There is a lot of talk about peace at this time of year. What does peace mean to you? For some reason I can't think about 'peace' without my brain leaping to Peppa Pig and the 'Peace and Harmony' song...and then the fact that in our house it became 'Peas and Broccoli'....no? Just me then! Or maybe parents of a certain age.

Most talk of peace at this time of year is about the 'goodwill to all' variety. I think it is also a natural time to turn our thoughts to peace as a sense of inner calm. The cold, darkness, and the fact it is the end of the year invite us to turn inwards and spend some time in the company of our thoughts. This is where the more subtle practices of yoga really come into their own. In fact yoga is often described as a toolkit for learning about ourselves.

Despite what Instagram might suggest, yoga is not all about contorting the body into photogenic shapes. In fact, physical postures (asana) are just one of the '8 limbs of yoga'. Historically the physical practice was about preparing the body and mind for meditation. You might have noticed this yourself during a yoga class - I certainly have. At the start your mind is buzzing with thoughts but by then end everything has quietened down. When you really want to to tune into your inner experience and find inner peace it's time to practice some of the other limbs of yoga. In particular breath work (pranayama), focused attention (dharana) and turning inwards (pratyahara).

If you find yourself in need of some inner peace this festive season then you could try some of these practices;

• Try a tree pose or other balance to get out of your head and into your body
• Coordinate breath and movement - for example cow pose (inhale) to cat pose (exhale)
• Just close your eyes - in yoga this is called 'pratyahara' or withdrawal of the senses and helps us to tune in to our inner experience
• Try a breathing exercise e.g. making your exhale longer than your inhale or just listening to the sound of your breath

A lot of people find it hard to find the time or focus to really do this own. If that is you, don't worry - it's completely normal! That's where yoga teachers come in. In the run up to Christmas I'll be running two special classes focused on turning inwards and finding peace. They will combine gentle movement and restorative poses with an extra-long guided relaxation. Yule Yoga will run on Wed 14 Dec at the Linskill Centre and Sun 18 Dec at the Yoga Station. You can find out more and register here https://www.sarahmclusky.yoga/offerings/yule-yoga-special

VW van photo by Vasilios Muselimis on Unsplash