Birthday Celebrations and a Trip to Greece

Eloise Handleigh
3 days ago
3 min read

Hey everyone,

The past couple of weeks have been busy for me, with teaching my first workshop, a trip to Greece, and many birthday celebrations!

Drishti

This week’s theme is Drishti, which translates from Sanskrit to “gaze.” This is a word I often sprinkle throughout class, so I thought it was only right to dedicate a whole week to it.

There can be many gaze points in yoga, whether it’s your front hand in Warrior II or between your legs in Downward Dog. Drishti helps us keep balance, improve alignment, and stay focused in poses. Our drishti is never a hard stare, but rather a soft, gentle gaze towards a focus point.

Sometimes in class, I may offer a more challenging drishti point, such as looking towards the ceiling, to test balance and concentration. Our drishti can also be inward when our eyes are closed - for example, focusing between the eyebrows at the third eye chakra. This can help improve concentration during meditation.

Intention: My focus brings me back to the present.

Journaling prompt: Where in my life do I need to gently refocus my attention right now?

My First Workshop

Last Saturday, I taught my very first Yoga by Eloise workshop, and I could not be happier with how it went. It was such a lovely opportunity for people from different classes to meet each other and spend more time together.

The theme was self-compassion, so we started with a longer meditation and yoga practice, followed by an extra-cosy Savasana, during which I gifted everyone their own blankets and goodie bags. After the guided Savasana meditation, we did a journaling session where we reflected on ways we can practise more self-compassion in our day-to-day lives.

And the best bit… tea and cake! We all sat chatting away, and it was so lovely to see the community come together 🍰☕

From the wonderful feedback from this workshop, I’ve decided to make workshops a monthly event! As you may have already seen, the next workshop will be on Saturday, 13th June, and it will be a restorative workshop focused on longer holds in floor poses for a deeper, more relaxing stretch.

Book here

If it’s fully booked, drop me a message, and I’ll add you to the waitlist!

Birthday Celebrations

I feel very spoilt by everyone celebrating my 23rd birthday with me. I had a lovely tea party with some yoga friends where everyone brought cakes along — so naturally it turned into a feast!🎂

I’ve also had family dinners, gone pottery painting, and visited garden nurseries with a friend (my favourite place ever… we somehow spent four hours there!!)

I still have more birthday celebrations coming up too, including a sunny picnic with a friend this weekend ☀️

My Trip to Kefalonia

For the last two years, I’ve taught classes on my birthday, which has been wonderful, but this year I decided to go away to my favourite Greek island, Kefalonia.

I’ve been visiting the island of Kefalonia with my family since I was 11, and this time I wanted to show my best friend, Emilie, around.

Our week consisted of lots of reading, games, and beach days. One day, we did a coach tour around the island, visiting Melissani Cave, Assos, Myrtos Beach, and Fiskardo, which was beautiful as always.

We also visited my Greek grandad, Kotsas, twice, which was really special. Emilie and I also met up with him last October in Athens. Sadly, he lost his wife, Pitsa, last year, and she was such a wonderful lady. I feel very lucky to have spent so many summers growing up with both her and Kotsas. My parents are going to stay with him for a while this summer to keep him company.

I will definitely be going back to Kefalonia in a few years!