All Posts By

Cheryl Parsons

Parenthood

Tick tock!

“I do love you very much…but after all I am a man…and I cannot be expected to get excited about handmade baby blankets and the best strollers on the market,” the hubby tells me ever so politely. Bless him. He’s done well to ‘listen’ to me over the last few weeks of our holiday; from the passages I’ve read aloud to him from my ‘Guide to Childbirth’ to the debates I’ve had over whether to bugaboo bee or not to bugaboo bee. (That’s a brand of pushchair just in case you are lost already). 

Last week marked a milestone for me…on the same day I turned 32, I began the first day of my 32nd week of pregnancy. Now pushing seven weeks until my due date, when I think back to the day that we discovered the ‘x’ on the stick, it seems like an age ago. But when I sit here today with my iphone app telling me I have a 4.5 pounder, 19 inch honeydew melon in my belly, it suddenly feels very close…and a little scary. Continue Reading

Yoga

A new chapter

If I ever wanted confirmation of what prana feels like, (that’s yoga speak for energy or life force) then I got that today. As I sat on my mat in front of 20 bodies resting in savasana for what will be the last time for many months, I can truly say I felt that buzz of amazing energy that is present within all of us. Ok, so you will have to forgive me for coming over all yogically sentimental today, but it is for good reason, so bear with me! This morning, I taught my last yoga class before I take some time off to prepare for the next chapter in my life…having my first baby. 

Tomorrow morning I head on holidays – one week at home, then two weeks in Cyprus…read: Baby Moon! After checking the hotel in advance for a large bed, extra pillows and provisions for small beached whales, we are good to go. Our last holiday as two, and before life changes immeasurably, but for the better. Continue Reading

Creativity

Saving face with Snowberry

Throughout my ‘youth’ (ok, so I’m only 31), I’ve been blessed with a peaches and cream complexion. I was one of those annoying people who could pretty much wash my face with soap and water and still stay spotless. Besides the addition of a few wrinkles, I sailed into my twenties with next to no skin problems, right up until I started growing a mini Parsons in my belly. Enter the first trimester…and cue dry skin patches, red lumps, a somewhat ghostly palour (from all my morning sickness) and a handful more wrinkles to boot.

Then one day one of my yoga students came to my rescue and handed me a little parcel, complete with a selection of samples from a funky new skincare brand called Snowberry. I wanted to break a little tradition in my blogs this week, and share with you a bit about this cute range, as I think it’s about as yogic as a skincare brand can get. It has also really helped me get my skin back on track, and into that ‘blooming’ stage of the second trimester. Continue Reading

Philosophy

Back to the future?

If the mind were a theatre of the future, I’d have front row tickets. Heck, as a seasoned visitor, they’d give me the VIP box.

Forget the past, it’s the future I’m finding myself wrapped in…from the virtually decorated nursery to my baby’s first steps. I am not saying we should not feel free to dream about what lies ahead. But when it starts consume the majority of this moment, it can become a bit of a headache! Continue Reading

Philosophy

Reigning in the horses

When it comes to the common list of the world’s top ten most stressful things, I realized that I am on my way to ticking off two of those culprits. Not only is the kidney bean in my belly now en route to becoming a large bell pepper, we are also in the process of trying to sell our home and buy a new one. Between pregnancy and houses, if you could look inside my head right now it would probably resemble the picture on the right… 

For the last few weeks, I don’t think I have had a split nano second between my thoughts, let alone a full moment spent in the present. (The present? Sorry, can’t be there right now, too much to plan!) The wild horses of my mind have literally busted out of the fields and are running amuck…how the hell do I reign the beasts in? Continue Reading

Yoga

Peking Duck

I was teaching a Vinyasa class a while ago and building up to one of our peak poses, Bird of Paradise (check out my pregnant one pictured…probably won’t be busting that one out in a few weeks!) If you are blessed with flexible hamstrings and open shoulders then you are probably up for the challenge, otherwise this is one bird that might not even get off the ground.

So what do you do when you can’t get there? Criticise yourself? Give up? Silently curse your extra bendy neighbour? Why not take a leaf out of one of my student’s books and have a laugh trying, find your own edge, and give it your own label…in his case, Peking Duck! Despite being surrounded by females, this well-built guy is never afraid to accept where he is at in his yoga practice, and his level of Bird of Paradise, self titled Peking Duck, is the perfect example! It is also a great reminder that right we are now is right where we need to be. Continue Reading

Yoga

Yoga Mama

yogaMama-a1Take one Mac Book Pro, mix in one drinking yoghurt and what have you got? A recipe for disaster to the tune of about 700 quids worth of damage (almost the cost of this new one that I gingerly type on now, liquids well out of arm’s reach.) Yes, this is just one of the things that has happened to me over the last two months (the flying lasagne is another story). Happily, though, you won’t find me crying over spilt yoghurt. The reason? I am 14 weeks pregnant, and frankly, life is pretty good! 

I’ve known I was pregnant from about 4 weeks in and every day since finding that plus sign on the stick has been a journey. Even from this very early stage, I was amazed at how I could feel the subtle changes in my body…the ache of a couple of things upfront getting a little larger, the strange tightness in my lower belly, the roller coaster of emotions, the pregnancy clumsiness and the constant urge to pee! Then week six kicks in and I wake up feeling like I am on the Titanic. The ever-present nausea takes centre stage, ramping its way up as the weeks progress, and generally making life miserable. Continue Reading

Creativity

The sound of music

theSoundMusicI often get asked what music I play in class and where I got it from. I have a few playlists that I rotate around, and my collection keeps growing! There is nothing like some great music to get the prana pumping!

Here is a 60 minute playlist that I put together for this year’s Yoga Fest…a sprinkling a sanskrit tunes and chilled out beats. Continue Reading