Wellness Diaries: Yoga teacher and holistic wellness professional Margaret Young
Yoga teacher, Ayurvedic nutritionist and holistic wellness coach Margaret Young shares how she balances the demands of her busy life with daily wellness tools.
I wake… at around 7am. I am an early bird but not too early. I like to teach or attend early morning yoga or Pilates classes, so in that case, it’s a 6am rise. If I wake extra early, then I have time to go to my home studio for Sadhana (spiritual practice), which involves lighting some incense, practising yoga and listening to mantra (chants). It always sets me up for the day.
The first thing I do every morning is… brush my teeth and scrape my tongue. Tongue scraping is a big part of an Ayurvedic “Dinacharya”, which means daily routine. I tell all my holistic wellness clients, in fact, anyone who will listen, to scrape their tongue. I cannot feel clean without doing it.
My morning routine is… as simple as possible. Dry body brushing makes me feel alert. I pop on a morning affirmation or subliminal on the Insight Timer app while doing make-up. Breakfast and supplements are always prepared in advance.
I can’t go to work without… a yoga mat or my laptop or both. My laptop predates my yoga teacher career but is, ironically, a rose gold Lenovo Yoga. It’s starting to slow down a bit now but I love it. Mat-wise, my favourite is from Holder8 and my travel one folds and pops in my bag. I can’t stand hauling around an awkward, heavy, rolled-up mat.
The self-care tool I use every day is… a dry body brush. Not only is it stimulating and energising, but I have really dry skin on my legs so it exfoliates too. I finish with self-massage with oil. You can find a dry body brush for every budget from the Euro store up. My favourites are Elemis and Ground Wellbeing.
The best part of my day is… cuddling my dog Kali – always.
The most challenging part of my day is… always involving finances. Chasing invoices as a self-employed person can be very stressful and cash flow is always a challenge. For employees too, the cost-of-living issues are real. Also, my mindset around money is something I am working on with books, podcasts and subliminal tracks.
I engage with self-care every day by… walking. Even if nothing else is achieved, 10k steps outside with my dog is a non-negotiable to avoid stiffness, stagnancy and fatigue.
My daily self-care checklist routine includes… a lot of small, simple things that I ‘habit stack’. From affirmation in the morning to pillow spray last thing at night, honestly, almost everything I do is in support of my physical, mental, emotional or spiritual wellness. I know what it’s like to be unwell, burn out, in a state of dis-ease, or let down by our health service, and I am determined to do all I can to help myself.
The quickest, smallest thing I do for myself every day is… take my supplements. My selection varies throughout the year and is a mix of Ayurvedic and conventional. Top picks include Sisterly The Elevator, Revive Active Meno Active and Aya electrolytes. I know it’s been a good day if my mind is relaxed enough to go straight to sleep. If nothing is keeping me awake at night, it’s all good.
I switch off from work by… making myself a cup of ceremonial cacao and brain dumping into a journal. I don’t drink it that regularly, so if you see me making it, it means I really do need to unwind. I am close to breaking point! Sometimes the cacao is replaced by a cold glass of cava and the journal becomes Netflix.
Before I go to bed… I’ll turn on my essential oil diffuser. It’s the signal to my brain that it is time to wind down.
After a long work week, I destress by… sitting and possibly snoozing in a salt cave. Halotherapy is great for the respiratory system but it’s also very nice to be in a heated massage chair just breathing and listening to music. Before I sound too perfect, let me add that I usually treat myself to a Burger King on my way home. Their vegan burger is my all-time favourite junk food.
My go-to comfort meal is… hard to define as I love so many cuisines. Indian, Thai, Greek, Mexican, Italian, I just love food. Give me something savoury with lots of grains and I am happy.
When I really need a moment to myself, I always… head to the beach. I teach classes on my local beach so it became a kind of workspace, but on non-class days, I like to go and walk or just sit. Writing this has made me realise I have not been utilising this opportunity lately so this is now my wake-up call to reintroduce the habit this summer.
Something I try to do for myself every day is… spend five minutes minimum on Duolingo. As someone who was not particularly good at languages at school, I am proud of reaching my first 100 days of learning Spanish on Duolingo.
The most reflective moment in the day is… when I go through my to-do list or have a brain dump. A coffee shop and a notebook means blissful reflection time. A little ritual I do on a Friday is exactly this, followed by attending a class and then a long walk in nature.
The one person, place or thing guaranteed to give me joy is… being anywhere the sun is shining. I find the climate in Ireland difficult, especially in winter. The sun always puts me in good form.
I wish I could… drive more mindfully. Yoga ‘off the mat’ is the hardest thing and as soon as I get into traffic, my yoga mindset goes out the window. It’s a work in progress!
Everyone should try… reformer Pilates. I have so many friends and clients who are curious but scared! Find a beginner class and go for it. It’s so fun. Alternatively, (or additionally), you can purchase a machine to use at home, although guidance on correct use is essential. I am manifesting my own Flexera reformer machine for myself! Flexera are an Irish, female-founded brand, that manufactures and sells beautiful reformers in a range of colours and has classes on demand via their app. An investment for sure, as they start at €2k, but having my own (sage green or mocha I can’t decide) reformer would be so amazing.
Find out more about Margaret Young or book a beach yoga class here.
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