my yoga journey
We have family visiting which is a joy. We're scattered quite widely across the globe so times together are precious. We're all anglophone but of different flavours and I love how this reveals so many differences in understanding beneath a common language and similar enough cultures. For example a really fun dinner time conversation last... Continue Reading →
I spent the afternoon with my ex-student-cum-yoga-artist today. She wanted to draw me in my practice, with time for her to really look at the shapes, learn to see the anatomy and capture the essence of the poses on paper. So I put myself in her hands and asked her to instruct me on what... Continue Reading →
First words from the teacher, first breaths on my mat and nothing felt right. I never know how to handle this start to practice, when I just don't jive with what's going on around me and everything feels wrong. In my own practice time I never have a plan to adhere to so I don't... Continue Reading →
I'm feeling a certain softness and tenderness towards myself these days. It's growing a little within me. My teachers are inspiring some honest self-care. Not the self-soothing warm baths and small indulgences type of nurturing that seems commonly advocated in popular media but which I suspect has little to do with yoga. Theirs is a... Continue Reading →
There's a small yoga studio at the end of my street. I went there a few times some years ago, but it wasn't the place for me. It's changed hands since and I feel a little guilty that I've not supported it in any way by attending even the odd class. But I'm happy trotting... Continue Reading →
The heatwave continues in the UK. I love it. The warmth brings me alive. I have more energy, my body is more open. The days are lighter for longer and I am filling them. Also in this weather, I don't feel guilty for taking a siesta in the afternoon when I get home from work!... Continue Reading →
So guru purnima is coming up and this is always a time of year when I take a little more time around and through my practice to reflect on my teachers, what they offer me, how I respond to that and how I might carry forward their teachings within my practice -- or not (yet).... Continue Reading →
I was talking recently with a student who volunteered that she finds meditation in noisy places easier than in silence. She has stopped getting up so early for practice because she found the deep silence too difficult, whereas the noise of rush-hour traffic was much easier! I've found this to be true for myself too.... Continue Reading →
"Inhale hands to prayer. Make it real" My teacher knows I'm nervous, gives me a breath to settle myself here before I 'show him' my Surya Namaskar A. I know it's not, but it feels like a test. He's standing just on the edge of my field of vision, a safe distance away, an unnerving... Continue Reading →
