Yoga teacher brings sense of calm with new book

Emma Burton, from Shrewsbury, has released Don't Get Stuck on your Asana, which combines knowledge she has gathered during her 18 years as a yoga practitioner and six years running her coaching business My Soul Space.

The 45-year-old threw herself into her career after her divorce nine years ago, and discusses Asana, a form of yoga that isn't as focused on pushing the body to its physical limits.

She said: "“The book starts with the words ‘Please just go and get happy’, which is what my mother said to me 25 years ago after a heartbreak. It’s what I want for anyone who reads this book. Life can be tough and it’s especially intense for people right now.

“I want to help life to be a little easier for people. I poured my heart and soul into my yoga practice after my divorce, nine years ago. The correct use of yoga also cured a painful back injury I sustained, through a heavy-handed approach to teaching of yoga and which threatened my own career a yoga teacher, and I want to share this.”

Emma discovered yoga 25 years ago and from her first session said she felt her physical and mental state had been elevated and she was hooked.

But she also says that today, there is a worrying trend in yoga, one that sees teachers and students pushing their body to its limits, often in an unsafe way.

“Asana is the physical branch of yoga. It’s used to describe all of the positions or postures you can physically use when practising. But yoga is so much more than that. It’s certainly more than being able to do the splits or stand on your head without hands.

“Used properly, it embraces all aspects of us, emotional, mental, physical and even the ego and soul. I have seen some really worrying practices which are actually harmful to people’s bodies. Yoga isn’t about what clothes you wear or how far you can stretch, it’s about improving all aspects of your life.

The book includes tasks the reader can take part in, such as journal entries, reflections, breathing exercises and pictorial guides to improve yoga practice.

Don’t Get Stuck on your Asana was published in paperback in January and has just launched on Amazon in Kindle and e-reader version.

To purchase, message Emma at e.burton1@icloud.com or via emma-burton.com

On June 24 the e-reader version will be on sale for one day only at just 99p on Amazon.