I've been doing Yoga for a few months now. I am really enjoying it; the balance of increasing fitness, increasing flexibility and de-stressing is something you don't get in an aerobics class where you can't see the instructor for the seat dripping down into your eyes! Yuck! The class I go to is on a Saturday morning from 10.30am to 11.30am at Merthyr Leisure Centre. For £3 a class per week, it's a snip and far more economical than £36 per month for gym membership!

Many people think that yoga is just stretching but yoga is really about creating balance in the body through developing both strength and flexibility. This is done through the performance of poses or postures, each of which has specific physical benefits. The poses can be done quickly in succession, creating heat in the body through movement or more slowly to increase stamina and perfect the alignment of the pose.

There a a wide variety of yoga styles. Some are more aerobic and designed to heat your body up, some are more focussed on perfecting the pose.

Ashtanga Yoga: This type of yoga is sometimes called "power yoga" due to the primary focus being to create a powerful flowing movement. These types of yoga often include classic strength and stamina routines such as lunges and pushups, and are more often used by people who are seeking a more challenging workout. Ashtanga might be suited to a person who as successfully overcome a minor back injury for example.

Hatha Yoga: If you see a class described as Hatha, it will likely be a slow-paced stretching class with some simple breathing exercises and perhaps seated meditation. This is a good place to learn basic poses, relaxation techniques, and become comfortable with yoga.

Vinyasa Yoga: Vinyasa is usually a fast-paced type of yoga with lots of different poses. Other than starting with a sun salutation, no two classes will be alike.

Kundalini Yoga: "Kundalini" refers to the energy of the base chakra, which surrounds the base of the spine. The principle behind Kundalini yoga is that in freeing up this area, we can unleash the unlimited potential that lies within that energy center. Expect lots of core work on your abs and around the spine with Kundalini yoga -- and perhaps even more sitting than usual.

Yoga fits really well with Reiki, and even though one comes form India and the other from Japan, they both focus on holistic wellbeing, energy flows and have chakra energy centres in common.

We went for a cycle ride around Bute Park this afternoon.· I'd wondered around the Park back in my Uni day, as the halls of residence I lived in for a few years is just off the top of the Park.

Bute park is an easily accessible·56 hectare green haven in the heart of the city. It is flanked by the River Taff, Sophia gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Cardiff Castle. Cardiff's biggest city centre public park, was originally created as the private garden to Cardiff Castle by Head Gardener Andrew Pettigrew for the third Marquess of Bute between 1873 and 1901.· In 1947, a significant proportion of the grounds were given to the people of Cardiff by the fifth Marquess of Bute, along with Cardiff Castle and Sophia Gardens (further portions of land were purchased and leased by the council to create an extensive park).· The Victorian garden layout still exists, but since 1947 the park has been extensively planted with trees to form the Bute Park Arboretum.

All around the Park are wide paths, accesible for Sunday afternoon strollers, dog walkers, pram pushers, joggers and cyclists alike.· There was a real community atmosphere there today with people from all walks of life, cultures and languages taking their time to enjoy the good weather and a few moment of relaxation. The weather was glorious and it was really warm in the sunshine; some people were sitting down against big old trees reading books, some were sitting on the grass having a picnic, others were pushing children on bicycles newly released from the constraints of stabilisers!· Some people were rowing down the Taff amidts yells of 'Go on!' and 'Well done!', so there may have been a race on. There were signs around the Park guiding the runners of the half marathon held in the morning where to go and how many miles they had done.

All in all it was a realy lovely, relaxed afternoon with lots of fresh air, sunshine and a Burger King in the middle, finished off with an orange and chocolate cookie...purely for the purposes of maintaining energy, of course!