Yoga teacher and specialist, Rosie Underwood is a brilliant, positive advocate for the fact that yoga is for everyone and passionate about debunking any myths around the practice being for certain shapes, sizes and individuals.
Rosie’s sessions on the Happy Place app are accessible and straightforward practices, which offer a great starting point for those looking to discover what type of yoga might work best for them. Rosie has a refreshingly no-nonsense approach and her M.O. is centred around making people feel as happy as they can, both physically and mentally.
I have been a fan of Rosie’s for a long time and her warm, upbeat personality and approach to yoga make it feel fun and relatable. Try out sessions on the Happy Place app including ‘Energise + Uplift’, ‘Twist, Renew & Let Go’ or ‘Restorative Technique’.
I caught up with Rosie recently for my wellness column and put my questions to her:
What first drew you to yoga?
'I’d say one of the biggest misconceptions of our generation is that your business equates to your worthiness. I’d fallen into that trap in a big way in my early twenties, until one day I blacked out on a photo shoot! If you don’t slow down your body will do it for you, and sadly I learnt that one the hard way. My sister dragged me by the arm to Yoga, I sweated heaps and fell asleep on the hard wooden floor at the end, (I’ve come to learn that the only time anyone would comfortably float off to the land of nod on hard wooden floor is at the end of a yoga class.) I’ve never looked back.'
What are the biggest benefits of yoga?
'Yoga takes your mind out of anticipation and memory and into the gap between stimulus and response. This raises your consciousness and enables you to become self-aware, which is so important in an age that constantly takes us away from our realities and into a virtual reality. We can all read empowering quotes or books until we’re blue in the face, but if none of us are actually self-aware and living in a way that strongly aligns with our unique core values, it counts for nothing.'
'Yoga helps you meet yourself, your values, your purpose, your likes and dislikes and you learn to translate the kindness that you give to yourself on the mat to the people you meet as you move through your day. Also, because it’s a practice that relies on your body and nothing else, you can literally do it anywhere! I’ve been that idiot who’s rolled out their mat at the departure gate at an airport.'
There are so many different kinds of yoga practices on offer that it can be difficult to know where to start – do you have any tips for beginners?
'Start small. A lot of my clients tell me they’re time poor, in fact most people on this planet find themselves battling against time, which is our biggest equaliser ironically. Just five minutes of sun salutations is something, and something is a step, a step adds up to marathon if you keep on taking the next one. Small steps like this can have a huge impact on the way you feel, live, act, move and be.'
What's your favourite type of yoga practice?
'Vinyasa flow, hands down! I’m quite naturally high in energy so I love getting people to stoke the fire they have in their bellies and really feel the practice flowing through them. With Vinyasa flow, you move with each breath seamlessly from pose to pose. It can feel like you’re dancing with your breath and your body and you can get very creative with sequencing. You get high on your breath! The style, pace and intensity of Vinyasa can vary from teacher to teacher because it’s a creative style, that’s the beauty of it.'
What other wellness practices do you find work well with yoga?
'I’m a big fan of breath work and meditation. I’m hooked on Zephyr Wildman’s meditations and I make it a priority to quiet my mind as the day begins, otherwise my thoughts go off like popcorn on high heat! I love to get out in nature at any given opportunity, I love to surf, cold water swim and I walk a lot. I could just walk and walk for days. When I’m in London with clients I often just take half an hour to go to Hyde Park to just to be away from the stimulation of the city, draw energy back in instead of giving it out. Our energy is our currency in that sense.'
What are your top tips to help people build Happy Habits this month and maintain them?
'I think the narrative around self-care is that it is indulgent, I flip the script and tell myself it's highly productive. Jay Shetty always says ‘space has energy, time has memory’ so if you dedicate a space in your home at the same time each day to even five minutes of self-care, you’re already on an incline and you’ll naturally find yourself repeating or gravitating towards the ritual, because we’re creatures of habit. What you’re not changing you’re choosing but remember as humans, we don’t go by what we know necessarily, we go by how we feel, so you have to make it easy for yourself to do the right thing. So, start small. It’s about progress and not perfection.'
Happy Place App is available to download on iOS from www.happyplaceofficial.co.uk/app/. Follow Rosie Underwood on Instagram @rosiejunderwood