Room to Breathe: A July Full of Space and Sun
- Sam Turner
- Aug 1
- 4 min read
Hello curious person
I’m really grateful for our shared practice throughout July. Our theme, Room to Breathe, landed at just the right time. So, congratulations - you made an excellent choice when you voted for this one. It slotted into the month perfectly.
Let me set the scene…
July opened with a stretch of warm weather that lasted several weeks. And as it lingered, I noticed a couple of things happening. The longer the heat stuck around, the more fatigued people became. To counteract that, you were looking for a steady, grounding practice, one that helped you recharge rather than drain your energy. Between disrupted sleep, hayfever, and all the other joys that come with a UK heatwave, there was plenty already doing the depleting.
We also had a class scheduled outdoors. Our usual space isn’t available for one week per year. However, one of the joys of teaching on the site at Northampton School for Boys is that there's plenty of greenspace. This is usually our one chance per year to take our mats outdoors (weather dependent - it was perfect this year) and practise in the fresh air (very theme relevant, if I do say so myself).
How did the theme fit?
I designed this theme to be less prescriptive. We’ve spent months with a sharper focus - whether that’s on a specific area of the body or a particular pace. For Room to Breathe, I dropped all of that. The aim was simple: to create space in the body and then fill it with your breath.
Naturally, this led to longer holds with more time to tune in. It also happened to be a great pace for days where the temperature suddenly spikes. It paired beautifully with our outdoor class too: fresh air, expansive space, and movement that opened the upper body and encouraged full, deep breaths.
What did the practice include?
The sequence changed week by week. For the most part, we stayed on the ground whether lying on your front or back. Sometimes, we braved a seated position or moved to tabletop. Whatever the orientation, I guided you to mobilise the shoulder blades, side body, and chest. Often, this was done with repeated small movements, giving you the chance to start gently and let the movement evolve over time. That repetition created the perfect environment to discover a sweet spot - somewhere you could pause and settle into a shape for a minute or so.
I especially loved our time lying on our fronts this month. Gradually, we layered in different variations into the sphinx pose with a side bend. Some of the options included pushing through a heel, lifting/lowering neck and chest, or wrapping one foot behind the opposite ankle. Each version offered a subtly different sensation, helping you discover your own unique expression of the shape.
Once in position, we visualised sending breath into the lengthened side of the body. In my own practice, I began to imagine one lung inflating first - an image that helped me feel more tension in the tissue of the side body through stretching.
The time in these classes seemed to dissolve. Week after week, I’d blink and it was time for relaxation. I received compliment after compliment about the positive effect this work had on people’s shoulders. The shoulder blade mobilisation, in particular, seemed to land really well for many of you.
What would I change?
Not much, honestly. Over the past year, there have been a few themes I might tweak if I had the chance to teach them again. There was even one - you'd have to scroll back to figure out which - that I openly wasn’t a fan of. But this one? I’ll say it again: Room to Breathe landed at exactly the right time, and I doubt I could recreate it quite the same way. It feels rooted in this particular moment - when we practised outside not once, but twice (yes, we made it out to the field twice!), rode through a burst of warm weather, and spent the following weeks replenishing from it.
What’s next?
In the wise words of someone I spoke to recently: spend a month winging it. There are three times a year where having a fixed theme doesn’t quite make sense - usually around March/April (depending on Easter), August, and December. Numbers go a bit wild during those months. Some folks drop in because their regular class is off, while others disappear on holiday. And let’s not forget… I’m away for a week in August too!
So, it makes the most sense to keep things flexible and teach self-contained classes that anyone can drop into. Which is exactly what we’ll be doing.
In fact, I’m going to go ahead and call this month’s theme I’m winging it.
Did you come to any of the Room to Breathe classes? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share.
You’re the best.
Sam
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