Hi there and welcome to November’s blog page.
October was a mild month here in Todmorden with plenty of sunshine alongside the rain, which was desperately needed as the reservoirs were running low. I go wild swimming a few mornings a week with a bunch of wonderful women and one of the reservoirs we visit was getting very low indeed. It’s a reserve reservoir for when others run low, but the machinery was running a few mornings, so we had to look elsewhere for our swims. We’re lucky in that a local farmer who has a small lake on his land allows us to bathe there, the water isn’t crystal clear, but my, it is in such a beautiful setting! Nestled amidst rolling hills, ferns of various hues surrounding the water, and in the distance the iconic landmark of Todmorden – Studley Pike. After the initial shock of the cold water passes, we become entranced with the beauty of our surroundings, and quite a few mornings we have been swimming with warm sunshine on our faces to add to the magical experience.
One of the women from my swimming group alongside myself and our partners went to a Halloween swim in Cheshire, which was great fun. We swam around the lake with about 200 other people and on arriving in the middle of the lake, the firework display began. We treaded water whilst we watched the display, which was spectacular. The picture above is of me after just whipping off my ‘dry robe’ and about to get into the water. We were served hot Vimto and fairy cakes on exiting…they tasted delicious after 20 minutes in cold water in just our costumes, bootees and gloves.
In other news, I Ieft my full-time post as a university academic at the end of October. Having said that, I haven’t actually left completely as I’ve been granted an honorary Associate Professorship, which means I will still be working part-time but picking and choosing my workload. It’s a security blanket for the transition and means I will have more time to devote to my business at Katham Yoga and Wellness, but can still earn some additional income whilst it takes off. It’s a perfect compromise in my mind as we still have this big ol’ house to renovate!
My yoga courses start in January 2023 and people are beginning to book these already. By popular request, I am also running a Wednesday evening yoga class especially for beginners where we can build on the asanas (postures) every week. The beauty of block bookings is that there is no need to keep repeating information each week as new people join the class. That and the small class size with the individual tuition this ensures, means that yogis can really accelerate their practice as compared to attending a larger drop-in class. All classes are 90 minutes duration too, so nobody will be a beginner yogi for very long, as practices will accelerate rapidly with Katham yoga.
I look forward to meeting you at a sound bath (running November 27th and December 18th) and at yoga in January. Don’t worry if you have never done either of these before – this is your chance to find out what it’s all about in a friendly, warm and welcoming environment.
Until we meet, I’m wishing you all good things,
Jill x