In Punk Rock Vegan Movie, Moby explores the deep links between punk rock and the animal rights movement. His documentary is both inspiring and challenging, reminding us that yoga, like punk, is about questioning the status quo. As yogis, activism and compassion are part of the path—choosing awareness, kindness, and conscious living for all beings.

At a recent yoga retreat, I discovered that the most powerful practice wasn’t physical movement but meditation. Reflecting on Yoga Sutra I.4 (vrtti sarupyam itaratra), I was reminded how easily we identify with our fluctuating thoughts and emotions—becoming the waves instead of the calm ocean beneath. Through meditation, yoga teaches us to step back, observe, and reconnect with our true self beyond the noise of the mind.

Discover how yoga and love intertwine—expanding the heart, deepening connection, and reminding us that love flows endlessly through practice.

Turning 30 felt daunting at first, but through conversations with friends, family, and teachers I’ve come to see it as a moment of grounding rather than loss. The twenties were about exploration and searching, while the thirties bring clarity, self-respect, and a deeper sense of rootedness. It’s not about having everything figured out—it’s about embracing growth, owning your story, and stepping into this new chapter with confidence and joy.

🌞 Summer aligns with the Fire element, symbolising joy, warmth, and connection.
🧘 Yin Yoga helps balance this energy, preventing burnout and restlessness.
💗 Poses like Melting Heart (Anahatasana) nourish the Heart and Small Intestine meridians.
✨ A simple daily Yin practice can restore balance, joy, and harmony with the season.

At the heart of every class I teach is one clear intention: to build community. A space where we feel safe, seen, and supported — not just in our bodies, but in our whole selves. When we come together in practice, something shifts. Shyness becomes strength, and strangers become part of a shared journey. Community isn’t just a concept at Oca — it’s a living, breathing value we grow together, on and off the mat.

This week, I’ve been sitting with the passing of Dr. Joanna Macy — a visionary teacher, systems thinker, and deep ecologist whose life and work continue to ripple through so many of us who walk the path of embodied awareness and collective care.

Macy taught that “the most radical thing any of us can do at this time is to be fully present to what is happening in the world.” Her work wove together systems theory, Buddhist philosophy, and activism, reminding us that we are not isolated beings but part of an intricate, interdependent web of life — an insight that mirrors so beautifully the essence of vinyasa practice.

In vinyasa, we explore not just movement, but connection: breath to body, posture to posture, self to world. When we flow mindfully, we begin to feel the truth of dependent origination — that nothing arises independently. The inhale is shaped by the exhale,the outside become part of us, parts of us leaving to become the world, and each transition draws meaning from what came before and gives rise what unfolds next.

Macy’s teachings offer a kind of courage for our times. In the yoga studio, as on the planet, we can meet the discomfort, beauty, and uncertainty of change with open hearts. She encouraged us not to turn away, but to let our practice — whether on the mat or in the world — be an act of love and resilience.

As I write this, I’m at Mulino Carletti — an old watermill nestled deep in an Apennine forest — guiding a retreat where we’re exploring the intersections of yoga and ecodharma. Each day, we move and breathe together under the canopy of beech, chestnut and oak, listening to the river’s song and the palpable interconnectness of earth, air, water and the fire of natures’s life force. Macy’s presence is felt strongly here — in our teachings on interbeing, our meditations on grief and belonging, and the way we return again and again to the land, to the breath, and to each other.

Back in London, these same themes pulse through the community at Oca — where the classes feel like small, steady circles of connection. The energy we create together — quiet, real, present — continues to inspire me. I’m feeling grateful that in an age of the corporate wellness industrial complex, there are still people with a vision and heart that have created space for these things. And I’m really looking forward to being back in the studio on Monday 5th August, to move and breathe again with that same spirit of shared care.

“You are part of this world. You are made of rivers and stars. And when you look with eyes of compassion, what you see is yourself — everywhere.” — Dr Joanna Macy

A Simple Mediatation Practice from

The Work That Reconnects

Breathing Through: A Meditation on Interbeing and Gratitude

Inspired by the teachings of Joanna Macy

Find a quiet place to sit or lie down. Rest your hands on your body or the earth.

1. Ground yourself.

Feel the support beneath you. Notice your breath — no need to change it. Just arrive.

2. Call in gratitude.

Bring to mind something you feel thankful for — something simple, real, grounding.

Let yourself breathe with it for a few moments.

Inhale gratitude. Exhale gently, sending it out into the world.

3. Extend your care.

Now think of someone or something beyond yourself — a person, forest, river, or cause that matters to you.

Inhale with awareness of their suffering or need. Exhale with compassion and steadiness.

4. Rest in connection.

Stay with the breath for a few more cycles.

Notice how your care and presence can hold both joy and sorrow — how staying open is a kind of strength.

This practice is a way to stay connected — to ourselves, each other, and this aching, beautiful world. A small act of love in uncertain times.

You can listen to an interview with Joanna Macy here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3g99paUmnW6QVxAYuOOEUi

And read about her work here:

https://workthatreconnects.org/

With love and gratitude,

Chris

This month for me has been a theme of the hips. This region is associated with the sacral chakra, and with that comes creativity and emotional expression. It's a joy to explore physical sequences through practice, and for me creativity is fostered by approaching a familiar flow in a less conventional way. How does a sun salutation for example, change our connection to the hips if we take away the use of our hands on the ground?

After a day of sitting with busy brains, restorative hip opening poses can also be a great support in releasing tension. As I’ve been recently been navigating a few life events I find there is something delicious about surrounding myself in the evening with a pillow blanket fort for complete relaxation.

Gift yourself some time at the end of your day for this restorative pose.

Baddha Konasana

A calming hip opener

First, take a bolster or make one by rolling a bed pillow it firmly in a blanket like a giant burrito.

Lie with the bolster under the spine, allowing the back of the head to rest at the top. Adjust the shoulder blades to draw away from the ears as they rest on the bolster, palm of the hands face up.

Allow your bent knees to fall open, and bring the feet towards the groin. Use any additional pillows or folded blankets at the knees to feel supported.

Close your eyes and breathe with ease throughout the belly ribs and chest for about 5 minutes.

Remove the bolster, bring the knees up to the chest and give yourself a hug. Circle the knees and allow the ground to massage the sacrum area.

Transition gently to a variation of savasana pose by bringing the bolster under your knees, allowing complete release and relaxation for as long as you need.

Love Yee x

Join Yee every Monday night at 18:15 for Vinyasa Flow – a grounding class to release, unwind, and reconnect.

🌾 Lammas Blessings from Oca 🌾 As July turns to August, we celebrate Lammas, the first harvest a time to give thanks for the abundance in our lives and the seeds we’ve sown.

At Oca, we follow the ancient Celtic Wheel of the Year, honouring the ancient seasonal cycles that remind us to live in tune with nature and spirit.
Lammas invites us to pause and reflect on all that is ripening within us — projects, dreams, relationships, growth. 🌻
This is a time to:
✨ Celebrate what you’ve built so far
🔥 Release what’s complete
🌕 Nourish what still needs care Whether through movement, ritual, or simply sharing a meal with loved ones, may this season bring you grounded joy and golden light.

Come harvest with us ~ body, mind and spirit connected.

Returning to the Mat: Re-centering Through Yoga, Breath and Cacao

It’s easy to take yoga practice for granted if it’s dialled into your schedule and you rarely miss a class. But sometimes it takes a bit of a shake up to remind you that it’s a powerful tool to deal with all that life throws at you. 

The summer months always seem to be joyfully busy, but often this can leave me feeling really overwhelmed. This month I’ve been intentionally using my yoga practice to balance out the feeling of ‘too busy’, using the theme of stillness to embody this.

Defined by Patanjali's Yoga Sutras — Yoga chitta vritti nirodha - Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. At its heart, this teaches that yoga is not just physical movement, but a practice of returning to inner stillness and calm.

Remember that yoga can offer us the opportunity to focus and quiet the mind, helping us find our inner calm.

Oca’s wandering sage, Buomi (pronounced “Boomy”), came down from the mountain to our little shala yesterday and shared some of his meditations. This is what he had to say.

Are we more afraid of the idea we are in control of our destinies, by our sheer awesome agency or by the suspicion our fate is out of our hands, that any semblance of control might be swept away by events over which we can exert no influence whatsoever? Five reflections can help. 

 

First, there is no purpose in bemoaning a state of affairs which is outside of our control. Second, worrying about an awful thing which may come to pass is wasted energy if we have taken reasonable steps to mitigate the risk of the awful thing coming to pass (and its impact if it does). Third, whatever challenge life presents, we can choose, if we have worked sufficiently on our characters, to meet it with equanimity. Fourth, most of the time, there is scope for things to become better or worse so whatever it is we are enduring will pass and may not be as bad as it could be. Finally, if you have the means to shelter and sustain yourself, it is probable you do at least have the agency to lead a virtuous life. It is down that path that we can find happiness.