoga Teacher, some of which was spent classroom based studying the properties of tissues, and some of which was spent in a dissection room exploring these tissues practically; paradoxically, and I know others who have found this, the more I learn, the less prescriptive I become, as there is so much human variation.

You can learn more about my Yoga Classes at www.yinspire.co.uk, where you can book a class and find out more about my studio in Brading, Isle of Wight. 

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With complexity comes both the risk of things going wrong, and the need for care – in both cases very applicable to our Nervous System.

Many people have heard of the concepts of the “Fight or Flight” and “Rest and Digest” responses in our Nervous System.   These refer respectively to the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic branches of our Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).  The ANS is the part of the Nervous System behind the scenes controlling functions like respiration, circulation, and digestion, as well as feeding information to and from our brains and from there to and from conscious awareness.

The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) helps us prepare for action – anything from planned movements to reaction to danger and is especially active when we need to respond quickly to something – hence “Fight or Flight”.  The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) is the system which helps us rest and consolidate – digest our food, relax with our loved ones or friends, enjoy a book or film – hence “Rest and Digest”.

So far so good.  But the balance between these two branches of the ANS is a complex one, and we can easily get out of balance.  For example, our SNS can get overstimulated, so we overreact to small things, and continue to remain in a Sympathetic state long after the immediate need has passed – think about a situation where something small causes you to overreact and you are edgy for hours afterwards?  Long term over stimulation can be co-existent with Anxiety, Stress, Pain Conditions, Digestive Complaints, Inflammation, and a host of other issues.

The SNS can get demonised, but the PNS can also cause things to go awry – for example with extreme Parasympathetic responses, which could range from depression to freeze in response to trauma.   The work of Stephen Porges on Poly Vagal Theory helps explain some of these extreme responses.¹

Keeping the ANS healthy and both branches working effectively is an important part of our health and wellbeing.   Used intelligently, Yoga can help with this through both physical practices and via sitting practices like breathing or mindfulness.  My go to practice for developing resilience and wellbeing in the Nervous System is Resonant Breathing² which is part of a range of practices which can cause a Relaxation Response (Benson)^2,3 – there are also other Yoga practices which, as a Yoga Therapist, I may recommend to help address the problems my clients face.

However, in as much as Yoga can help, it can hinder if inappropriate practices are chosen, hence the need to work with an experienced Yoga Therapist or Yoga Teacher who can help you look at the wider picture of your health.

One final thing – Yoga Therapy is not a substitute for emergency healthcare, so if you have a serious health issue, please speak to your GP, NHS 111, or A&E.

You can learn more about my practice as a Yoga Therapist, and book appointments, at www.yinspire.co.uk/yoga-therapy/

Jessica – Minded Yoga Therapist

1 – Book: The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation – Deborah Dana (2018)
https://www.yinspire.co.uk/book-the-polyvagal-theory-in-therapy-engaging-the-rhythm-of-regulation-deborah-dana-2018/

2 – https://www.yinspire.co.uk/relaxation-response-and-coherent-breathing-a-review/

3 – https://www.yinspire.co.uk/book-relaxation-response-herbert-benson/

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