Karen Pullan Yoga and Wellbeing

04/09/2026

🌿 COME BACK TO THE PRESENT MOMENT 🌿
How often do we find ourselves reacting to something that has happened — replaying a conversation, imagining what someone meant, worrying about what might happen next, or becoming caught up in a story our mind has created?
Our minds can be very convincing.
We can take things personally.
We can make assumptions.
We can react from old patterns without even realising it.
And before we know it, we're no longer responding to what is actually happening right now — we're responding to something our mind has created from the past.
✨ But there is another choice.
We can pause.
We can breathe.
We can notice what is happening within us rather than immediately acting on it.
We can ask:
💭 What am I actually feeling?
💭 What story am I telling myself about this?
💭 Is this really what is happening, or is this an old pattern being activated?
💭 How would I choose to respond if I wasn't reacting automatically?
This doesn't mean ignoring difficult situations, accepting behaviour that isn't okay, or pretending everything is wonderful.
It means recognising that we have a choice in how we meet this moment.
Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is simply stop trying to control everything outside of ourselves and begin by creating a little more harmony within.
🌸 Come back to the moment.
🌸 Come back to yourself.
🌸 Come back to your heart.
The past has already happened.
The future hasn't arrived.
This moment is the place where life is actually happening.
And within this moment, there is an opportunity to pause, to notice, to choose and perhaps to respond with a little more compassion — for ourselves and for others. 💜
This is one of the things I love about yoga and meditation.
The practice isn't just what happens on the mat.
It's learning to notice ourselves — our thoughts, our emotions, our habitual patterns — and gently coming back again and again.
Come back.
Breathe.
Notice.
Choose.
Begin again. 🧘‍♀️✨

03/09/2026

🌿 Still thinking about the ego…
I’m still on with this exploration of the ego.
It’s such a fascinating place to look, because when we start to observe ourselves a little more closely, we can begin to see just how much the ego is doing — and often, it genuinely believes it is doing it to keep us safe.
I came across this today:
“The tandem of mind and ego are jointly responsible for all our unhappiness and difficulties. Nothing outside us, and no other person, is ever the cause of our trouble.”
And it set me off on another little meandering wondering…
Why is it that we so often blame other people for our discomfort?
Their words.
Their behaviour.
The way they look at us.
The things they say — or don't say.
The things they do — or don't do.
Why can someone else's behaviour have such a powerful effect on our inner world?
Now, I’m not sure I completely agree with the statement that nothing outside of us can be the cause of our trouble. People can hurt us. Things happen that are genuinely difficult, unfair and painful.
But perhaps there is something really interesting in looking at what happens inside us once something happens outside of us.
Because there is the event…
And then there is our interpretation of the event.
And those two things aren't always the same.
Psychology has explored this for many years through what is known as cognitive appraisal — the idea that the meaning we give to what happens influences the emotions we experience.
And this seems to fit beautifully with the yoga teachings around the mind.
Someone says something we don't like.
The mind interprets it.
The ego decides what it means.
They don't respect me.
They think I'm stupid.
How dare they speak to me like that.
They always do this.
I'm not going to let them get away with it.
And suddenly we're no longer just experiencing what happened.
We're experiencing the whole story we've created around what happened.
And the ego can feel very justified in that story.
It can feel safer to blame someone else than to sit quietly with the uncomfortable feelings underneath it.
Because if they are the problem, then perhaps I don't have to look at what is happening inside me.
And I think this is where the practice becomes really interesting.
Not trying to suppress our feelings.
Not pretending that everything is okay.
Not allowing people to treat us badly.
But simply becoming curious.
What actually happened?
What did I make it mean?
What am I feeling?
What part of this belongs to them… and what part belongs to me?
That last question can be a difficult one.
Because the ego really does like things to be black and white.
Right and wrong.
Good and bad.
My fault.
Your fault.
But perhaps awareness gives us another possibility.
A little space between what happens and how we respond.
And maybe that is one of the gifts of yoga.
Not that we never get angry, hurt, irritated or upset.
But that we begin to notice ourselves doing it.
We catch the mind creating its story.
We notice the ego jumping in to protect us.
And instead of immediately believing it, we pause.
We breathe.
We become curious.
And perhaps, just perhaps, we begin to realise that we have a little more choice than we thought we did.
🌿 Something to ponder…
The next time someone upsets you, before deciding “They have made me feel this way,” perhaps pause for a moment and ask:
What is happening inside me right now?
Not to blame ourselves.
Just to become a little more curious about who we are.
And I think that is where the really interesting work begins. 💚

02/09/2026

🌿 A little thought I’ve been sitting with lately… the ego. It comes up in my regular meditation practice with Isabel and so,
I’ve been spending some time thinking about the ego and how it shows up in everyday life.
We hear a lot in yoga and spiritual practice about letting go of the ego or moving beyond the ego.
But I’m not sure it’s quite as simple as deciding to do that.
For me, it’s much more about noticing.
Noticing when I’m getting defensive.
Noticing when I’m looking for someone else to blame.
Noticing when I’m convinced that I’m right and someone else is wrong.
Noticing when I need to be praised or recognised.
And perhaps most importantly, noticing how quickly my mind can start creating a story around something that has happened.
The ego loves a story! 😂
It loves to tell us who is right, who is wrong, who has behaved badly, who should apologise and why we are completely justified in feeling the way we do.
And relationships can be a wonderful mirror for this.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to become irritated by the little things someone does?
The way they speak.
The things they forget.
The things they don't do.
The things they always do. 🙈
Before we know it, we're keeping a mental list of everything that's wrong with the other person.
And actually, I think many of us learned this behaviour very young.
As children, we quickly learned to point out what our brothers or sisters had done wrong!
We became very good at noticing what was wrong.
Perhaps we weren't always encouraged to notice what was good.
And the ego doesn't particularly like being challenged either.
If we are praised, it can puff us up with pride.
If we are criticised, it can become defensive.
Either way, we can become caught up in the drama of me.
This is where I find the wisdom of yoga really interesting.
In yogic psychology, the ego isn't necessarily about being arrogant or thinking we're wonderful.
It's more about identification.
Becoming so identified with our thoughts, feelings, opinions and stories that we believe they are who we are.
But what happens when we simply notice them?
I'm having a thought.
I'm feeling angry.
I'm feeling hurt.
I'm feeling defensive.
There is a little bit of space created.
And in that space, we have a choice.
We don't have to believe every thought.
We don't have to react to every feeling.
We don't have to defend ourselves every time we feel challenged.
And we don't have to make someone else wrong in order to feel okay about ourselves.
For me, this is where yoga becomes so much more than the physical practice.
It's about becoming a little more aware.
A little more present.
A little less caught up in our own stories.
And perhaps a little kinder — to ourselves and to the people around us.
Because underneath all those thoughts, reactions, opinions and stories, there is simply this moment.
This breath.
This awareness.
This opportunity to be present.
And maybe that's enough.
🌿 Just noticing.
Just breathing.
Just being here. 🕊️

02/09/2026

🍂✨ AUTUMN TERM YOGA IS HERE! ✨🍂
A new season. A fresh start. Time for YOU. 💜
As the leaves begin to turn and the days slowly change, autumn invites us to pause, breathe and reconnect with ourselves.
Our new term of Dru Yoga & Chair Yoga has started, and I’d love to welcome you to the mat — or chair! 🧘‍♀️
🌿 So, what is Dru Yoga?
Dru Yoga is a gentle yet powerful style of yoga, combining flowing movement, breathwork, postures, relaxation, concentration and meditation.
It works with the body as a whole, helping to create greater ease, mobility and balance, while giving the mind an opportunity to slow down and become more peaceful.
With regular practice, Dru Yoga can help you:
✨ Release physical tension and stiffness
✨ Improve flexibility, mobility and posture
✨ Build strength and vitality
✨ Support better balance and coordination
✨ Calm a busy or overactive mind
✨ Reduce everyday stress and tension
✨ Improve breathing and relaxation
✨ Develop greater awareness of your body and emotions
✨ Create a greater sense of inner calm and wellbeing
And you don't need to be flexible, fit or experienced to start! ❤️
My classes are friendly, welcoming and suitable for different ages and abilities.
🍁 AUTUMN TERM TIMETABLE 🍁
MONDAY
🕡 6.45pm – Dru Yoga
📍 Roberttown Community Centre
TUESDAY
🕘 9.15am – Dru Yoga
📍 Howden Clough Community Centre
🕥 10.30am – Chair Yoga 🪑
📍 Howden Clough Community Centre
🕗 7.45pm – Dru Yoga
📍 Roberttown Community Centre
THURSDAY
🕛 12.15pm – Dru Yoga
📍 Howden Clough Community Centre
FRIDAY
🕤 9.30am – Dru Yoga
📍 Balne Lane Community Centre
🌿 Come and move. Breathe. Release. Restore.
Whether you're completely new to yoga, returning after a break, or already have a regular practice, there's a place for you.
🍂 Make this autumn the season you choose to look after YOU. 🍂
💜 Karen Pullan Yoga & Wellness
📞 07736 465341

29/08/2026

29/08/2026

Here’s a story I read a few years ago.
I often find a story comes to me which reflects how I am feeling at that moment in time and this one sat with me this morning.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
My friend Julie and her husband argue about the “right” way to do laundry: he loads the washing machine with dirty clothes, adds a cup of detergent on top, turns on the machine, and walks away. Julie, on the other hand, is a firm believer in starting the water flow, pouring-in the soap, and then adding the dirty clothes to the mix. They both want the same end result: clean clothes, but they go about it differently because his priority is minimal effort and to be done as quickly as possible, while Julie's priority is to make sure the soap fully dissolves in the water before adding the clothes.

It reminds me of working in the kitchen at the monastery, where two members of the kitchen staff were asked to peel and cut ten pounds of carrots into small matchstick-sized strips. It took them about four hours, which drove the efficiency expert in me crazy. “Why not use the food processor?” I asked the head of the kitchen, “They would be done in 10 minutes!” And he told me the goal wasn’t to get the job done as quickly as possible, it was to offer the students four hours of mindfulness practice in the kitchen.

You see, what I failed to do was contemplate the WHY behind his instructions. The food processor would have chopped those carrots in minutes, that's true, but the kitchen manager prioritized a meditative practice over efficiency and expediency (at a Buddhist monastery no less... Go figure!) Why do we always assume we know what's best? I took myself to the meditation hall and sat with my ego until it agreed to play nice.

We sure do excel at judging what people do and how they do it, but we fail miserably at trying to understand the WHY behind their actions. When we share a similar goal with someone but their priorities differ from our own, their actions seem backward to us, counter-intuitive, silly, and even “wrong.”

Think about it: if you keep getting irritated by someone who refuses to change, it means you also refuse to change, right? Saint Francis of Assisi knew the importance of seeking to understand rather than to be understood. And since we can't wrap our heads around other people's logic by using our own, let's not criticize what we don't even try to understand, because once we get it, there would be nothing left to criticize.

Go ahead and contemplate the WHY behind your own actions, and you might find you have that in common with everyone around you.

Inner peace is the first step we can take to live in peace with others, so let’s take that step together.

With much love from your brother, Timber Hawkeye

28/08/2026

🌿 Setting a boundary can feel incredibly empowering. 💪

But sometimes, saying “this is okay for me” can bring up a whole host of other feelings too — guilt, fear, self-doubt, or that strong urge to take it all back.

Especially when keeping the peace, putting others first, or going along with things has helped us feel safe, loved or connected.

So when we finally say “no”, or decide that something no longer feels right for us, the discomfort that follows can make us question ourselves.

Have I done the right thing?
What if they’re upset with me?
What if they think I’m difficult?
What if they reject me or leave?

But feeling uncomfortable doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve made the wrong choice.

Sometimes, it simply means you’re doing something new.

Learning to honour your own needs and protect your wellbeing can take time, especially if you’ve spent years putting everyone else first.

Therapy can provide a safe, supportive space to explore what comes up when you begin to take your own needs seriously — and to understand the feelings that can arise when you start choosing yourself. 🤍

Setting a boundary isn’t about being selfish.

It’s about recognising that your needs matter too. 🌱

07/08/2026

🍓☀️ We're now in the heart of midsummer ☀️🍓
The weeks between 23rd July and 22nd August invite us to pause, reflect and soak up the abundance all around us. With the Leo New Moon and Aquarius Full Moon guiding us, it's a beautiful time to think about everything we're grateful for, notice how we've grown, and celebrate the life we're creating.
Have you noticed the subtle changes happening in nature?
🍃 The first leaves are beginning to change.
🫐 Hedgerows are filling with fruits and berries.
🌾 Farmers are harvesting their crops.
🍎 The land is offering its gifts in abundance.
Even though the days are still warm, nature is quietly whispering that autumn is on its way (my favourite season! 🍂).
We've moved beyond the rapid growth of early summer and into a season of generosity. The earth is overflowing with nourishment, colour and beauty, inviting us to gather in, appreciate what has flourished, and enjoy the abundance that surrounds us.
For many of us, life has been full and busy, and it may have felt as though summer would last forever. But we're now at the peak of summer's energy, and the first gentle hints of autumn are appearing.
This is a wonderful time to slow down just a little. To take stock of what you've cultivated this year, celebrate your achievements, and begin preparing—physically, mentally and spiritually—for the transition into a new season.
✨ What are you harvesting in your own life right now? What are you most grateful for? 🍂💛