Katie Shorten: Hatha Flow Yoga and Wellbeing in Penylan

Katie Shorten is a 36-year-old mum of two beautiful daughters living in Penylan. She has been with her husband, Mike, for 17 years, and they have been married for seven.

Katie Shorten’s Hatha Flow Yoga practice in Penylan

Katie has attended Osk’s Hatha Flow Yoga classes at PhysioSpace for a little over a year. Although she has practised yoga intermittently for 10 years, she was delighted to discover a consistent class close to home in Penylan, Cardiff. It was an added bonus that the sessions were led by her friend and neighbour.

Why yoga matters to Katie

As a busy mum of two, yoga gives Katie dedicated time to reconnect and ‘touch base’ with both her body and mind. She believes that making space to return to herself, listen and reconnect is essential to her wellbeing.

Favourite yoga postures and stretches

Katie enjoys a good hip flexor stretch. Her favourite postures include happy baby, lizard and pigeon pose. She particularly loves a deep stretch that she can settle into.

Katie’s wellbeing toolkit

A regular weekly yoga class with Osk is a key part of Katie’s wellbeing routine, alongside any additional yoga she can fit around her schedule. When possible, she enjoys a morning rise-and-shine flow.

She also uses mindfulness and meditation to help her feel grounded, especially first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. For Katie, taking pauses during everyday life is important. Spending time outdoors is another major part of her wellbeing toolkit, as nature can have an amazing effect on how you feel.

A mantra to live by

“Be kind to yourself.” Katie learned this lesson the hard way after years of negative self-talk and constantly trying to improve herself. She feels it is important to recognise the goodness within yourself and to be grateful.